Caucasian War

The Caucasian War of 1817–1864, also known as the Russian conquest of the CaucasusBaddeley, John F. The Russian conquest of the Caucasus. London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta: Longmans, Green and Co., 1908. Reprinted Mansfield Centre, Conn.: Martino Pub., 2006. ISBN 1-57898-576-5. was an invasion of the Caucasus by the Russian Empire which ended with the annexation of the areas of the North Caucasus to Russia. It consisted of a series of military actions waged by Russia against territories and tribal groups in Caucasia including Chechnya, Dagestan, Karachay and the Circassians (Adyghe, Abkhaz and Ubykh) as Russia sought to expand southward.

The Russian-Circassian War, a conflict between Russia and Circassia, was part of the Caucasian War.

Other territories of the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) were incorporated into the Russian empire at various times in the 19th century as a result of Russian wars with the Ottoman Empire and Persia.

History

Three Russian Tsars sparked the war: Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II. The leading Russian commanders were Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov in 1816–1827, Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov in 1844–1853 and Aleksandr Baryatinskiy in 1853–1856. The writers Mikhail Lermontov and Leo Tolstoy, who gained much of his knowledge and experience of war for his book War and Peace from these...
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