From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the Making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh

Description

From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus analyses the relation of the Soviet nationality policy and modern ethnic conflicts in the post-Soviet space. The book explains why the Bolsheviks granted autonomous status to ethnic minorities in the South Caucasus, focusing in particular on Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia. By looking at the reasons why autonomy was awarded to these ethnic groups, the book highlights the roots of the modern conflicts in the Caucasus. Largely based on original Russian language sources and archival materials from the region, the book brings together two periods that are usually studies separately the period of the Russian Civil War 1917-1920 and the early Soviet period 1921-1936 in order to understand the roots of the Bolshevik decision-making policy when granting autonomies. By studying the cases from the Caucasus the book contributes to the general understanding of the early Soviet nationality policy. It is also a useful contribution to our understanding of the current conflicts that engulfed the Caucasus region since the 1990s.