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= Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov =

1844-1853: Viceroy of the Caucasus
In 1844, Nicholas I created the Caucasian Vicegerency and appointed Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov to the position in order to “shoulder the burden of the Caucasian administration”. Under this unprecedented delegation of authority, Vorontsov held the title of Commander-in-Chief with unlimited plenary powers in the Caucasian territory. As a result, Vorontsov decided on all legal and ministerial administration in the region, and reported directly to the Tsar. Despite his initial misgivings about “being up to task” and his ability execute the transformation of the Caucasus, Vorontsov, as he wrote in a letter to Yermolov, felt it “impossible to refuse” this unprecedented offer from the Tsar.

Political Reforms
Executing the extensive powers bestowed on him, Vorontsov enacted political reforms throughout the Caucasus that incorporated traditional and local practices with Russian state law. He first transformed the regional political structures, especially south of the main Caucasus chain. In the old kingdoms of Kartli, Kakheti, and in other old Khanates, Vorontsov redrew pre-existing borders and replaced old place names. During this period, Tiflis and Yerevan became new administrative units to serve as provincial centers. Vorontsov further delegated power to assembles and incorporated local elites into the reformed, Russian-modeled political framework. .

Cultural and Social Reforms
Vorontsov widened the scope of his reformation efforts into the social and cultural sphere. During his vicegerency, specialized secondary schools were established in Tiflis and Kutaisi, the Caucasus school network was fully incorporated into the Russian school system, and a university exchange with Russia flourished. Vorontsov further spearheaded and planned new libraries, museums, scholarly societies. Tiflis changed from a military garrison into a imperial political, economic, and cultural center with contemporarily redesigned thoroughfares and residential districts.

Military Strategy
Vorontsov spent the majority of his military efforts combatting Imam Shamil in Dagestan and Chechnya. As past tactics in the regions proved not only impermanent, but also very costly in Russian lives, Nicholai outlined military success as a primary directive.

In response to this past failure, especially against Chechnyan snipers and Dagestani resistance fighters in the highlands, Vorontsov applied new military tactics. He returned to a "siege system", advancing the Russian lines deep into the forests and Shamil’s mountain strongholds. His efforts were initially unsuccessful. In the Battle of Dargo (1845), he was nearly defeated, leading a column of eight to ten thousand men to near destruction. Two generals and two-hundred officers were killed, and resistance fighters inflicted three thousand more casualties on the Russian soldiers retreating. The remaining column returned from the expedition looking like “a mare set upon by wolves”.

This initial catastrophe required Vorontsov to form a new strategy combining a “hearts-and-minds” campaign with military brutality. Under this “System of the Axe”, Vorontsov cleared forests in an effort to eliminate Shamil’s highland tactical advantages. He pushed the local population deeper into the highlands and destroyed their crops and cattle, forcing them to to face “starvation or surrender” and limited Shamil’s ability to extract resources from the local population. Vorontsov also fostered dissatisfaction within Shamil’s camp established strong relationships with his sympathetic rivals, and embarked on a campaign to smear the Imam’s reputation throughout the region.

Ultimately, these military reforms yielded mixed results. At the same time Vorontsov improved Russian offensive tactics, Shamil improved his defensives tactics. As the war with Shamil dragged on, Vorontsov requested support and reinforcements. In September 1853, he received the 13th Division from the Crimea, but remained unsure about the outcome in the Caucasus. And while Nicholas urged him to take Kars and Ardahan, Vorontsov, in poor health, requested his removal from his post. He finally retired in 1854.

= History of the Russo-Turkish wars =

The Caucasus
Following the Greek Uprising in 1821, Russia began to assert political and military influence in the Caucasus. Treaty of Hunkar Iskelesi (1833) further gave Russia regional dominance over the Ottoman Empire. The treaty stipulated that in the event of war between Russia and any other European power, the Ottomans would have to close access to the straits. From this period, the European powers pursued an anti-Russian and pro-Ottoman policy regarding the Caucasus. As Russia expanded South, the Ottomans and British sold weapons, ammunition and salt to Circassians and embarked on an anti-Russian propaganda campaign.

From 1836 to 1859, Imam Shamil declared jihad against Russia. The Crimean War (1853). And while the Russo - Ottoman conflict provided an opportunity for Shamil to make advances against Russia, he declined Ottoman and British offers for help and received no significant assistance as a result. Shamil surrendered in 1859 and the movement lost momentum in the 1860's.

Following the Crimean War, Russia used forced migration and expulsion of groups such Abkhazians and Circassians that it saw as potentially "threatening and untrustworthy" to solidify control of the region. In the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), Caucasian highlanders gained another opportunity to mount a strong resistance against Russia, and mounted the first fierce resistance and last serious national movement until the Revolution of 1917.