KIRIM SAVAŞI'NDA KUZEY KAFKASYA

Abstract

The Crimean War is one of the important turning points in Ottoman-Russian relations. While the Ottoman Empire tried to maintain its declining influence in the Black Sea with the support of its European allies, Russia tried to increase its influence in both the Balkans and the North Caucasus. Against this policy of Russia, the resistance groups in the North Caucasus tried to gain the support of the Ottoman Empire and its allies, while trying to create unity among themselves. The movements in the North Caucasus, which were far from forming any unity and providing organized resistance, ended after the war when Russia launched a total occupation and colonization activity in the Caucasus region. The war and resistance in the region gave way to one of the greatest tragedies in history, in which hundreds of thousands of Circassians were exiled and subjected to massacres. In this study, the situation in the North Caucasus during and after the Crimean War will be evaluated.