A Petition from Circassian leaders to Her Majesty Queen Victoria
| A Petition from Circassian leaders to Her Majesty Queen Victoria | |
|---|---|
| Created | Shawwal 29, 1280 (April 7, 1864) |
| Author(s) | Prominent Circassian leaders |
| Signatories |  Circassia |
| Subject | Circassian genocide |
| Part of a series on the |
| Circassians Адыгэхэр |
|---|
 List of notable Circassians Circassian genocide |
| Circassian diaspora |
| Circassian tribes |
|
Surviving Destroyed or barely existing |
| Religion |
|
Religion in Circassia |
| Languages and dialects |
|
| History |
|
Show |
| Culture |
A Petition from Circassian leaders to Her Majesty Queen Victoria was a document sent by Circassian leaders to Queen Victoria on April 7, 1864 complaining about Russian genocidal actions that made up the Circassian genocide. The document requests British military aid, or in the worst case, humanitarian aid, to the Circassian people.[1][2][3] Only the English version of the text exists today. Presumably, however, it was written in Ottoman Turkish, and then translated to English by Henry Bulwer, the British ambassador in Istanbul.
Background
[edit]During the reign of Catherine II the Russian army started entering Circassian soil and Russia started building forts in an attempt to quickly annex Circassia. Thus began the first hostilities between the Circassians and the Russian Empire. From 1802 to 1806 general Pavel Tsitsianov led campaigns in Circassia and targeted Circassian villages. He referred to the Circassians as "untrustworthy swine"[4] to "show how insignificant they are compared to Russia".[5] In 1808, a Russian commission decided that in order to end Circassian resistance against the Russian Empire, the Circassians would need to be completely eliminated from their homeland. Since then, systematic mass murder of Circassians was a common strategy.[6][7]
In 1857, Dmitry Milyutin published the idea of mass expulsions of Circassian natives.[8] Milyutin argued that the goal was not to simply move them so that their land could be settled by productive farmers, but rather that "eliminating the Circassians was to be an end in itself – to cleanse the land of hostile elements".[8][9][10] Tsar Alexander II endorsed the plans.[8] Although the order given by Tsar Alexander II was to deport the remaining Circassians rather than to completely mass murder them, the Russian commanders were open to the idea of massacring large portions of the Circassian population. Richmond has noted that "reports abound" of massacres in the final stages of the Caucasus campaign.[11]
In 1860, the Circassian Parliament was founded.[12][13] In 1864, the Circassian leaders signed the document to be issued to Queen Victoria.[1][2][3]
Text
[edit]The document requests intervention from the British government against the Russians, or humanitarian assistance in the event that this is not achieved. It is addressed to the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Bulwer.[14][15][16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Rosser-Owen, Sarah (2007). The First 'Circassian Exodus' to the Ottoman Empire (1858-1867), and the Ottoman Response, Based on the Accounts of Contemporary British Observers.
- ^ a b Burnaby, Frederick (2007). On Horseback Through Asia Minor.
- ^ a b Enclosed in Despatch No.3 From Sir Henry Bulwer to Earl Russell, Constantinople, April 12, 1864 (FO 881/1259)
- ^ Richmond, Walter (9 April 2013). The Circassian Genocide. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-6069-4.
- ^ Potto, Valisii. Kavkazskaya voina. 1:171
- ^ Hatk, Isam. “Russian-Circassian War 1763- 21 May 1864.” Al Waha – Oasis. 51. (1992): 10-15.
- ^ Capobianco, Michael (2012). "Blood on the Shore: The Circassian Genocide"
- ^ a b c King, Charles. The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. Page 94. "In a policy memorandum in of 1857, Dmitri Milyutin, chief-of-staff to Bariatinskii, summarized the new thinking on dealing with the northwestern highlanders. The idea, Milyutin argued, was not to clear the highlands and coastal areas of Circassians so that these regions could be settled by productive farmers...[but] Rather, eliminating the Circassians was to be an end in itself – to cleanse the land of hostile elements. Tsar Alexander II formally approved the resettlement plan...Milyutin, who would eventually become minister of war, was to see his plans realized in the early 1860s".
- ^ L.V.Burykina. Pereselenskoye dvizhenie na severo-zapagni Kavakaz. Reference in King.
- ^ Richmond 2008, p. 79. "In his memoirs Milutin, who proposed deporting Circassians from the mountains as early as 1857, recalls: "the plan of action decided upon for 1860 was to cleanse [ochistit'] the mountain zone of its indigenous population".
- ^ Richmond, Walter (2013). The Circassian Genocide. Page 76
- ^ Grassi, Fabio L. (2018). A new homeland: The Massacre of The Circassians, Their Exodus To The Ottoman Empire and Their Place In Modern Turkey. Aydin University International. ISBN 9781642261349.
- ^ Ruslan, Yemij (August 2011). Soçi Meclisi ve Çar II. Aleksandr ile Buluşma. Archived 2020-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Rosser-Owen, Sarah (2007). The First ‘Circassian Exodus’ to the Ottoman Empire (1858-1867), and the Ottoman Response, Based on the Accounts of Contemporary British Observers.
- ^ Burnaby, Frederick (2007). On Horseback Through Asia Minor.
- ^ Enclosed in Despatch No.3 From Sir Henry Bulwer to Earl Russell, Constantinople, April 12, 1864 (FO 881/1259)
Sources
[edit]- Richmond, Walter (11 June 2008). "4 - The Caucasus War". The Northwest Caucasus: Past, Present, Future. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-00249-8.