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Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and Chechnya: Violence And NAGORNO-KARABAKH, ABKHAZIA AND CHECHNYA: VIOLENCE AND AUTONOMY IN EURASIA'S SECESSIONIST CONFLICTS NAGORNY-KARABAKH, ABKHAZIE ET TCHETCHENIE: VIOLENCE ET AUTONOMIE DANS DES CONFLITS SECESSIONNISTES EN EURASIE A Thesis Submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies of the Royal Military College of Canada by Kathleen Pellatt In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in War Studies September 2008 © This thesis may be used within the Department of National Defence but copyright for open publication remains the property of the author. 1 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47900-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47900-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada The research involving human subjects that is reported in this thesis was conducted with the approval of the Royal Military College of Canada General Research Ethics Board. 111 To my mom, Anne; my dad, Peter; my sisters, Allie and Emily; and my brothers, Sean, Ian and Ron. IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Jane Boulden, whose guidance and support have been truly invaluable throughout this process. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor, Dr. Pierre Jolicoeur, for allowing me to draw on his extensive knowledge of the Caucasus. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, who mean the world to me and who are a constant source of love, support and inspiration in my life. To my Mom, who is my friend, my support network and my role model- ILYMTYLMAILYTM. To my Dad, who inspires me every day, I love you and thank you. To my sisters and very best friends, Allie and Emily- yoho yablublu! To my brother Sean, who has always been there for me-1 love you, thank you! To my brother Ian and his wife Patricia, my brother Ron, my niece Holly, and my nephews Ryan, Brandon, Patrick and Nicholas- I am so lucky to have such a great family. Thank you for everything. To my best friend and 24-hour emergency contact, Brittany Ball; to my great friends Jon Elkin, Wes McMeekin, Kristen Olson, Monica Sabo, Ashley Samaha, Autumn Rymal, Grant Fisher, and Jamie Green; to my "family" in Kingston, Lindsay, Scott, David and Cate Duggan; to my housemate and friend, Sean Byrne; and to my running group, Lindsay Duggan, Stacy Jowett and Tiffany Richard- you guys are solid gold and I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you! Finally, I would like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their generous support of this research; Dr. Neil MacFarlane and Dr. Roy Allison for their invaluable assistance; and everyone involved in the Department of War Studies at RMC. Thank you. v ABSTRACT Pellatt, Kathleen Louise; MA; Royal Military College of Canada; November 2008; Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and Chechnya: Violence and Autonomy in Eurasia's Secessionist Conflicts; Dr. Jane Boulden and Dr. Pierre Jolicoeur This analysis explores the relationship between periods of violent conflict and levels of autonomy in the post-Soviet secessionist republics of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and Chechnya. The analysis engages in a chronological discussion of the development of each nationalist secessionist movement through pre-Soviet, Soviet and post-Soviet eras, including a chronological survey of the Karabakh conflict (1988-1994), the Georgian- Abkhaz conflict (1992-1994) and the first Russo-Chechen conflict (1994-1996). Using a model of statehood based on the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, this analysis qualitatively explores the impact of violent conflict on the characteristics of statehood in the secessionist territories. Looking at issues of population, territory, government and international relations, this thesis argues that periods of violent conflict accelerate the seizure and entrenchment of autonomous rights in the pursuit of statehood in each case. Keywords: Nagorno-Karabakh; Abkhazia; Chechnya; Eurasia; nationalism; secessionist movements; autonomy; 1994 Russo-Chechen war; Georgian-Abkhaz conflict; Karabakh conflict; post-Soviet conflicts; Soviet Union VI RESUME Pellatt, Kathleen Louise; M.A.; College militaire royal du Canada; novembre 2008; Nagorny-Karabakh, Abkhazie et Tchetchenie : Violence et autonomie dans des conflits secessionnistes en Eurasie; Mme Jane Boulden, Ph. D., et M. Pierre Jolicoeur, Ph. D. L'auteure de la presente analyse explore le rapport entre des periodes de conflit violent et des niveaux d'autonomie dans les republiques secessionnistes postsovietiques de Nagorny-Karabakh, d'Abkhazie et de Tchetchenie. Elle presente une discussion chronologique du developpement de chaque mouvement secessionniste nationaliste a travers les eres presovietique, sovietique et postsovietique, y compris une revue chronologique du conflit du Haut-Karabakh (1988-1994), du conflit entre la Georgie et 1'Abkhazie (1992-1994) et du premier conflit entre la Russie et la Tchetchenie (1994-1996). Utilisant un modele d'Etat base sur la Convention de Montevideo sur les droits et devoirs des Etats (1933), cette analyse explore qualitativement les repercussions des conflits violents sur les caracteristiques des Etats des territoires secessionnistes. Examinant les questions de population, de territoire, de gouvernement et de relations internationales, ce memoire defend la these selon laquelle des periodes de conflit violent ont accelere, dans chaque cas, l'obtention agressive et la constitutionnalisation des droits a l'autonomie dans la poursuite d'un Etat. Mots cles: Nagorny-Karabakh; Abkhazie; Tchetchenie; Eurasie; nationalisme; mouvements secessionnistes; autonomie; guerre de 1994 entre la Russie et la vii Tchetchenie; confllit entre la Georgie et PAbkhazie; conflit du Haut-Karabakh; conflits postsovietiques; Union sovietique. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES xii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction and Research Question 1 1.2 Approaching the Research Question 3 1.2.1 Literature 5 1.2.2 Key Concept: Sub-State Autonomy 8 1.2.3 Key Concept: Secession 10 1.4 Research Methodology 12 1.5 Conclusion 16 2. PRE-SOVIET HISTORY 17 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 Nagorno-Karabakh 18 2.2.1 Pre-Revolution History: 18th Century - 1906 19 2.3 Abkhazia 24 2.3.1 Pre-Revolution History: 8th Century - 1877 25 2.4 Chechnya 28 2.4.1 Pre-Revolution History: 18th Century - 1878 30 2.5 Conclusion 33 3. SOVIET NATIONALITY POLICIES AND SOVIET HISTORY 34 3.1 Introduction 34 3.2 Soviet Nationalities Policy 34 3.2.1 The October Revolution 35 3.2.2 Marxist-Leninist Policy 37 3.2.3 Nationality Policy under Stalin 39 3.2.4 Khrushchev 42 3.2.5 Brezhnev 44 3.2.6 Andropov and Chernenko 44 3.3 The Soviet Experience: 1917 - 1985 45 3.3.1 Nagorno-Karabakh, 1917-1923 46 3.3.2 The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, 1923-1987 49 3.3.3 Abkhazia, 1917-1923 51 3.3.4 The Abkhaz ASSR, 1923-1987 52 3.3.5 Chechnya, 1917-1923 54 3.3.6 The Chechen-Ingush ASSR, 1932-1987 55 3.4 Conclusion 58 4. CONTEXTUALIZING POST-SOVIET NATIONALISM 60 4.1 Introduction 60 4.2 The Policies of Mikhail Gorbachev 60 4.2.1 Perestroika 62 IX 4.2.2 Glasnost 63 4.3 The Rise of Nationalism 65 4.4 The Fall of the Soviet Union 67 4.5 Conclusion 68 5. SECESSIONIST NATIONALISM AND VIOLENT CONFLICT IN NAGORNO- KARABAKH, ABKAZIA AND CHECHNYA 70 5.1 Introduction 70 5.2 Nagorno-Karabakh 71 5.2.1 Karabakh Armenian Nationalism and Low Intensity Conflict, 1987-1991 71 5.2.2 The Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, 1991 - 1994 84 5.2.3 The Bishkek Protocol 90 5.3 Abkhazia 91 5.3.1 Abkhaz Nationalism, 1988--1991 93 5.3.2 The Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict, 1992 -1994 96 5.3.3 The Moscow Agreement 102 5.4 Chechnya 103 5.4.1 Chechen Nationalism, 1990 -1991 104 5.4.2 The Pre-War Period, 1992 - 1994 106 5.4.3 The First Russo-Chechen War, 1994 - 1996 111 5.4.4 The Khasavyurt Accord 117 5.5 Conclusion 118 VIOLENT CONFLICT AND THE SEIZURE OF AUTONOMY 119 6.1 Introduction 119 6.2 Territory 120 6.2.1 Nagorno-Karabakh 121 6.2.2 Abkhazia 122 6.2.3 Chechnya 122 6.2.4 Summary: Territory 123 6.3 Population 124 6.3.1 Nagorno-Karabakh 124 6.3.2 Abkhazia 125 6.3.3 Chechnya 126 6.3.4 Summary: Population 127 6.4 Government 128 6.4.1 Nagorno-Karabakh 128 6.4.2 Abkhazia 134 6.4.3 Chechnya 138 6.4.4 Summary: Government 143 6.5 International Recognition and International Relations 144 6.6 Conclusion 149 CONCLUSION 152 BIBLIOGRAPHY 157 X 9.
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