6 & 5 The First and Second Chechen Wars
What Were They? The First Chechen War (1994-1996) and the Second Chechen War (1999-2009) revolved around Russia and the post Cold War Soviet Republic of Chechnya. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Chechens became the only one of the ethnic groups to refuse to integrate to the newly constructed Russian Federation- instead declaring independence from Russia. The ethnic tensions amongst the new republic, however, were manifold. Russians and other ethnic groups were soon emigrating out of the country and President Dudayev was soon being targeted to be overthrown by military opposition with Russian support. However when these failed, the Russian military themselves invaded, causing untold civilian casualties and swinging much of the public opinion in Chechnya against them. Soon, the Russians were pushed back after guerrilla fighting by the Chechens. The Second Chechen War erupted after pro-Chechen terrorist activity had plagued the Russian border for several months beforehand, causing a rise in tension between the two nations. Once again the Russian military moved across the border and took the Chechen capital city of Grozny. This led to another gurilla war effort on the part of Chechen military which would last up until 2009. Why Would COD Never Happen Here? These wars are incredibly murky and like the Bosnian wars, there is little that comes out of it that can be attributed as a positive effect. Chechnya is still an incredibly devastated place in the world and the effect that the wars had on the population was staggering. Furthermore, it would be difficult to pick a side- would you be playing as the pro-Chechens who support a corrupt and incompetent dictator ( at least in the first war ) or the Russians who wiped out so many innocent civilians? And of course, no Americans were around for this conflict either.