Caucasian line
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The Caucasian Line ( Russian Кавказская линия ) was a line of military fortifications of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus , which ran along the Kuban , Malka and Terek rivers from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea . The fortresses were supposed to prevent the Caucasian mountain peoples from invading the plains of the Pre-Caucasus; At the same time, they served as the starting point for punitive expeditions with which the Russian Empire subjugated the Caucasus.
The line was secured against the incursions of the hill tribes by forts and Cossack settlements. The regiments of the Terek Cossacks and Kuban Cossacks were therefore also called regiments of the line. Some of the former Russian fortresses grew into major cities, including Vladikavkaz , Grozny, and Makhachkala (formerly Port-Petrovsk).
history
The construction of the line was started by Catherine II . The Mosdok fortress was built just one year after her accession to the throne , which in 1765 led to a 14-year conflict with the Kabardians .
The line was formed by an increasing number of Cossack stanizas along the North Caucasian foothills. The first Cossacks came to the North Caucasus in the 16th century and settled on the north bank of the Terek. The Cossack stanizas were both military settlements and self-governing rural communities. The Terek Cossacks in the eastern Caucasus and the Kuban Cossacks in the western Caucasus therefore also formed regiments of the line. Their fighting style did not differ from that of the Caucasian mountain peoples. Both sides raided, stole cattle from the other side and set fire to their settlements.
The victory over the Ottoman Empire in 1774, the annexation of Crimea and the protectorate of Georgia (both in 1783) gave Russian expansion new impetus. The Caucasian line was therefore systematically strengthened through the construction of fortresses. Kisljar , Stavropol , Vladikavkas (1784) and Nalchik emerged in the 18th century and developed into important cities over time.
Since the 1780s, the hill tribes responded to the advance of the Russians with constant raids on fortresses and Cossacks. The Russian presence in the foothills endangered not only their security and mobility, but also their economic existence, which was dependent on winter pastures in the plains and trade with the foothills. Only after the end of the Crimean War did the new Caucasian governor Baryatinsky use a systematic approach to smother the resistance of the Caucasians.
See also
literature
- Manfred Quiring : Powder Keg Caucasus: Conflicts on the Edge of the Russian Empire , Berlin 2009, p. 181.
- Andreas Kappeler: Russia as a multi-ethnic empire: emergence – history – decay , CH Beck, 2008, p. 151 ff.
