purposes of the perennial wars

THE RUSSO-CIRCASSIAN WAR

Russia had vigorously entered in the international arena, during the Peter the Great. This was the period the Ottoman Empire and Iran were weakening and Russia was gaining strength. At that time, Circassia, due to its strategic importance, had become the contending place for these powers. This situation, on the other hand, had attracted the attention of the major European powers, England and France, that held key position in the European and world politics and began, regardless of the confrontation they had between them, applying their joint efforts to limit the growing international influence of Russia. This situation had placed Circassia in the circle of the important problems of world politics of the XVIII century and her history to a critical stage.

Peter the Great had left a will for his plan: To expand tirelessly the boundaries of Russia north and south, along the Black Sea, and to move nearer to Constantinople and India. Whoever possesses them would own the world. With this aim in mind, to constantly instigate wars sometimes against the Turks, sometimes against the Persians, and to build shipyards on the Black Sea, which should be taken over gradually as well as the Baltic Sea; both are necessary for the success of the plan  - to hasten the fall of Persia, to penetrate to the Persian gulf, to revive, if possible, the ancient trade of Levant through Syria, and to reach India. This plan of Peter the Great made Iran the gate to India, and the Caucasus, the key for that gate.

For the realization of her age-old dream � the drive toward the warm seas � Russia was bent to conquer Circassia and to build the necessary harbors on the Black Sea. Having accomplished that, Russia would seize Bosphorus and Dardanelles with the passage to the Mediterranean Sea, weaken the position of the Ottoman Empire, deal a powerful blow on the trade interests of Great Britain, and gain the upper hand over the European powers in the contest for world supremacy.

Pogodin�s report to Czar Alexander II clearly defines the place of Circassia, and of the Caucasus in general, in the foreign policy plans of Russia: The East must belong to us by right. We should not relax our activities in that direction for one moment. Constantinople has no knowledge of our real intentions. Having taken possession of it, we shall acquire the most important point of the world, and these gates to Asia should forever remain in our hands. Britain is the mistress of the seas since time immemorial. Leaning on the might we have achieved on land, we must have the same on the sea. We must take over the Black Sea coast, Bosphorus, and Dardanelles. The Black Sea ought to become the place for our maneuvers.

Muslim ideas and the Muslim faith, which served for the basis of the existence of the peoples of many countries, are gradually collapsing and disintegrating. Old social institutions have become obsolete; their activities are not making any progress any more. If, taking advantage of them, we shall begin interfering in them, no European counter measure will be effective.  Our successes will be general and successive. Now we have the opportunity to influence on the events in all the regions up to Constantinople itself. 

The compliance we displayed at the last meeting proved to be quite sufficient in order �to disarm� the opponent that is ready to oppose us furiously. Regardless of such a state of affairs, we have considerable work in store � building fortresses on the Black Sea coast, supplying all the strategic points with all kinds of armaments. It is imperative to complete the war with the peoples of the Caucasus, which will still demand substantial expenses and a great perseverance. This war must serve for the acquisition of a fitting experience by our armies and become the screen of all our preparatory operations for the mastery on the Black Sea.

Our pliancy on signing the Adrianople Treaty served the desired result. By it we staved off the possible future interference of England. We stirred popular unrest in Egypt; we managed to weaken the Porte in the same way. Not far is the day, when our guns �will speak.�

The Russian guns began to �speak� first in Circassia, with an unprecedented brutality.

http://www.usacba.org/History/RussCaucasianWar.htm