The conquest of the Caucasian Region by the Russian Empire was a pivotal historical period for the Caucasus due to the invasion of Russian political rule and the following dependency that disrupted Caucasian autonomous development. Several key historical events marked the process of incorporation of Caucasus into the Russian Empire that related to religion, relocation of the population, and division of society. Some of the major events between the 18th century and 1930s depict the invasive politics of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus.
The process of the inclusion of the territory of Caucasus into the Russian Empire was deliberate and tactic, military, and propaganda-based, which forced the region to become a part of the tsar state. However, as stated by Coene (2009), “Soviet and Russian literature describe this process as voluntary,” while historical facts prove the opposite (p. 122). One of the events that illustrate the history of the Caucasus’ conquest by the Russian Empire was Peter the Great’s Persian campaign in the 1720s-1740s which ultimately ignited the Russian-Ottaman-Persian conflict over the power of influence on the Caucasus (Morkva, 2021). The results of these military conflicts led to the strengthening of Russian positions in the Caucasus and another significant historical event, namely the Treaty of Georgiyevsk of 1783 (Coene, 2009). It marked the Russian protectorate over Kartli–Kakheti (Georgia), which was induced by Russia’s prior manipulation of the Georgian to obtain more influence in the region.
Having established close relations with Georgia, the Russian Empire under the rule of Yekaterina II sent Russian troops to Georgian in 1795 to help the state withstand the invasion of Persia. As a result, Russia obtained control over the South Caucasus, which was achieved through the deliberate tactics of dividing and ruling using “the fragmentation between some 20 khanates in the Azeriinhabited areas” (Coene, 2009, p. 125). With the increased domination of Russia in the Caucasus over the 1820s, it intensified its plans for making the region Christian. One of the tactics to achieve that goal was the relocation of the people since “the Russian authorities even encouraged Muslims to leave the Russian Empire in order to settle Armenians there instead” (Coene, 2009, p. 126). Finally, the fourth event was the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, after which the Caucasus became a part of the Russian Empire; while the oppressed Caucasians were forced to migrate from the region, the Russian population settled in the Caucasus.
References
Coene, F. (2009). The Caucasus: An introduction. Taylor & Francis Group
Morkva, V. (2021). Unlocking the Caucasus for Empire: Roots, causes and consequences of the Russian annexation of the East Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, 1801. Cappadocia Journal of Area Studies, 3(2), 152-172.