The Caucasus in the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries: Problems of Governance and Modernization on the Southern Outskirts of the Russian Empire
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2015.2.101Abstract
The study is based both on previously published and unpublished archival documents. The article refers to a variety of materials from federal, regional and college archives. The article is devoted to problems of administration and education development on the southern outskirts of the Russian Empire in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. That was a time of systemic crisis in the Caucasus. The revolution of 1905–1907 and the intensification of insurgent groups’ activity created a situation where the Russian Empire risked losing the Caucasus. Many deficiencies in the work of administrative institutions and the decrease in the pace of modernization aggravated the situation. It was already in the late 19th century that the representatives of the regional administration pointed to the crisis in the Caucasus. The Russian Empire faced problems of war in the Caucasus again, and to overcome the crisis a Caucasian Viceroyalty was established. The Caucasian Viceroy received a number of administrative privileges. In this regard, the Caucasian Viceroyalty was an attempt to escape from the Empire for the sake of the Imperial interests. The ruling elite of in the capital of the Empire was against the return to the vicegerency which was most severely criticized by Chairman of the Committee and the Council of Ministers S. Yu. Witte, who almost succeeded in achieving the abolition of vicegerency in December, 1905. Primarily, the Russian administration needed to find effective ways of combating units of abreks (outlaws expelled by their tribes). The most dangerous enemy of the Russian administration in the region was the legendary abrek Zelimkhan Gushmazukaev. His popularity and prosperity undermined the authority of the official rulers. Soon Caucasian Viceroy I. I. Vorontsov-Dashkov proved it was impossible to resist the instability by means of punitive methods alone. The Viceroy proposed a reform programme to alleviate the situation. An important part of the reforms was the development of education. However, the lack of funds did not allow for its systematic implementation. Thus, the problem of complex modernization of the Caucasus did not receive a full solution. The Caucasus remained a problematic region of the Russian Empire. Overall, it may be stated that the Romanovs’ policy in the Caucasus was one of half accomplished measures and half passed ways.
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