Editing Grozny (section)

===Soviet regional capital===
One day after the [[October Revolution]], on 8 November 1917, the [[Bolsheviks]] headed by N. Anisimov seized Grozny. As the [[Russian Civil War]] escalated, the Proletariat formed the 12th Red Army, and the garrison held out against numerous attacks by Terek Cossacks from 11 August to 12 November 1918. However, with the arrival of [[Denikin]]'s armies, the Bolsheviks were forced to withdraw and Grozny was captured on 4 February 1919, by the [[White Army]]. Underground operations were carried out, but only the arrival of the Caucasus front of the [[Red Army]] in 1920 allowed the city to permanently end up with the [[Russian SFSR]] on 17 March. Simultaneously it became part of the [[Soviet Mountain Republic]], which was formed on 20 January 1921, and was the capital of the Chechen National Okrug inside it.

[[File:Грозный. Въезд в город.jpg|thumb|Entrance sign, built in Soviet-times]]

On 30 November 1922, the mountain republic was dissolved, and the national [[okrug]] became the [[Chechen Autonomous Oblast]] (Chechen AO) with Grozny as the administrative centre. At this time most of the [[population]] was still Russian, but of [[Cossacks|Cossack]] descent. As Cossacks were viewed as a potential threat to the Soviet nation, Moscow actively{{citation needed|date=October 2010}} encouraged the migration of Chechens into the city from the mountains. In 1934 the [[Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Oblast]] was formed, becoming the [[Chechen-Ingush ASSR]] in 1936.

Due to its oil, Grozny with [[Maikop]] were the main strategic objectives of the German [[Fall Blau]] operation in summer of 1942 (''See [[Battle of the Caucasus]]'').

The failure to take Grozny was a major defeat for Germany and was a factor in holding fast at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], as that city could have served as a base from which to take Grozny or cut off oil supplies up the [[Volga River]] from [[Astrakhan]]. The failure to prioritize Grozny, even transferring critical Panzer divisions north to the [[Siege of Leningrad]], was a major factor in [[Adolf Hitler]] taking operational level control of the [[Wehrmacht]] from his generals who had repeatedly prioritized the two major cities over the oil supplies&nbsp;– against Hitler's express orders. Soviet doctrine however never failed to prioritize the food of [[Ukraine]] nor the oil of the Caucasus, which resulted in drastic action after Germany's expulsion/retreat in 1943.

In 1944, the entire [[population]] of Chechens and Ingush was [[Operation Lentil (Caucasus)|deported]] after being falsely accused of collaborating with [[Case Blue|advancing armed forces]] of [[Nazi Germany]]. Large numbers of people who were not deemed fit for transport were "liquidated" on the spot,<ref name=burds2>[http://www.history.neu.edu/fac/burds/Burds-FifthColumnists.pdf "The Soviet War against 'Fifth Columnists': The Case of Chechnya, 1942–1944" by Jeffrey Burds] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101116145625/http://www.history.neu.edu/fac/burds/Burds-FifthColumnists.pdf |date=November 16, 2010 }}, p.39</ref> and the adverse situation with transport and the stay in Siberia caused many deaths as well.<ref>Dunlop, John. ''Russia Confronts Chechnya: The Roots of a Separatist Conflict''. Pages 67–69</ref><ref>Bugai, Nikolai Fedorovich. ''The Truth about the Deportation of the Chechen and Ingush People.'' Printed in English in ''Soviet Studies in History'', Fall 1991. Originally in Russian in ''Voprosy istorii'', June 1990.</ref> According to internal NKVD data, a total of 144,704 died in 1944–1948 alone (death rate of 23.5% per all groups).<ref>Wood, Tony. ''Chechnya: The Case for Independence''. page 37-38</ref> Authors such as [[Alexander Nekrich]], [[John B. Dunlop (historian)|John Dunlop]] and [[Moshe Gammer]], based on census data from the period estimate a death toll of about 170,000–200,000 among Chechens alone,<ref>Nekrich, ''Punished Peoples''</ref><ref>Dunlop.''Russia Confronts Chechnya'', pp 62–70</ref><ref>Gammer.''Lone Wolf and the Bear'', pp166-171</ref><ref>[http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/USSR.TAB1B.GIF Soviet Transit, Camp, and Deportation Death Rates]</ref> thus ranging from over a third of the total Chechen population that was deported to nearly half dying during those four years (rates for other groups for those four years hover around 20%). All traces of them in the city, including books<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=161583&apc_state=henicrs2004 |title=Chechnya: Rewriting History |publisher=Iwpr.net |date=1944-02-23 |access-date=2009-05-05}}</ref> and graveyards,<ref>[http://www.chechentimes.org/en/press/?id=13862] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213230855/http://www.chechentimes.org/en/press/?id=13862|date=February 13, 2012}}</ref> were destroyed by the [[NKVD]] troops. The act was recognized by the [[European Parliament]] as an act of genocide in 2004.<ref>[http://www.unpo.org/article/438 Chechnya: European Parliament recognizes the genocide of the Chechen People in 1944], 27 February 2004</ref>

Grozny became the administrative centre of [[Grozny Oblast]] of the [[Russian SFSR]], and the city at the time was again wholly Russian. In 1957, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was restored, and the Chechens were allowed to return. The return of the Chechens to Grozny, which had been lacking of [[Nakh peoples|Nakh]] for thirteen years, would cause massive disruptions to the social, economic and political systems of what had been a Russian city for the period until their return. This caused a self-feeding cycle of ethnic conflict between the two groups, both believing the other's presence in the city was illegitimate. Once again migration of non-Russians into Grozny continued whilst the [[ethnic]] Russian population, in turn, moved to other parts of the USSR, notably the [[Baltic states]], after [[1958 Grozny riots|inter-ethnic conflict broke out briefly in 1958]].
[[File:1960 CPA 2430.jpg|thumb|Soviet-era postage stamp with a view of Grozny's Avgustovskaya Street]]

According to sociologist Georgy Derluguyan, the Checheno-Ingush Republic's economy was divided into two spheres&nbsp;– much like French settler-ruled Algeria&nbsp;– and the Russian sphere had all the jobs with higher salaries,<ref name="Derluguyan 2005 244–5">{{cite book|title=Bourdieu's Secret Admirer in the Caucasus|last=Derluguyan|first=Georgi|year=2005|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-14283-8|pages=244–5}}</ref> while non-Russians were systematically kept out of all government positions. Russians (as well as Ukrainians and Armenians) worked in education, health, oil, machinery, and social services. Non-Russians (excluding Ukrainians and Armenians) worked in agriculture, construction, a long host of undesirable jobs, as well as the so-called "informal sector" (i.e. illegal, due to the mass discrimination in the legal sector).<ref name="Derluguyan 2005 244–5"/>

At the same time a great deal of development occurred in the city. Like many other Soviet cities, the [[Stalinist Architecture|Stalinist style]] of architecture was prevalent during this period, with apartments in the centre as well as administrative buildings including the massive Council of Ministers and the [[Grozny University]] buildings being constructed in Grozny. Later projects included the high-rise apartment blocks prominent in many Soviet cities, as well as a city airport. In 1989, the population of the city was almost 400,000 people.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.33868/0365-8392|title=Avtoshliakhovyk Ukrayiny|publisher=The State Enterprise - The State Road Transport Research Institute - SE SRTRI|doi=10.33868/0365-8392}}</ref>