A FAILED INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE GREAT POWERS COMPETITION: THE NORTH CAUCASIAN STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE (1917-1920)

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, with the collapse of the Tsarist government and the Bolsheviks coming to power, the North Caucasian independence struggle became inextricable. This article examines the role of great power competition in the North Caucasian independence movement in the early twentieth century. Focusing on the events between 1917 and 1920, this study analyses how the relations among the great powers and the local actors in the region shaped and directed the course of the events in the region. It explains the difficulties that the North Caucasians faced in the process of formation of 'The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus,' and it seeks to indicate the reasons of the failure of the Mountaineers' attempt to form a unified republic. Benefiting from the Times newspaper's archives, this study explicates whether and how the Russian, German, British and Ottoman states contributed to the course of events that ended with the failure of the newly founded North Caucasian Republic.