1994–1995
107-576: (Redirected from Chechen Wars ) Chechen War may refer to: Chechen–Russian conflict , 1785–Present Caucasian War , 1817–1864 Murid War , 1829–1859, a.k.a. Russian Conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan 1940–44 insurgency in Chechnya First Chechen War , December 1994–August 1996 Second Chechen War , 1999–2009 Insurgency in the North Caucasus , 2009–2017 Topics referred to by
214-836: A joint campaign with the Italian Army , and may be considered a separate theatre . More than 6,000,000 soldiers were wounded during the conflict, while more than 11,000,000 became prisoners. In all, approximately 5,318,000 soldiers from Germany and other nationalities fighting for the German armed forces—including the Waffen-SS , Volkssturm and foreign collaborationist units—are estimated to have been killed in action, died of wounds, died in custody or gone missing in World War II. Included in this number are 215,000 Soviet citizens conscripted by Germany. According to Frank Biess, German casualties took
321-555: A Chechen imam , began preaching a purified version of Islam and encouraging the various mountain peoples of the North Caucasus to unite under the banner of Islam in order to protect themselves from further foreign encroachments. His activities were seen by the Russians as a threat to their own interests in the region, and in 1785, a 3,000 strong was sent to capture him. Failing to do so, it burned his unoccupied home village instead, but
428-577: A boost to the Russian forces. Western sources described the deployment of Chechen Kadyrovites as "leveraging the very presence of Chechen soldiers in Ukraine as a psychological weapon against Ukrainians". While the Ukrainian Chechen volunteer battalions resumed their fight against the Russian forces. The exact number of Chechen casualties of this conflict are difficult to ascertain due to lack of records and
535-527: A clandestine cadre of air force officers in the early 1920s. These officers saw the role of an air force as winning air superiority, strategic bombing, and close air support. That the Luftwaffe did not develop a strategic bombing force in the 1930s was not due to a lack of interest, but because of economic limitations. The leadership of the Navy led by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder , a close protégé of Alfred von Tirpitz ,
642-586: A crushing defeat at Tatartup . From there on began the decline of the insurgency, although Mansur continued mobilizing fighters, but in June 1787, he only managed to gather 1,000 men, who also soon left him after showing indecisivness in his campaigns . He left for Circassia in July of the same year, where he quickly gained the support of the Circassians . However, there he also suffered several heavy defeats, most notably during
749-574: A million Chechens and Ingush were removed from their homes and forcibly settled in Central Asia in an act of ethnic cleansing . They were put in forced labor camps in Kazakhstan and Kirghizia . Estimates on casualties range from 170,000 up to 200,000, with some evidence also indicating that 400,000 people perished. The victims perished mostly due to hypothermia (freezing to death) and starvation, although massacres were not uncommon. The most notable of
856-568: A mountainous region that includes Chechnya , spans or lies close to important trade and communication routes between Russia and the Middle East , control of which have been fought over by various powers for millennia. Russia's entry into the region followed Tsar Ivan the Terrible 's conquest of the Golden Horde 's Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan in 1556, initiating a long struggle for control of
963-408: A single Joint Chief of Staff, Hitler refused. Even after the defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler refused, stating that Göring as Reichsmarschall and Hitler's deputy, would not submit to someone else or see himself as an equal to other service commanders. However, a more likely reason was Hitler feared it would break his image of having the "Midas touch" concerning military strategy. With the creation of
1070-740: A sudden jump with the defeat of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad in January 1943, when 180,310 soldiers were killed in one month. Among the 5.3 million Wehrmacht casualties during the Second World War, more than 80 per cent died during the last two years of the war. Approximately three-quarters of these losses occurred on the Eastern front (2.7 million) and during the final stages of the war between January and May 1945 (1.2 million). Jeffrey Herf wrote that: Whereas German deaths between 1941 and 1943 on
1177-639: A time frame of 10 years for remilitarization, but soon shortened it to four years. With the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Anschluss , the German Reich's territory increased significantly, providing a larger population pool for conscription. Recruitment for the Wehrmacht was accomplished through voluntary enlistment and conscription, with 1.3 million being drafted and 2.4 million volunteering in
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#17328522803391284-597: Is also seen outside the Russian border. During the Syrian Civil War , Chechen fighters that remain loyal to the collapsed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and radical Chechen Islamists had also fought against Russian Army and its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria , with desire to overthrow the Assad Government and replace it by a more Chechen-sympathized government. In 2014, many anti-Russian Chechens volunteered to fight in
1391-455: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Chechen%E2%80%93Russian conflict 1996 Guerrilla phase (2000–2009) The Chechen–Russian conflict ( Russian : Чеченский конфликт , romanized : Chechensky konflikt ; Chechen : Нохчийн-Оьрсийн дов , romanized: Noxçiyn-Örsiyn dov ) was the centuries-long ethnic and political conflict, often armed, between
1498-559: Is little merit to these accusations. By January 1943, the German retreat started, while the Soviet government began discussing the deportation of Chechen and Ingush people far from the North Caucasus, this was despite the fact Chechens and Ingush served in the Red Army like any other of the nations in the Soviet Union. In February 1944, under the direct command of Lavrentiy Beria , almost half
1605-679: The Polnische Wehrmacht ('Polish Wehrmacht', 'Polish Defense Force') in German. In January 1919, after World War I ended with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918 , the armed forces were dubbed Friedensheer (peace army). In March 1919, the national assembly passed a law founding a 420,000-strong preliminary army, the Vorläufige Reichswehr . The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced in May, and in June, Germany signed
1712-513: The Reichswehr , was established on 23 March 1921. General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty. The Reichswehr was limited to 115,000 men, and thus the armed forces, under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt , retained only the most capable officers. The American historians Alan Millet and Williamson Murray wrote "In reducing the officers corps, Seeckt chose
1819-554: The SS and their Einsatzgruppen death squads, the German armed forces committed numerous war crimes (despite later denials and promotion of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht ). The majority of the war crimes took place in the Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy, as part of the war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, the Holocaust and Nazi security warfare . During World War II about 18 million men served in
1926-673: The Battle of Moscow , the Siege of Leningrad , Stalingrad , Tunis in North Africa , and the Battle of Kursk . The German Army was managed through mission-based tactics (rather than order-based tactics) which was intended to give commanders greater freedom to act on events and exploit opportunities. In public opinion, the German Army was, and sometimes still is, seen as a high-tech army. However, such modern equipment, while featured much in propaganda,
2033-658: The Beslan school hostage crisis in 2004, the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings and the Domodedovo International Airport bombing in 2011. Currently, Chechnya is now under the rule of its Russian-appointed leader Ramzan Kadyrov . Though the oil-rich region has maintained relative stability under Kadyrov, he has been accused by critics and citizens of suppressing freedom of the press and violating other political and human rights. Because of this continued Russian rule, there were minor guerilla attacks by separatist groups in
2140-461: The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria . According to some sources, from 1991 to 1994, tens of thousands of people of non-Chechen ethnicity (mostly Russians , Ukrainians and Armenians ) left the republic amidst reports of violence and discrimination against the non-Chechen population. Other sources do not identify displacement as a significant factor in the events of the period, instead focusing on
2247-623: The Crimean War of 1853–1856, the Chechens supported the Ottoman Empire against Russia. However, internal tribal conflicts weakened Shamil and he was captured in 1859. The war formally ended in 1862 when Russia promised autonomy for Chechnya and other Caucasian ethnic groups. However, Chechnya and the surrounding region, including northern Dagestan , were incorporated into the Russian Empire as
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#17328522803392354-599: The Georgian Military Road through the Darial Pass, along with a series of military forts to protect the route. These activities, however, antagonized the Chechens, who saw the forts both as an encroachment on the traditional territories of the mountaineers and as a potential threat. The first significant conflict between the Chechens (and other North Caucasian peoples) and the Russians broke out in 1708. This conflict
2461-601: The Imamate in 1864 but only succeeded in defeating the Chechen forces in 1877. During the Russian Civil War , Chechens and other Caucasian nations lived in independence for a few years before being Sovietized in 1921. In 1944 on the grounds of dubious allegations of widespread collaboration with the advancing German forces , the Chechen nation as a collective were deported to Central Asia . The most recent conflicts between
2568-505: The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber. The planes cooperated closely with the ground forces. Overwhelming numbers of fighters assured air-supremacy, and the bombers would attack command- and supply-lines, depots, and other support targets close to the front. The Luftwaffe would also be used to transport paratroopers, as first used during Operation Weserübung . Due to the Army's sway with Hitler,
2675-475: The Luftwaffe was often subordinated to the Army, resulting in it being used as a tactical support role and losing its strategic capabilities. The Western Allies' strategic bombing campaign against German industrial targets (particularly the round-the-clock Combined Bomber Offensive ) and Germany's Defence of the Reich deliberately forced the Luftwaffe into a war of attrition. With German fighter force destroyed,
2782-538: The Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler 's most overt and bellicose moves was to establish the Wehrmacht , a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi regime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and defence spending on the arms industry . The Wehrmacht formed
2889-575: The North Caucasus other than as a communication route to its ally the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (eastern Georgia ) and its enemies, the Persian and Ottoman Empires , but growing tensions triggered by Russian activities in the region resulted in an uprising of Chechens against the Russian presence in 1785, followed by further clashes and the outbreak of the Caucasian War in 1817. Russia officially won against
2996-742: The OKH became the de facto Eastern Theatre higher-echelon command-organization for the Wehrmacht , excluding Waffen-SS except for operational and tactical combat purposes. The OKW conducted operations in the Western Theatre. The operations by the Kriegsmarine in the North and Mid-Atlantic can also be considered as separate theatres, considering the size of the area of operations and their remoteness from other theatres. The Wehrmacht fought on other fronts, sometimes three simultaneously; redeploying troops from
3103-596: The Russian , Soviet and Imperial Russian governments and various Chechen forces. The recent phase of the conflict started after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and ended with the oppression of Chechen separatist leaders and crushing of the separatist movement in the republic proper in 2017. Formal hostilities in Chechnya date back to 1785, though elements of the conflict can be traced back considerably further. The Russian Empire ostensibly had little interest in
3210-468: The SS and Wehrmacht , many SS officers were former army officers, which ensured continuity and understanding between the two. Throughout the war, army and SS soldiers worked together in various combat situations, creating bonds between the two groups. Guderian noted that every day the war continued the Army and the SS became closer together. Towards the end of the war, army units would even be placed under
3317-593: The SS was to be "procured from the Wehrmacht upon payment", however "in peacetime, no organizational connection with the Wehrmacht exists." The army was however allowed to check the budget of the SS and inspect the combat readiness of the SS troops. In the event of mobilization, the Waffen-SS field units could be placed under the operational control of the OKW or the OKH. All decisions regarding this would be at Hitler's personal discretion. Though there existed conflict between
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3424-445: The SS were stepped up as well. Following the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, fitness and physical health standards for Wehrmacht recruits were drastically lowered, with the regime going so far as to create "special diet" battalions for men with severe stomach ailments. Rear-echelon personnel were more often sent to front-line duty wherever possible, especially during the final two years of the war where, inspired by constant propaganda,
3531-645: The Soviet Union , including the Caucasian Muslim Legion , Turkestan Legion , Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians and Russians, Cossacks , and others who wished to fight against the Soviet regime or who were otherwise induced to join. Between 15,000 and 20,000 anti-communist White émigrés who had left Russia after the Russian Revolution joined the ranks of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS , with 1,500 acting as interpreters and more than 10,000 serving in
3638-483: The Spanish Civil War . The effectiveness of officer training and recruitment by the Wehrmacht has been identified as a major factor in its early victories as well as its ability to keep the war going as long as it did even as the war turned against Germany. As the Second World War intensified, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe personnel were increasingly transferred to the army, and "voluntary" enlistments in
3745-728: The Terek Oblast . Some Chechens have perceived Shamil's surrender as a betrayal, thus creating friction between Dagestanis and Chechens in this conflict, with the Dagestanis being frequently accused by Chechens as Russian collaborators. After the Russian Revolution , the peoples of the North Caucasus came to establish the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus . It existed until 1921, when they were forced to accept Soviet rule. Joseph Stalin personally held negotiations with
3852-715: The Wehrmacht . By the time the war ended in Europe in May 1945, German forces (consisting of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine , the Luftwaffe , the Waffen-SS , the Volkssturm , and foreign collaborator units ) had lost approximately 11,300,000 men, about 5,318,000 of whom were missing, killed or died in captivity. Only a few of the Wehrmacht ' s upper leadership went on trial for war crimes, despite evidence suggesting that more were involved in illegal actions. According to Ian Kershaw , most of
3959-545: The battle of the Urup River , where he was almost hit by an arrow and barely managed to escape through the mountains. The insurgency was eventually put down after his final defeat at Anapa in July 1791, where he was captured. Mansur died in captivity in 1794. After Russia's defeat of French Napoleonic forces in the 1812 war, Tsar Alexander I turned his attentions once more to the North Caucasus , assigning one of his most celebrated generals, Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov , to
4066-616: The war in Donbas against Russia and the Russian separatist forces in Donbas as part of the Ukrainian volunteer battalions , forming the Sheikh Mansur and Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalions . The pro-Ukrainian Chechens see the Russo-Ukrainian War as a contribution to the larger anti-Russian struggle. While Chechen forces under Kadyrov have been present both during the annexation of Crimea by
4173-517: The " battle of annihilation ", the Wehrmacht managed many lightning quick victories in the first year of World War II, prompting foreign journalists to create a new word for what they witnessed: Blitzkrieg . Germany's immediate military success on the field at the start of the Second World War coincides the favorable beginning they achieved during the First World War, a fact which some attribute to their superior officer corps. The Heer entered
4280-665: The "German Wehrmacht ", consisting of the Seemacht (sea force) and the Landmacht (land force). In 1919, the term Wehrmacht also appears in Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution , establishing that: "The Reich's President holds supreme command of all armed forces [i.e. the Wehrmacht ] of the Reich". From 1919, Germany's national defense force was known as the Reichswehr , a name that
4387-482: The Armed Forces, retaining the position until his suicide on 30 April 1945. The title of Commander-in-Chief was given to the Minister of the Reichswehr Werner von Blomberg , who was simultaneously renamed the Reich Minister of War. Following the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair , Blomberg resigned and Hitler abolished the Ministry of War. As a replacement for the ministry, the Wehrmacht High Command Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), under Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel ,
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4494-409: The Battle of the Karaman Field where a Dagestani-Chechen army under Sultan-Mut defeated the Russian army. These failed expeditions and battles by Russia led to the weakening of Prince Shikh and his assassination in 1596 by one of Sultan-Mut's brothers. Sultan-Mut continued to pursue an anti-Russian policy into the early 17th century and was known to sometimes live among the Chechens and with them raid
4601-470: The British. Karl Doenitz , the U-Boat Chief, began unrestricted submarine warfare which cost the Allies 22,898 men and 1,315 ships. The U-boat war remained costly for the Allies until early spring of 1943 when the Allies began to use countermeasures against U-Boats such as the use of Hunter-Killer groups, airborne radar, torpedoes and mines like the FIDO . The submarine war cost the Kriegsmarine 757 U-boats, with more than 30,000 U-boat crewmen killed. In
4708-452: The Caucasian leaders in 1921 and promised a wide autonomy inside the Soviet state. The Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created that year, but only lasted until 1924 when it was abolished and six republics were created. The Checheno–Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established in 1934. Confrontations between the Chechens and the Soviet government arose in the late 1920s during collectivization . It declined by
4815-417: The Chechen and Russian governments began in the 1990s. As the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Chechens declared independence in 1991. By late 1994, the First Chechen War broke out, and after two years of fighting, the Russian government negotiated a ceasefire in August 1996. In 1999, the fighting restarted , resulting in yet another major armed conflict, with a large number of casualties on both sides. There
4922-419: The Chechen plain. Notably, a large portion of Kuchukov's forces were Aukhs . In February 1708, these forces launched an assault on the Terki Fortress . However, the arrival of Russian and Kalmyk reinforcements turned the tide against the rebels. Ultimately, Murat Kuchukov was captured and subsequently executed, marking a decisive defeat for the North Caucasian insurgents. Around this time, Sheikh Mansur ,
5029-423: The German armed forces prior to 1941. With the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the government's positions changed. German propagandists wanted to present the war not as a purely German concern, but as a multi-national crusade against the so-called Jewish Bolshevism . Hence, the Wehrmacht and the SS began to seek out recruits from occupied and neutral countries across Europe: the Germanic populations of
5136-418: The German army's early success. In the strategies of the Blitzkrieg , the Wehrmacht combined the mobility of light tanks with airborne assault to quickly progress through weak enemy lines, enabling the German army to quickly take over Poland and France. These tanks were used to break through enemy lines, isolating regiments from the main force so that the infantry behind the tanks could quickly kill or capture
5243-422: The Jews serving in the Reichswehr given an automatic and immediate dishonorable discharge . Again, on his own initiative Blomberg had the armed forces adopt Nazi symbols into their uniforms in May 1934. In August of the same year, on Blomberg's initiative and that of the Ministeramt chief General Walther von Reichenau , the entire military took the Hitler oath , an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler. Hitler
5350-441: The Netherlands and Norway were recruited largely into the SS , while "non-Germanic" people were recruited into the Wehrmacht . The "voluntary" nature of such recruitment was often dubious, especially in the later years of the war when even Poles living in the Polish Corridor were declared "ethnic Germans" and drafted. After Germany's defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad , the Wehrmacht also made substantial use of personnel from
5457-461: The North Caucasus routes with other contemporary powers including Persia , the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate . During the 16th century, the Russian Tsardom tried to win influence in the North Caucasus by allying themselves with local princes such as the Temryuk of Kabardia and Shikh-Murza Okotsky of Chechnya. Temryuk controlled the Northwest Caucasus and with Russia's help he managed to stave off Crimean incursions. Northeast Caucasus
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#17328522803395564-920: The OKW, Hitler solidified his control over the Wehrmacht . Showing restraint at the beginning of the war, Hitler also became increasingly involved in military operations at every scale. Additionally, there was a clear lack of cohesion between the three High Commands and the OKW, as senior generals were unaware of the needs, capabilities and limitations of the other branches. With Hitler serving as Supreme Commander, branch commands were often forced to fight for influence with Hitler. However, influence with Hitler not only came from rank and merit but also who Hitler perceived as loyal, leading to inter-service rivalry, rather than cohesion between his military advisers. The German Army furthered concepts pioneered during World War I , combining ground ( Heer ) and air force ( Luftwaffe ) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with traditional war fighting methods such as encirclements and
5671-544: The Okoki (a Chechen tribe of Aukh) that were loyal to the Chechen Mullah Mayda joined the outcast Kumyk prince Sultan-Mut who for a very long time allied with the Chechens living south of the Terek- Sulak interfluve. Sultan-Mut was at first against the Russian policies in the Caucasus , he along with the Chechens, Kumyks and Avars fought Russian Cossacks and burned down Russian forts. The Russian Tsar countered this by sending military expeditions into Dagestan. Both of these expeditions resulted in Russian defeat and culminated in
5778-463: The Russian Cossacks. However, this started to change as Sultan-Mut several times tried to join the Russians and asked for a citizenship. This switch of policy angered many Chechens and led to them distancing from Sultan-Mut. This caused a mistrust in Aukh between the people of Endirey (Chechen-Kumyk city controlled by the Sultan-Mut family and his Chechen Sala-Uzden allies) and the Aukh Chechens. In 1774, Russia gained control of Ossetia , and with it
5885-497: The Russian Federation and the subsequent War in Donbas. On 23 August 2019, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili , a former military platoon commander for the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria during the Second Chechen War, was assassinated in a Berlin park, by a Russian FSB agent who was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment by a German court. Chechnya had significant involvement with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , pro-Russian Kadyrovites from Chechnya were deployed in Ukraine as
5992-415: The Russian Tsardom more influence in the Northeast Caucasus, several Russian forts were set up along the Terek river (among them the stronghold of Terki ) and Cossack villages. Prior to this the Cossacks had almost no presence in Chechnya and Dagestan. These villages and forts caused Chechens to distrust Prince Shikh since forts were built on Chechen owned pastures. The Michkizi (lowland Chechens) and part of
6099-440: The Russian side, as death squads. But when you use, basically, pirates and rogues as death squads and you entrust local power to them as the occupational authority, the result is that you destroy whatever is left of regular governance structures. Although insurgency between the Russian government and the Chechen militants ended in 2017, elimination of militants continued afterwards. The conflict between Chechens and Russians
6206-436: The Western Allies had air supremacy over the battlefield, denying support to German forces on the ground and using its own fighter-bombers to attack and disrupt. Following the losses in Operation Bodenplatte in 1945, the Luftwaffe was no longer an effective force. The Treaty of Versailles disallowed submarines, while limiting the size of the Reichsmarine to six battleships, six cruisers, and twelve destroyers. Following
6313-425: The area. Further adding to the tension, jihadist groups aligned with the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda existed in the region. Sociologist Georgi Derluguian described the situation in Chechnya as follows: And during the second war, after 1999, the Russians adopted a strategy which they thought was very smart – using elements of the Chechen resistance, who previously fought against the Russians but were lured to
6420-446: The army that existed in World War I. In the 1920s, Seeckt and his officers developed new doctrines that emphasized speed, aggression, combined arms and initiative on the part of lower officers to take advantage of momentary opportunities. Though Seeckt retired in 1926, his influence on the army was still apparent when it went to war in 1939. Germany was forbidden to have an air force by the Versailles treaty; nonetheless, Seeckt created
6527-410: The beginning, there was friction between the SS and the army, as the army feared the SS would attempt to become a legitimate part of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, partly due to the fighting between the limited armaments, and the perceived fanaticism towards Nazism. However, on 17 August 1938, Hitler codified the role of the SS and the army in order to end the feud between the two. The arming of
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#17328522803396634-430: The coast of Norway, which had been occupied since 1940, convoys from North America to the Soviet port of Murmansk could be intercepted though the Tirpitz spent most of her career as fleet in being . After the appointment of Karl Dönitz as Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine (in the aftermath of the Battle of the Barents Sea ), Germany stopped constructing battleships and cruisers in favor of U-boats. Though by 1941,
6741-403: The command of the SS , in Italy and the Netherlands. The relationship between the Wehrmacht and the SS improved; however, the Waffen-SS was never considered "the fourth branch of the Wehrmacht ." The Wehrmacht directed combat operations during World War II (from 1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945) as the German Reich 's armed forces umbrella command-organization. After 1941
6848-435: The conquest of the region. In 1817, Russian forces under Yermolov's command embarked upon the conquest of the Caucasus . Yermolov's brutal tactics, which included economic warfare, collective punishment and forcible deportations, were initially successful, but have been described as counterproductive since they effectively ended Russian influence on Chechen society and culture and ensured the Chechens' enduring enmity. Yermolov
6955-418: The creation of the Wehrmacht , the navy was renamed the Kriegsmarine . With the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement , Germany was allowed to increase its navy's size to be 35:100 tonnage of the Royal Navy, and allowed for the construction of U-boats. This was partly done to appease Germany, and because Britain believed the Kriegsmarine would not be able to reach the 35% limit until 1942. The navy
7062-465: The deportation was a genocide. In 1957, Chechens were allowed to return to their homes. The Checheno–Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was reestablished. The violence began in 1958, upon a conflict between a Russian sailor and an Ingush youngster over a girl, in which the Russian was fatally injured. The incident quickly deteriorated into mass ethnic riots, as Slavic mobs attacked Chechens and Ingushes and looted their property throughout
7169-440: The deteriorating domestic situation within Chechnya, the aggressive politics of the Chechen President, Dzhokhar Dudayev , and the domestic political ambitions of Russian President Boris Yeltsin . Russian Army forces were commanded into Grozny in 1994 but, after two years of intense fighting, the Russian troops eventually withdrew from Chechnya under the Khasavyurt Accord . Chechnya preserved its de facto independence until
7276-452: The early stage of Operation Barbarossa in the Soviet Union (June 1941). After Hitler declared war on the United States in December 1941, the Axis powers found themselves engaged in campaigns against several major industrial powers while Germany was still in transition to a war economy. German units were then overextended, undersupplied, outmaneuvered, outnumbered and defeated by its enemies in decisive battles during 1941, 1942, and 1943 at
7383-436: The enemy troops. Originally outlawed by the Treaty of Versailles, the Luftwaffe was officially established in 1935, under the leadership of Hermann Göring . First gaining experience in the Spanish Civil War , it was a key element in the early Blitzkrieg campaigns (Poland, France 1940, USSR 1941). The Luftwaffe concentrated production on fighters and (small) tactical bombers, like the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and
7490-414: The force was ambushed by Mansur's followers on its return journey and annihilated, beginning the first Chechen–Russian war. Mansur grew in popularity and soon several thousand people from across the North Caucasus came to join his army. However, he failed to capture the fortresses of Kizlyar twice and Grigoriopolis, after which many of his supporters left him. During his Campaign to Kabardia he suffered
7597-549: The guard force of the Russian Protective Corps . In the beginning, women in Nazi Germany were not involved in the Wehrmacht , as Hitler ideologically opposed conscription for women, stating that Germany would " not form any section of women grenade throwers or any corps of women elite snipers. " However, with many men going to the front, women were placed in auxiliary positions within the Wehrmacht , called Wehrmachtshelferinnen ( lit. ' Female Wehrmacht Helper ' ), participating in tasks as: They were placed under
7704-512: The heart of Germany's politico-military power. In the early part of the Second World War , the Wehrmacht employed combined arms tactics (close-cover air-support, tanks and infantry) to devastating effect in what became known as Blitzkrieg (lightning war). Its campaigns in France (1940) , the Soviet Union (1941) and North Africa (1941/42) are regarded by historians as acts of boldness. At
7811-809: The intensifying theatre in the East to the West after the Normandy landings caused tensions between the General Staffs of both the OKW and the OKH ;– as Germany lacked sufficient materiel and manpower for a two-front war of such magnitude. Major campaigns and battles in Eastern and Central Europe included: For a time, the Axis Mediterranean Theatre and the North African Campaign were conducted as
7918-514: The long time period of the clashes. One source indicates that at least 60,000 Chechens were killed in the First and Second Chechen War in the 1990s and 2000s alone. High estimates of these two wars range of up to 150,000 or 160,000 killed, as put by Taus Djabrailov, the head of Chechnya's interim Parliament. Wehrmacht The Wehrmacht ( German pronunciation: [ˈveːɐ̯maxt] , lit. ' defence force ' ) were
8025-450: The massacres during the deportation was the Khaibakh massacre , in which an estimated 700 Chechen children, elderly and women were locked in a barn and burned alive, reportedly due to problems with their transportation. Mikhail Gvishiani , the officer responsible for the massacre was praised and promised a medal by Lavrentiy Beria himself. A 2004 European Parliament resolution states that
8132-484: The mid-1930s after local leaders were arrested or killed. The Chechen uprising of 1932 [ ru ] broke out in early 1932 and was defeated in March. Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Soviet historiography falsely accuses Chechens of joining the Wehrmacht en masse, although this notion is not accepted in any other academic instances. Modern Russian historiography itself also admits that there
8239-513: The name " Wehrmacht "; the Reichswehr was officially renamed the Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. Hitler's proclamation of the Wehrmacht ' s existence included a total of no less than 36 divisions in its original projection, contravening the Treaty of Versailles in grandiose fashion. In December 1935, General Ludwig Beck added 48 tank battalions to the planned rearmament program. Hitler originally set
8346-467: The navy had already lost a number of its large surface ships, which could not be replenished during the war. The Kriegsmarine ' s most significant contribution to the German war effort was the deployment of its nearly 1,000 U-boats to strike at Allied convoys. The German naval strategy was to attack the convoys in an attempt to prevent the United States from interfering in Europe and to starve out
8453-403: The new leadership from the best men of the general staff with ruthless disregard for other constituencies, such as war heroes and the nobility." Seeckt's determination that the Reichswehr be an elite cadre force that would serve as the nucleus of an expanded military when the chance for restoring conscription came essentially led to the creation of a new army, based upon, but very different from,
8560-621: The next decade until the Germans finally left in September 1933. However, the arms buildup was done in secrecy, until Hitler came to power and it received broad political support. After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, Adolf Hitler assumed the office of President of Germany , and thus became commander in chief. In February 1934, the Defence Minister Werner von Blomberg , acting on his own initiative, had all of
8667-556: The oldest and youngest were being recruited and driven by instilled fear and fanaticism to serve on the fronts and, often, to fight to the death, whether judged to be cannon fodder or elite troops. Prior to World War II, the Wehrmacht strove to remain a purely ethnic German force; as such, minorities within and outside of Germany, such as the Czechs in annexed Czechoslovakia , were exempted from military service after Hitler's takeover in 1938. Foreign volunteers were generally not accepted in
8774-650: The opening year of the war. No aircraft carrier was operational, as German leadership lost interest in the Graf Zeppelin which had been launched in 1938. Following the loss of the German battleship Bismarck in 1941, with Allied air-superiority threatening the remaining battle-cruisers in French Atlantic harbors, the ships were ordered to make the Channel Dash back to German ports. Operating from fjords along
8881-455: The other half performed obligatory services connected to the war effort ( German : Kriegshilfsdienst ). Legally, the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht was Adolf Hitler in his capacity as Germany's head of state, a position he gained after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934. With the creation of the Wehrmacht in 1935, Hitler elevated himself to Supreme Commander of
8988-586: The period 1935–1939. The total number of soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during its existence from 1935 to 1945 is believed to have approached 18.2 million. The German military leadership originally aimed at a homogeneous military, possessing traditional Prussian military values. However, with Hitler's constant wishes to increase the Wehrmacht ' s size, the Army was forced to accept citizens of lower class and education, decreasing internal cohesion and appointing officers who lacked real-war experience from previous conflicts, especially World War I and
9095-545: The region for four days. Ethnic clashes continued through the 1960s, and in 1965 some 16 clashes were reported, with 185 severe injuries, 19 of them fatal. By the late 1960s, the region calmed down and the Chechen–Russian conflict came to its lowest point until the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the eruption of Chechen Wars in 1990. In 1991, following the Chechen Revolution , Chechnya declared independence as
9202-582: The same authority as ( Hiwis ), auxiliary personnel of the army ( German : Behelfspersonal ) and they were assigned to duties within the Reich, and to a lesser extent, in the occupied territories, for example in the general government of occupied Poland , in France , and later in Yugoslavia , in Greece and in Romania . By 1945, 500,000 women were serving as Wehrmachtshelferinnen , half of whom were volunteers, while
9309-419: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Chechen War . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chechen_War&oldid=1209555751 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
9416-472: The same time, the extent of advances strained the Wehrmacht's capacity to the breaking point, culminating in its first major defeat in the Battle of Moscow (1941); by late 1942, Germany was losing the initiative in all theatres. The German operational art proved no match to that of the Allied coalition , making the Wehrmacht's weaknesses in strategy, doctrine, and logistics apparent. Closely cooperating with
9523-722: The second war broke out in 1999. In 1999, the Russian government forces started an anti-terrorist campaign in Chechnya, in response to the invasion of Dagestan by Chechen-based Islamic forces. By early 2000 Russia almost completely destroyed the city of Grozny and succeeded in putting Chechnya under direct control of Moscow by late April. Since the end of the Second Chechen War in May 2000, low-level insurgency has continued, particularly in Chechnya , Ingushetia and Dagestan . Russian security forces have succeeded in eliminating some of their leaders, such as Shamil Basayev , who
9630-518: The strategically important Darial Pass , from the Ottomans. A few years later, in 1783, Russia signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with Heraclius II of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti , making the eastern Georgian kingdom—a Christian enclave surrounded by hostile Muslim states—a Russian protectorate . To fulfill her obligations under the treaty, Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, began construction of
9737-552: The terms. Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialization and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany. German tank and air-force specialists could exercise in the Soviet Union and German chemical weapons research and manufacture would be carried out there along with other projects. In 1924 a fighter-pilot school was established at Lipetsk , where several hundred German air force personnel received instruction in operational maintenance, navigation, and aerial combat training over
9844-470: The three million Wehrmacht soldiers who invaded the USSR participated in war crimes. The German term "Wehrmacht " stems from the compound word of German : wehren , "to defend" and Macht , "power, force". It has been used to describe any nation's armed forces; for example, Britische Wehrmacht meaning "British Armed Forces". The Frankfurt Constitution of 1849 designated all German military forces as
9951-412: The treaty that, among other terms, imposed severe constraints on the size of Germany's armed forces. The army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships , six cruisers , and twelve destroyers . Submarines , tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air-force was dissolved. A new post-war military,
10058-557: The unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation " Wehrmacht " replaced the previously used term Reichswehr ( Reich Defence ) and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted. After
10165-480: The war with a minority of its formations motorized ; infantry remained approximately 90% foot-borne throughout the war, and artillery was primarily horse-drawn . The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the reason for the success of the invasions of Poland (September 1939), Denmark and Norway (April 1940), Belgium, France, and Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia and Greece (April 1941) and
10272-641: Was also prioritized last in the German rearmament scheme, making it the smallest of the branches. In the Battle of the Atlantic , the initially successful German U-boat fleet arm was eventually defeated due to Allied technological innovations like sonar , radar , and the breaking of the Enigma code. Large surface vessels were few in number due to construction limitations by international treaties prior to 1935. The "pocket battleships" Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer were important as commerce raiders only in
10379-422: Was dedicated to the idea of reviving Tirpitz's High Seas Fleet. Officers who believed in submarine warfare led by Admiral Karl Dönitz were in a minority before 1939. By 1922, Germany had begun covertly circumventing the conditions of the Versailles treaty. A secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the Treaty of Rapallo . Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate
10486-477: Was dropped in favor of Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. While the term Wehrmacht has been associated, both in the German and English languages, with the German armed forces of 1935–45 since the Second World War, before 1945 the term was used in the German language in a more general sense for a national defense force. For instance, the German-aligned formations of Poles raised during the First World War were known as
10593-455: Was killed on 10 July 2006. After Basayev's death, Dokka Umarov took the leadership of the rebel forces in North Caucasus until his death, owing to poisoning, in 2013. Islamists from Chechnya and other North Caucasian republics have been blamed for a number of terrorist attacks throughout Russia, most notably the Russian apartment bombings in 1999, the Moscow theater hostage crisis in 2002,
10700-669: Was largely controlled by Shamkhal princes, Avar khans and the powerful lord of Okotsk (a Chechen feudal entity) Prince Shikh whose influence reached all of Northeast Caucasus. These princes bought weapons and settled Russian Cossacks near the Terek river to strengthen their rule and influence. Prince Shikh Okotsky had in his army around 500 Cossacks combined with 1,000 Okocheni (the Chechens of Aukh ), and often waged anti-Iranian and anti-Ottoman campaigns in Dagestan . Prince Shikh's politics gave
10807-461: Was most surprised at the offer; the popular view that Hitler imposed the oath on the military is false. The oath read: "I swear by God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German empire and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, I shall render unconditional obedience and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath". By 1935, Germany
10914-580: Was not relieved of command until 1827. A turning point in the conflict was marked in 1828 when the Muridism movement emerged. It was led by Imam Shamil , a Dagestani Avar . In 1834 he united the Northeast Caucasus nations under Islam and declared "holy war" on Russia. In 1845 Shamil's forces surrounded and killed thousands of Russian soldiers and several generals in Dargo , forcing them to retreat. During
11021-532: Was often only available in relatively small numbers. Only 40% to 60% of all units in the Eastern Front were motorized, baggage trains often relied on horse-drawn trailers due to poor roads and weather conditions in the Soviet Union, and for the same reasons many soldiers marched on foot or used bicycles as bicycle infantry . As the fortunes of war turned against them, the Germans were in constant retreat from 1943 and onward. The Panzer divisions were vital to
11128-605: Was openly flouting the military restrictions set forth in the Versailles Treaty: German rearmament was announced on 16 March with the "Edict for the Buildup of the Wehrmacht " ( German : Gesetz für den Aufbau der Wehrmacht ) and the reintroduction of conscription. While the size of the standing army was to remain at about the 100,000-man mark decreed by the treaty, a new group of conscripts equal to this size would receive training each year. The conscription law introduced
11235-541: Was primarily driven by the actions of corrupt governors, local princes, and the imposition of discriminatory policies and taxes on the North Caucasian population. Tensions were further fueled by Murat Kuchukov , a Bashkir religious and military leader allied with the Turlov prince, Amirkhamza Turlov . As a result of Kuchukov's teachings, Kuchukov rallied over 1,600 fighters from across the North Caucasus, including 700 from
11342-431: Was put in its place. Placed under the OKW were the three branch High Commands: Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), Oberkommando der Marine (OKM), and Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL). The OKW was intended to serve as a joint command and coordinate all military activities, with Hitler at the top. Though many senior officers, such as von Manstein , had advocated for a real tri-service Joint Command, or appointment of
11449-507: Was vast destruction of the Chechen capital in the battle of Grozny . The Russian military established control over Chechnya in late April 2000, ending the major combat phase of the war, with insurgency and hostilities continuing for several years. The end of the conflict was proclaimed by Russian authorities in 2017, ending a centuries-old struggle, at least in name. However, armed Chechen groups continue to operate in opposition to Russian forces in Ukraine and Syria. The North Caucasus ,
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