A revival of Sufi Islam in Chechnya did occur during the First Chechen War and could potentially have contributed to the occurrence of the Second War. However, the return of Islam for Chechen separatists occurred as the result of foreign jihadist’s assisting the Chechen war efforts reintroducing Islam as a support system in the face of Russian forces. The Jihadists were invited into Chechnya by Dzhokhar Dudayev, the leader of the Chechen resistance in an effort to receive support for international recognition of Chechen independence – and was a result of the West turning a blind eye to Chechnya’s calls for international assistance in their battle against Russia. This demonstrates the repetition of a familiar narrative, where Chechen’s have twice turned to Islam for support against their Russian enemy where it was otherwise lacking. This could point to a trend toward religiosity only in times of need and thus only correlation of Islam and conflict rather than a narrative of Islam causing …show more content…
Chechnya’s economy changed drastically in modernity, and thus is not deeply embedded in the behavior and choices made by the Chechen’s during war, however it does still have some significance in the conflict. Previously, Chechnya’s economy was an agricultural industry with wealthy lowlands and highlands reliant on the lowland production of grain in exchange for textiles and grain. This changed following a mass deportation of Chechen’s in 1944 that forced a shift to industrialization and displaced many Chechen’s. On February 23, 1944 Soviet armed forces surrounded Chechen villages and forcibly loaded them onto cattle cars in a manner reminiscent of the German Operation Reinhard. The Soviet Union claimed it was in reaction to alleged Chechen-German collaboration and relocated the Chechen’s to Kazakhstan, Siberia, and Kyrgystan where many deported Chechen’s died. When these Chechen’s finally returned to Chechenya, they were forced to return to urban cities where they needed jobs, which they found in the party structure and oil industry. Chechen’s faced extensive discrimination and dramatic change in their economic reality that could reasonably have fostered resentment for toward the center, as well as identifying the economy as a source of contention before and during conflict. Ostensibly, this also could explain a turn toward cultural tradition