Ukrainian RangerAs for role of Indians in Victorian Britain - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sake_Dean_Mahomet
It is more of an exception to the rule. Similar to the existence of
black slaveholders in USA.
OwlbreadI could talk about how Scots, Welsh, English and especially Irish people did not have the same rights in the British Empire (Irishmen were considered "n*ggers turned inside out") but that would distract from the main issues here.
Ok, maybe I had too idealistic picture about Britain society. My bad, sorry.
This is very interesting considering I have heard several Russians use those exact words to describe Caucasians,
It is mostly the product of "city vs village" conflict, because some Caucasus rural inhabitants for some reasons still possess warlike medieval mentality (plus religious zeal). All village folk, disregarding ethnicity, is generally considered as "быдло" (cattle), so no surprise, that their migration to the capital causes some tension.
and if you don't call this genocide I don't know what is.
First, I said, "almost". Second, genocide is a mass killing of an ethnic group. These people were offered: either resettlement within Russian empire, or resettlement into Turkey. Only a small part
chose to remain in Russia - and this group exists still. No intentional killings - no genocide.
And the whole Caucasus conflict initially escalated, because local inhabitants were constantly robbing Russian trade caravans moving to Georgia. It was like having a pirate enclave, similar to Caribbean pirates, only on land.
Same with the deportations that lead to nearly 50% of the Crimean Tatar population dying of starvation, or the deportation of the Vainakh (Chechen/Ingush) peoples which led to up to 200,000 of the 500,000 Vainakhs in total dying of starvation and neglect.
Crimean Tatar and Vainakh deportations were the WW2 necessity. If they had supported the German invaders, it would cause some very huge problems.
And again, they were
moved, not deliberately killed. As for starvation - the whole country was scarce on food at that period.
You mean certain ethnic groups were considered more useful than others to the Russian colonists, like the Ossetians. They have been consistently used in attempts to keep tabs on the Caucasian nations whether they were Ingush, Chechen or especially Georgian. Those that were considered a problem (i.e. wanted independence) were going to have it tough. In Scotland the British government did the same thing by choosing Protestant Highland clans like the Munros and Campbells to control the rebellious ones.
Russia consists of about 185 ethnic groups. So more than a hundred and a half were considered useful. That is - almost all.
Ethnic groups considered useful to the Russian establishment have been rewarded in the past for their support. Take a look at the East Prigorodny Conflict where native Ingush were ethnically cleansed from their lands in North Ossetia-Alania by Ossetian militias supported by Russian government forces.
This conflict is of 1989 - 1992, so it is of time, when USSR was crumbling apart. The late 80s - early 90s were a really shitty time, indeed.
Why, yes. Yes, imagine that.
1919. XX century, civilized time period already.
Victorian era is approximately 1837 - 1901. So, in 1800 - 1900 it would have still been an unthinkable act, I guess. And that proves my point.
India was colonised in 1612. And the first Indian lord in Britain appeared only 300 years after that.
Russia was cool with foreign culture nobility since about 1700.
Let me just say that nearly 20,000 Russian men and boys didn't die in two wars 20 years ago because you showed the people of the mountains too much kindness, nor those who died in the last insurgency, or the insurgency before that...
People of the mountains 20 years ago got under heavy influence of the Wahhabism ideology, sponsored by Saudi Arabia in an attempt to turn the land into second shithole like Afghanistan.
I'm just going to show you this quote taken from this book by the Russian playwright and historian Edvard Radzinsky in which Soviet records were examined in order to write a biography of Stalin.
Worse than citing Radzinsky is to cite
Fomenko with his alternate timeline.
Knit tieBeznogim, Russia is a colonial empire even now. Moscow is its pampered metropole, everything other than central Russia is its neglected colony.
I have relatives in Vladivostok. The living conditions are quite decent there, I assure you.