After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many of the former member states ushered in the coveted independence.
But even so, there are two ethnic groups in Russia that still demand further independent statehood: Chechnya and Tatar.
The Chechens fought a bitter and protracted war with Russia to establish an independent regime, and the situation in Chechnya has gradually subsided only in recent years.
Tatars, which had fought for independence with Chechnya, gave up their sovereignty and became part of Russia again after the successful establishment of the state.
Why did the Tatars give up their hard-won independence and rejoin Russia? What exactly is the agreement between the Republic of Tatarstan and the Federation of Russia?
Origin of Tatar
The term Tatar first appeared in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, when the Tang people collectively referred to the northern nomads as Tatars.
In the Que Secret Service Tablet, there are many relevant accounts of the Tatars.
More than a hundred years later, the Turks rose up, and the Tatar tribes of the north became subordinate to the Turkic regime.
In the centuries that followed, the Tatars changed hands among the northern states, both the Liao and the Uighurs.
At the beginning of the 12th century, Genghis Khan also adopted the Tatars as a vassal, but the Tatars rebelled several times and eventually split from Mongolia.
In 1243 AD, Genghis Khan's grandson Batu conquered the Kipchak steppe and established the Golden Horde in the city of Sarai.
The Turkic tribes, who originally lived in the Kipchak steppe, became nationals of the Golden Horde.
Among these Turkic people were the Kazan Tatars, the Crimean Tatars, and others, but the Mongolians collectively referred to them as Tatars.
As one of the four kingdoms of the Mongolia Empire, the Golden Horde was extremely militarily powerful, conquering not only the Tatars, but also Kievan Rus.
For 240 years, both the Rus and the Tatars were ruled by the Golden Horde.
In 1547, Grand Duke Ivan IV of Moscow established the Duchy of Russia and was crowned Tsar, freeing Russia from the rule of the Golden Horde and becoming an independent state.
Ivan IV was famous for his pioneering territory, and Russia respectfully called him "Ivan the Terrible".
Under the reign of Ivan IV, Tsarist Russia successively destroyed several regimes of the Tatars and seized their lands.
In the end, Tatar went from being a regime to being a people in Tsarist Russia.
Tatar in Soviet times
After the October Revolution, the CPSU changed the former Kazan province of Tsarist Russia, where the Tatars had settled, into the Republic of Tatarstan.
Although the Republic of Tatarstan still belongs to Russia, the situation of the Tatars under Soviet rule is nothing short of different from that of the period of slavery in Tsarist Russia.
The Soviet Union invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the construction of Tatar and turned it into an industrial powerhouse.
Relying on strong heavy industry and geographical advantages, Tatarstan was in a good position during the Soviet period.
Although the Soviet Union once persecuted the Tatars of the Crimean peninsula, the treatment of them as a whole was reasonable.
After the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the situation of the Soviet Union took a sharp turn for the worse, and many of the Soviet Union member states began to fight for independence and seek to establish sovereign states.
At this time, the Central Committee of the CPSU had almost lost control over the member states, and most of the top echelons of the CPSU themselves were corrupt and degenerate, so they had little to do to deal with the "rebellion" of the countries.
At the same time, the Soviet Union remained hostile to many countries such as Europe, United States and China, which made the internal and external troubles of the Soviet Union more serious.
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the member states were given the coveted independence and freedom, completely freed from the decadent rule of the Soviet Union.
At this time, Russia, as the successor of the Soviet Union, was in the weakest and most chaotic period, and the Chechens, who had long had bitter enmity with Russia, took the opportunity to declare their independence from Russia.
In order to share the pressure from Russia, Chechnya co-opted Tatars, who have many grievances with Russia, to fight for independence, and the wavering Republic of Tatarstan was forced to hold a referendum due to the situation, and finally passed the independence bill with 60% of the vote.
Independence and return
The proportion of ethnic Tatars and ethnic Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan is almost evenly divided, and 60% of the votes can only be described as a narrow victory.
After the independence of the Republic of Tatarstan in 1992, a large number of ethnic Russia residents still marched in protest.
The Federation of Russia is also extremely dissatisfied with the independence of the Republic of Tatarstan, and many high-ranking military and political circles intend to use force against Tatar.
But at this time, the crisis in Chechnya intensified, and Russia's main forces were all concentrated in the Chechen war, unable to attack Tatar again.
Therefore Russia sent representatives to negotiate peace with the Tatars, and the two sides had in-depth exchanges and bargaining, which eventually led to the Tatars giving up their independence and declaring the referendum null and void in 1994, and the Tatars remained part of the Russia Federation.
There are two main reasons for the Tatar Republic's renunciation of independence, one is the huge gap in military strength, and the other is its core interests.
Unlike the Tatars Russia and Chechnya, which have old and new enmities that are difficult to reconcile and have no alternative to armed struggle, Tatar and Russia relations are relatively relaxed, so the situation of peacekeeping is more beneficial to both sides.
Moreover, the Tatars are far inferior to Chechnya in terms of population and military strength, and the Chechens have paid a terrible price in the war, and even the Chechens themselves are pessimistic that the Chechens will perish before Chechnya becomes independent.
The cost of the war is so great that the Tatars absolutely cannot afford it, so the Tatars are not resolute in their attitude towards independence, at least not at the risk of war with Russia.
In addition to the military gap, the huge benefits that Russia gives to Tatar are also important factors.
Tatar is a landlocked country and a state within a country completely surrounded by Russia territory.
It can be said that if Russia insists on getting in the way, Tatar border security, import and export trade, and diplomatic behavior will become nonsense.
Therefore, instead of insisting on independence and making Russia an enemy, it is better to take a step back and compromise with Russia.
Russia has also made huge concessions in order to ease relations with Tatar.
In terms of national economic policy, Russia has given the Tatar Republic a huge resource tilt.
Militarily and sovereignly, Russia allowed Tatar to retain a certain degree of autonomy, which was unique among Russia's member states.
In addition, the Republic of Tatar occupies 51 of the 200 seats in the State Duma of Russia, which shows the importance that Russia attaches to Tatar.
It follows from this that the independence of the Republic of Tatarstan is not so much a national liberation movement as a means for the Tatars to pursue their interests.
Tatar gave up their independence on the condition that they receive huge industrial, economic and political support from Russia.
Thanks to this, Tatar has become the region with the highest GDP per capita in the Russia Federation. It can be said that the game of independence of Tatar was a great victory.
Resources:
CNKI: "Russia Elite Consensus and Regional Economic Development: The Experience of the Republic of Tatarstan"