Historical Mindset
At Southern Front Events we take the immersion of participants into the time period of the event as one of our top priorities amd greatest strengths of our communities. To help you with this we have two short breakdowns of soldiers fighting in the First Chechen War and the condition of Russia in the early 90s.
Russian Federation Troops
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the newly formed Russian Federation under the leadership of President Boris Yeltsin entered an economic slump. The army was operating on a budget one third the size it needed to operate effectively. Pay for soldiers and officers was dismal, it arrived late if it arrived at all. Almost the entire army invading the Chechen republic consisted of conscripts. To put it lightly morale in ther Russian armed forces invading Chechnya was abysmal, drug and alcohol abuse was rampant in the rear line and the "grandfather" system of hazing, was so bad that most troops abandoned there post. Rather taking they're chances as an AWOL soldier in the hostile Caucasus mountains than bear the abuse of there fellow soldiers any longer.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the newly formed Russian Federation under the leadership of President Boris Yeltsin entered an economic slump. The army was operating on a budget one third the size it needed to operate effectively. Pay for soldiers and officers was dismal, it arrived late if it arrived at all. Almost the entire army invading the Chechen republic consisted of conscripts. To put it lightly morale in ther Russian armed forces invading Chechnya was abysmal, drug and alcohol abuse was rampant in the rear line and the "grandfather" system of hazing, was so bad that most troops abandoned there post. Rather taking they're chances as an AWOL soldier in the hostile Caucasus mountains than bear the abuse of there fellow soldiers any longer.
Chechen Separatist
The ethnic Chechen's had long resented the Russians since the armies of the Czar had marched into there territory in 1818. The Russians built the fortress of Groznaya (terror) which is the modern city of Grozny. By the 1860s the Czarist forces had a firm grip on the region by a set of brutal wars against Chechen rebels. In 1944 Stalin had the entire population arrested for being suspected German sympathizers. Trucks came round to villages packed in all who could fit, mostly women and children and killed who ever was left. Deporting them to Kazakhstan it was not until Stalin's death and Khrushchev rule they were allowed back. The memoirs of this were fresh in the minds of the fighters in the first Chechen war as it was there grandfathers this had happened too. Years of communist rule left many Chechen's at this time secular with Islam as a binding force the various warlords and commanders could rally too in order to help with a national identity. Chechen fighters in the first war were highly motivated and determined to strike back at the invading Russian troops, determined to finally break away and forge there own nation.
The ethnic Chechen's had long resented the Russians since the armies of the Czar had marched into there territory in 1818. The Russians built the fortress of Groznaya (terror) which is the modern city of Grozny. By the 1860s the Czarist forces had a firm grip on the region by a set of brutal wars against Chechen rebels. In 1944 Stalin had the entire population arrested for being suspected German sympathizers. Trucks came round to villages packed in all who could fit, mostly women and children and killed who ever was left. Deporting them to Kazakhstan it was not until Stalin's death and Khrushchev rule they were allowed back. The memoirs of this were fresh in the minds of the fighters in the first Chechen war as it was there grandfathers this had happened too. Years of communist rule left many Chechen's at this time secular with Islam as a binding force the various warlords and commanders could rally too in order to help with a national identity. Chechen fighters in the first war were highly motivated and determined to strike back at the invading Russian troops, determined to finally break away and forge there own nation.
