How deep is the conflict between Chechnya and Russia?
It goes back centuries. Peter the Great and Tsar Alexander I both attempted to conquer the highland territory to open a corridor between Russia, Persia and India. During World War II, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin deported the entire Chechen population to Central Asia. Crowded into cattle cars, one third perished during the journey. In the late 1950s, Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev allowed the exiled population to return. Many found their homes occupied by Russians and other nationalities.
