Chechnya: A Small Victorious War

by Thomas De ; Gall C Waal, Thomas de Waal

Since the conflict started in Chechnya contrasting images and messages about the Chechen people have been presented. This book aims to explain these contradictory images and place them in their context, explaining the history of the region and its troubled relations with Russia.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Russia, War, Islam, Military Fiction, Politics

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 1997

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be slightly dated (1997), but it is probably the best single source for the backdrop and machinations of the first few year of the Chechnyan struggle for independence. Typically, local contests for liberty, especially in a near-guerilla context of this and in a place as politically complex as Chechnya, can be quite confusing, but Gall and de Wall negotiate the strands deftly. They worked literally on the ground during much of the conflict and their eyewitness perspective of Russian atrocity, especially in Grozny can be outright disturbing. Of value, too, are their interviews with fighters like Maskhadov and Basayev, plus all the Russian soldiers they hung out with. One of the most harrowing moments comes early in the first siege of Grozny when Russian mothers were flocking down to get their sons off the battlefield, ably assisted by Chechnyan rebels, in a bizarre historical irony.
Kremlin madness is detailed here as well, making a potentially complicated story fuller and easier to maneuver through.

[E.P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An account of the first Chechen war written by two journalists who were on the ground when it happened, interviewing the leaders and even spending time embedded amongst Chechen units, "Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus" is both a thorough overview and a riveting story of the first war. Although it is distinctly dated by being written before the outbreak of the second war, it is still a a highly useful resource for anyone interested in contemporary Chechnya, or who wants to read some compelling war reporting.

It begins with the story of the ill-fated New Year's Eve storming of Grozny by Russian forces, and then backtracks to give a historical overview of Russia's conquest of the Caucasus and Chechnya's experiences under the Russian empire and the USSR, particularly the mass deportation of Chechens to Kazakhstan during WWII, before returning to the war. There are in-depth portraits of many of the leaders involved, especially Dzhokhar Dudayev, but also Basayev and others, and descriptions of the official and unofficial negotiations that occurred before, during, and after the war. There are also a number of fascinating, if at times gruesome, photographs.

This is a journalists' book, and as such it is both full of detail and written in an engaging, casual style, making it useful for both academics and non-academics alike. The authors, while not blind to the flaws of 1990s Chechnya, have, like many Western reporters, a pro-Chechen slant, which is understandable under the circumstances--and goodness knows the Russians won themselves no friends during the war--but now, twenty years later, has tragic undertones. It is hard to look at pictures of a smiling Shamil Basayev and read about his intelligence and charisma--although I'm sure he had them, and in spades--with the knowledge of what he would go on to do, and the authors' hopeful predictions of the future that Chechnya could have in store have not come to pass. Still, this is the problem that all works on volatile regions have, and does not detract from the quality of the reporting on the events leading up to and during the first war. An essential read on the first Chechen war.

[Greynomad · Rating 3 out of 5]

politic's of fools who cost thousands of lives.........

[Thomas Kanyak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first hand account of the First Chechen War from 1994 to 1996 from two reporters who were there. Interview with most of main actors in the political and military theatre and perspective for the future except active incompetent Russian generals who had nothing to gain from speaking up. The book was published shortly after the first war in 1997, but predicted the chaos and how ungovernable a semi -independent, devastated Chechnya would be. Of course, Putin and Russia invaded again in 1999 and another bloody war ensued which resulted in Russian victory second time around. I thought it was well balanced book, but obviously Russia was mostly to blame and this could not help but come out in the narrative.

[G.A. Milnthorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually supplement my ratings but given the current situation with Ukraine, how prescient is this quote?

"In general I am fed up with making war. And then I know for sure that any war is first a deadlock and then a meaningless catastrophe. I know for sure that all wars, even if they are hundred year wars, end in negotiations and peace. So, should one fight a hundred years and kill lots of people to come to a negotiated settlement? Perhaps we should start with it?"

Alexander Lebed, general turned politician.

[Amy Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed account with first-hand on-the-ground witness testimony and journalism. It has details about things that happened that i haven’t seen in other books on the wars.

[Michael Griswold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people prepare for the Winter Olympics by web searching Olympic sports like halfpipe skiing or parallel snowboarding, just to get an idea of what alien lifeformsof sport will be gracing their television sets over the next two weeks. My preparation for the Sochi Olympics included reading several books on Chechnya- a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region that Russia has fought two wars over since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Gall and de Waal in Calamity in the Caucasus trace the conflict from its historical roots through roughly 2001. It is simply a war that has no real winners. Thousands of Chechens have been killed, young Russian conscripts have been killed and or injured, and the Chechen capital is still being rebuilt today. Gall and De Wall do their best to illustrate the suffering on both sides of the conflict and the political maneuvering that made the conflict happen.

An update to this book that accounted for the 2001-present period would be nice in order to account for the events like Beslan that took place in that period and President Putin’s crackdown and installation of a pro-Kremlin strongman. However, this book should serve as required background material for anyone looking to gain insight into the Russian-Chechnya conflict.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

great background, well written, but pre-Putin.

[Claire S]

Mentioned in high regard in Rashid's book 'Descent into Chaos.' Hope she writes about those overlapping tragedies as well some time.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

great reporting from the first chechen war. I'd say this is a must-read piece of journalism for anyone interested in modern history of the northern caucasus conflicts