Editing North Ossetia–Alania (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of North Ossetia–Alania}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2017}}
[[File:Caucasus 1060 map en.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Caucasus region in 1060]]
[[File:Ossetian tribal map.png|thumb|296x296px|Ossetian tribes (both North and South) according to B. A. Kaloyev.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://s23.postimg.org/aze2tqr9n/2fec9d793e3d.jpg?noredir=1 |title=Archived copy |access-date=4 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205071536/https://s23.postimg.org/aze2tqr9n/2fec9d793e3d.jpg?noredir=1 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>|left]]

=== Early history: Kingdom of Alania and Middle Ages ===
According to Georgian sources, the [[Kingdom of Iberia|Iberians]] and the ancestors of the Ossetians established contacts during the [[Iberian–Armenian War]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Multiple authors |url=https://archive.org/details/GeorgianChronicle/page/n14/mode/1up |title=The Georgian Chronicle |language=English}}</ref>

[[Alania]] greatly profited from the [[Silk Road]] which passed through its territory.

According to the 10th century historian [[Al-Mas'udi|Al-Masudi]], indicates that the Alan kingdom stretched from [[Dagestan]] to Abkhazia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ALANS |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/alans-an-ancient-iranian-tribe-of-the-northern-scythian-saka-sarmatian-massagete-group-known-to-classical-writers-from/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US}}</ref>

After the [[Middle Ages]], the [[Mongols]]’ and [[Tartars]]’ repeated invasions decimated the population, now known as the [[Ossetians]]. [[Islam]] was introduced to the region in the 17th century by [[Kabard]]ians.

=== Russian imperial rule (1806–1917) ===
Conflicts between the [[Khanate of Crimea]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]] eventually pushed Ossetia into an alliance with [[Imperial Russia]] in the 18th century. Soon, Russia established a military base in the capital, [[Vladikavkaz]], making it the first Russian-controlled area in the northern Caucasus. The Georgian Military Road, which is still a crucial transport link across the mountains, was built in 1799 and a railway line was built from Vladikavkaz to Rostov-on-Don in Russia proper. In 1830, a military campaign led by General [[Ivane Abkhazi]] brought North Ossetia under tighter control of the Russian Empire.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Историческое топографическое статистическое этнографическое и военное описание Кавказа |url=https://runivers.ru/bookreader/book10422/#page/227/mode/1up |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=runivers.ru}}</ref> By 1830, Ossetia was under complete Russian control.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Историческое топографическое статистическое этнографическое и военное описание Кавказа |url=https://runivers.ru/bookreader/book10422/#page/224/mode/1up |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=runivers.ru}}</ref>

The Russians’ rule led to rapid development of industry and railways which overcame its isolation. The first books from the area came during the late 18th century, and became part of the Terskaya Region of Russia in the mid-19th century.

=== Soviet period (1917–1990) ===
[[File:Territorial map of Mountain ASSR (1921).png|thumb|Border changes after World War I.]]The [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution of 1917]] resulted in North Ossetia being merged into the [[Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] in 1921. It then became the [[North Ossetian Autonomous Oblast]] on 7 July 1924, then merged into the [[North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] on 5 December 1936. In [[World War II]], it was subject to a number of attacks by [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German invaders]] unsuccessfully trying to seize [[Vladikavkaz]] in 1942.

The North Ossetian ASSR declared itself the autonomous republic of the Soviet Union on 20 June 1990. Its name was changed to the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in 1994.

=== Russian Federation period (1990–present) ===
The [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] posed particular problems for the Ossetian people, who were divided between North Ossetia, which was part of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], and [[South Ossetia]], part of the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgian SSR]]. In December 1990, the [[Supreme Soviet of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR]] abolished the autonomous Ossetian enclave amid the rising [[Georgian–Ossetian conflict|ethnic tensions in the region]], which was further fanned by Moscow; a lot of the conflict zone population, faced with the ethnic cleansing, was forced to flee across the border to either North Ossetia or Georgia proper.

As a result, some 70,000 South Ossetian refugees were resettled in North Ossetia. Additionally, North Ossetia provoked the predominantly Ingush population in the [[Prigorodny District, North Ossetia|Prigorodny District]], which sparked the [[Ossetian–Ingush conflict]]. The results of the conflict were that 7,000 Ossetians and 64,000 Ingush refugees had to flee their homes.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1996/Russia.htm |title=RUSSIA: THE INGUSH-OSSETIAN CONFLICT IN THE PRIGORODNYI REGION |website=[[Human Rights Watch]] |date=May 1996 |isbn=1-56432-165-7|last1=(Organization) |first1=Human Rights Watch }}</ref> On 23 March 1995, North Ossetia–Alania signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy.<ref name="asymmetries">{{Cite journal |last=Solnick |first=Steven |date=29 May 1996 |title=Asymmetries in Russian Federation Bargaining |url=https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1996-810-08-Solnick.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=The National Council for Soviet and East European Research |pages=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828112303/https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1996-810-08-Solnick.pdf |archive-date=28 August 2017 |access-date=6 May 2019}}</ref> However, this agreement was abolished on 2 September 2002.<ref name="demokratiztsiya">{{Cite journal |last=Chuman |first=Mizuki |title=The Rise and Fall of Power-Sharing Treaties Between Center and Regions in Post-Soviet Russia |url=http://demokratizatsiya.pub/archives/19_2_L7H017206G216817.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308002915/http://demokratizatsiya.pub/archives/19_2_L7H017206G216817.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-08 |url-status=live |journal=Demokratizatsiya |pages=146}}</ref>

Following the ''de facto'' independence of South Ossetia, [[Proposed Russian annexation of South Ossetia|there have been proposals in this state of joining Russia]] and uniting with North Ossetia. As well as dealing with the effects of the conflict in South Ossetia, North Ossetia has had to deal with refugees and the occasional spillover of fighting from the wars around them. This notably manifested in the form of the [[Beslan school siege|2004 Beslan school siege]] by Chechen terrorists.<ref name=":0" />