De Facto Independence of Chechnya: Resulting in the Second Chechen War
De facto independence secured by the Chechen victory in the first Chechen war, ensured the intractability of the Russo-Chechen conflict continued on, as armed separatism and terrorism spilled over lawless Chechen borders –– provoking Russia to intervene, again. The Russian authorities presented the second war in Chechnya as a crusade against terrorism and an eventual attempt to return the territory to the federation, but ultimately, it was the result of three factors, and an attempt to rewrite the outcomes of the previous confrontation.
Political Cartoon Published in 2001 by the Economist, a British Newspaper
By the end of the three years of de facto independence following the end of the first war, in 1999 Chechnya was suffering severely. Chechnya had a lack of governmental control, there were competing power blocs, the people of the region were still vulnerable and suffering from the first war, nothing had been rebuilt, the unemployment rate was higher than it had ever been and in addition, and there seemed no way to revive their economy. A wave of kidnappings hit the Caucasus region soon after Russian troops pulled out of Chechnya in 1996 –– most of the blame had been placed on criminal gangs able to operate freely in the lawless region. Russian Interior Ministry statistics show that up to 1300 people were kidnapped in Chechnya between 1996-99 –– with at least 500 people still believed to be kept captive. (Richmond:2013).In August 1999 (prior the war) Chechen fighters crossed into the neighbouring republic of Dagestan to support a declaration by an Islamic body of an Islamic state in parts of Dagestan and Chechnya. Three terrorist explosions in Moscow, one in a shopping mall, and two others in apartment buildings took more than 260 Russian lives. Russian authorities linked the blasts to Islamic militants in Chechnya and Dagestan.
Aftermath of the Moscow Apartment Bombings of 1999
Central Asian Historian, Walter Richmond, states that “after this series of bomb blasts and kidnapping, Russian public opinion shifted solidly in favour of a renewed campaign aimed at reversing the result of the previous war.” (Richmond:2013:Online). The Chechen invasion of Dagestan, and the recent wave of hostage-taking and bombings became the key in reigniting the spark for a second Russian-Chechen war –– a second Russian incursion into Chechnya began in October 1999 and continues on today despite numerous peace treaties. Currently, the militants have moved away from the ideal of creating an independent Chechnya, instead, the resistance has championed the notion of an autonomous Islamic region which incorporated most of the Caucasian republics.
Russo-Chechen Conflict 