Published in Russian, see Russian pages of this website.

SUMMARY:

In his review of the volume North Caucasus within the Russian Empire, Vladimir Lapin advances a general criticism of the lack of novelty in historical interpretation. In particular, he criticizes the volume for under-appreciating the difference in political culture between the authorities of the Russian Empire and the peoples of region in explaining the nature and evolution of the imperial encounter with the North Caucasus. His criticism also includes the volume’s relative neglect of logistical-technological and military aspects of the functioning of the imperial army in the region. The central criticism of Lapin's review is addressed toward the notion of the Caucasian War as it is narrated in the volume. He concludes that this description follows a traditional narrative of the Caucasian War from 1817 through 1859 and 1864. This epic narrative of struggle borrowed largely from the self-representation of imperial authorities and military elites ignores the routine violence in the encounter between the Empire and peoples of the region, both in the eighteenth century and after the symbolically fixed date of 1864. The review also gives an overview of historiographic vicissitudes and battles of the Soviet period over the question of relations between the North Caucasus and the Russian Empire and defends the recent trend in historiography as represented by the works of M. Bliev.