The Caucasus War in Soviet and Russian Historiography. Part 1

The view of the Caucasian War in Soviet historiography was not uniform.The events in the region were always viewed from the perspective of Marxist-Leninist ideology, emphasizing national liberation struggles and class conflicts, but the actual content of these ideologies could vary significantly.While in the 1920s and 1930s, negative assessments of imperial Russia and positive assessments of freedom-loving mountaineers were dominant, since the 1940s, there has been a gradual shift towards blaming the mountain aristocracy, interpreting Russia's role as objectively positive, and emphasizing the external instigation of the mountaineers to engage in armed conflict.In the 1980s, a concept emerged that emphasized the responsibility of the mountain side for the outbreak of the Caucasian War.The contradictory assessment was not spared by the political leaders in the events under consideration.Consequently, the preconditions for the subsequent "war of historiographies" surrounding the Caucasian War were established during the Soviet period.It was at this time that, on the one hand, a vast body of scientific research was created that denounced the colonial policy of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus and, to some extent, glorified the national liberation movement of the highlanders.On the other hand, there was a tendency to reevaluate this interpretation of the Caucasian War.