In the policy of the Russian Federation, the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, as a whole, occupy one of the priority places. In this respect, the essence and main directions of development of the situation in the Caucasus, where socio-economic, national-territorial, religious, geopolitical and many other characteristics are so intertwined, are of considerable interest (1).
The peoples of Transcaucasia at different periods of their centuries-old history found themselves within the political borders of various powerful states. The most active struggle for influence in the region was between Persia and the Ottoman Port, the distant Great Britain, Germany, and to a lesser extent France had an active influence on the processes taking place in the region,salvation from which the Transcaucasian peoples for centuries sought under the shadow of friendly bayonets of the Russian Empire. With fire and sword, they imposed their power on Transcaucasia, unleashed bloody wars, which resulted in the systematic destruction of the civilian population, which was being destroyed by tens of thousands ...
The accession to Russia freed the peoples of Transcaucasia from the enslavement of the backward Iran and Turkey. Only by linking their fate with the Russian people, peoples of the Caucasus, tormented by foreign conquerors, were saved from extermination and got rid of the devastating invasions and raids of Iranian and Turkish feudal lords (4).
Both in the annals, and in other written testimonies of contemporaries and eyewitnesses that have come down to our day, as well as in historical and fiction, the description of chilling atrocities and to which peoples of the Caucasus were subjected to becoming part of the Russian Empire occupies an extensive place.
Friedrich Engels wrote in his letter to Karl Marx on May 23, 1851: "Russia really plays a progressive role in relation to the East. Despite all its meanness and Slavic dirt, the rule of Russia plays a civilizing role for the Black and Caspian Seas and Central Asia." We left the outrageous words of Engels about the "meanness and Slavic mud" of Russia deliberately to show that he emphasized the civilizing role of Russia not out of love for Russia (it wasn’t, rather, vice versa!), But we are only forced to state this fact.
With the feasible assistance of Russia, people of Transcaucasia began to gradually increase their economic and cultural level. There is an increase in literacy, the opening of educational institutions, cultural institutions. The classics of literature, art and music of these peoples, which began their creative path during these years, still enjoy the love and respect of noble descendants. Taking this into account, the question seems to be relevant: did the creative thought of the peoples of Transcaucasia create works of such a level and scale for almost 30 years of independence gained in 1991, like, say, for the first 30 years of being in the Russian Empire? The question is, of course, rhetorical. We all know that it did not.
The accession of Transcaucasia to Russia was of great international importance. It dealt a blow to the aggressive aspirations of the Shah of Iran and Sultan Turkey and the English and French colonialists behind them, and contributed to the subsequent rapprochement of the peoples of Russia and the East (2).
The beneficial role of Russia and the USSR in the fate of the Transcaucasian peoples most eloquently characterizes their peaceful development and prosperity within Russia and the USSR, and vice versa - the resumption of hostility, wars, external military intervention and mass bloodshed during periods of weakening Russian influence in the region.
For example, after the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917-1918, wars broke out between the Transcaucasian republics over the territory:
1. Military aggression of Georgia against South Ossetia and the genocide of the Ossetian people in 1920. Total killed about 5 thousand people, of which more than 3 thousand are women and children.
2. Georgian-Armenian war (1918-1919) for the border areas between the Republic of Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918. The war was triggered by external forces that are traditionally hostile to the Transcaucasian peoples. Turkey proposed to occupy the Akhalkalaki and Borchali districts of the Tiflis province with a mixed Armenian-Georgian population to the government of the Armenian Republic, and Germany to the government of the Georgian Republic.
3. The Armenian-Azerbaijani war (1918 - 1920) in the areas with a mixed Armenian-Azerbaijani population between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in the last months of the First World War and before the final Sovietization of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
4. Ethnic cleansing in the Baku province (1918). According to various sources, up to 30,000 people were killed.
5. Ethnic cleansing in the province of Erivan and Zangezur (1918). Up to 30,000 people were killed.
6. Ethnic cleansing in Karabakh (1918-1920) About 1,500 people were killed.
We will no longer remind about another tragic and shameful page in the history of Transcaucasia - the armed intervention of Great Britain, Germany and Turkey in the internal affairs of the Transcaucasian republics in order to establish their dominance in the region.
During the period of the Russian Empire and the USSR Transcaucasian peoples were protected from the claims and military aggression of Iran and Turkey (regardless of their specific names in different historical periods). The armed incursions of the Persian or Ottoman armies on the territory of these peoples no longer went unpunished, but met with crushing resistance of all the military power of Russia, not only Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis Under the USSR, the invaders did not even dare to think about such invasions, and the Transcaucasian people could calmly and peacefully evolve for the first time in all their centuries-old history.
The collapse of the USSR led to a gradual recovery in the new realities of that historical political situation that was more than two hundred years ago.
Turkey’s activity in the region is noticeable to everyone and causes no doubt, but we should not forget about Iran. The national interests and objectives of Iran dictate the need for more active involvement in the affairs of the Transcaucasian region. Another subject of Iranian concern is the activation of Israel in the Transcaucasian region, especially the strengthening of its economic positions in Azerbaijan ...
The geopolitical aspect of Iran’s foreign policy in Transcaucasia is based on the thesis of the need to more actively spread the political and economic influence of Iran on the Transcaucasian region (3).
Transcaucasia, as in the 18th century, again turns into an arena of uncompromising struggle between the old centers of power - Turkey, Iran, England, Germany, but they were also joined by the strong states of the past period - the United States and Israel.
The leaders of the independent states of Transcaucasia began to gradually dismantle the common socialist heritage and achievements of the last 200 years in all areas of life — economics, culture, science, etc. Thousands of schools, kindergartens, libraries, research institutes, cultural institutions were closed. Military actions broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which claimed tens of thousands of lives. Georgia did not fail to commit armed attacks on South Ossetia, and then on Abkhazia. Georgian-Ossetian armed clashes and ethnic cleansing of Ossetians in 1989-2008 claimed at least three thousand lives, and as a result of Georgia's military aggression against Abkhazia in 1992-1993 killed more than 8,000 people on both sides, without taking into account more than 700 mine victims after the war.
Georgia became the center of the anti-Russian political line, Azerbaijani writing was transferred from Cyrillic to Latin, making it difficult for the younger generation to access the literary, artistic and journalistic heritage of the Azerbaijani people for almost 200 years, Armenia today is also sending political signals perceived in Moscow with caution. of English, up to the change of signs of streets and settlements from Russian to English. And in all three republics began to be artificially reduced the area of use of the Russian language in favor
In some republics, this is observed to a greater extent, in others - to a lesser one. However, the danger of changing the course of civilization is not at all realized and not objectively assessed by the ruling circles and the collective public consciousness of these peoples formed by the media controlled by them. But the actual chain of facts, analysis of the development of the situation over the past thirty years, taking into account the most important historical events of at least the last 300 years, give us every reason to come to an indisputable, undoubted conclusion that the years of peaceful development, calm, stability and prosperity of the ancient civilizations of Transcaucasia and its peoples brought only the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The rupture of historical ties between the states of the Transcaucasia and Russia will put an end to the already fragile inter-ethnic peace and political stability in the region.
Inal Pliev,
political observer of IA "Res"
