Bitter Choices: Loyalty and Betrayal in the Russian Conquest of the North Caucasus

by Michael Khodarkovsky

Russia’s attempt to consolidate its authority in the North Caucasus has exerted a terrible price on both sides since the mid-nineteenth century. Michael Khodarkovsky tells a concise and compelling history of the mountainous region between the Black and Caspian seas during the centuries of Russia’s long conquest (1500–1850s). The history of the region unfolds against the background of one man’s life story, Semën Atarshchikov (1807–1845). Torn between his Chechen identity and his duties as a lieutenant and translator in the Russian army, Atarshchikov defected, not once but twice, to join the mountaineers against the invading Russian troops. His was the experience more typical of Russia’s empire-building in the borderlands than the better known stories of the audacious kidnappers and valiant battles. It is a history of the North Caucasus as seen from both sides of the conflict, which continues to make this region Russia’s most violent and vulnerable frontier.

Genres: Russia, History, Nonfiction, Russian History, Russian Empire, Biography, War

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Michael Khodarkovsky is a Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago where he teaches courses in Russian Empire, comparative empires, colonialism, and Western civilization. He specializes in the history of Russia's imperial expansion into the Eurasian borderlands.

Reviews

[Wesley Giesbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

The primary purpose of the book is to give a broad overview of the Russian conquest of the North Caucasus during the 19th century but the author achieves this through a semi biographical telling of the life of a Russified native named Semën Atarshchikov. Born into a family of Russified natives in a Cossack village, serving in the Russian military during the conquest, and eventually fleeing the army to live in the mountain, he embodies the conflicting nature of the native perspective of the encroaching Russian authority.

The overarching trajectory follows the life of Semën, though this more serves as a general structure as the majority of the book is taken up with descriptions of the North Caucasus itself, the general advance of the Russians, the primary figures during the conflict (such as Ermolov, Zass, and Shamil), the nature of the conquest, and the various inhabitants of the region. So one section of the book may be following Semën's service as a translator under Ermolov in Daghestan and Chechnya, but the majority of the text will be focused on the policies of Ermolov, the brutal nature of his advance, and the fluctuating reaction by the natives.

The book itself is fairly short so it doesn't give an in-depth description of the conquest, though it highlights the major times of conflict, describes the general policies advanced by the Russians, and touches on how the local inhabitants react (when they choose to acquiesce to the Russian authority and when they choose to resist). The main focus is on the campaigns in Daghestan and Chechnya in the east and the Circassian territories in the West, though it seems more space is given to the conflicts in the east (the author only briefly mentions the Circassian genocide at the end of the book, though I was hoping for more information on this horrific policy to be included).

The methodology of describing the conquest through the life of a historical figure who understood and participated in both sides of the conflict is definitely original and for a rudimentary introduction to the conquest this book is quite suitable. For anyone looking for a traditional history of the conquest, they would need to look elsewhere.

[Inna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes its readers on a ride through Northern Caucasus during late 18th-early 19th century, a period of its brutal conquest by the Russian empire. The book concentrates on a clash between two different systems - one of a centralized empire and the other of various independent tribal organizations. The author chooses to depict this clash through people in between - these who from one reason or another were introduced to both cultures and therefore experienced divided loyalties. Our guide on the ride in Semen Atarshchikov (1807-1845), a Chechen whose hostage father was educated in a Russian school, converted to Christianity, and became a Cossack. Atarshchikov, who was educated both in a Cossack settlement and in a Kumyk village,was introduced to both cultures. That meant that during his army service he became a translator and worked for several army officers during the pacification of the area, which involved systematic destruction of villages and massacre of their inhabitants. At some point he went to the other side and joined the resistance. There, after a while, he was murdered by a Russian defector, who saw the murder as his way back to the Russian army.
This is a great story about divided loyalties and identities. Indeed, I occasionally wondered how the author knew this or that, but the overall picture definitely seems valid.

[Jfp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating dive into a part of the world I knew little about, but is still in the headlines on occasion. 3-1/2 *

[Jane E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating and goes a long way in explaining how the southern Caucasus ended up as independent republics while the northern Caucasus was incorporated into Russia, something that I had often wondered about. It also brought an understanding of how long standing the "wars" are in the region. For all the time and money spent by Russia trying to swallow up and "Russify" the various areas of the northern Caucasus the native populations are still not assimilated and have not accepted that they are part of the larger country. This book covers just the early part of the oozing of Russia into the region - relocating cossack families to replace local clans, burning of villages with women and children sold into slavery in mainland Russia and boy hostages taken from the ruling families to be educated in St Petersburg in the hopes of turning them into Russian loyalists. And the Russians wonder why the Chechens and others still pull against the ties that try to bind them!

The book gets a 4 star rather than 5 for the lack of really comprehensive maps. It was impossible to visualize the geographic movements and campaigns with the fairly rudimentary maps provided. Better maps would have made for an even better book.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant reconstruction of the confused and confusing welter of peoples and persons involved in the Russian conquest of the North Caucasus. By finding a single person trapped between worlds to personify the contradictions he's exploring, Khodarkovsky makes the complexity comprehensible.