INTERETHNIC CONFLICTS IN THE CAUCASUS: TRAVEL NOTES BY CLAUDE ANET

Abstract

French writer, tennis player and traveller Jean Schopfer (literary pseudonym - Claude Anet), in the book – «Roses of Isfahan. Persia by car through Russia and the Caucasus» - points out the issue of Russia's national policy in the Caucasus. The traveler's assessments of interethnic strifes in the Caucasus, existing to the greatest extent among Armenians and Azerbaijanis, are quite interesting. The facts of the conflict between these two nations during the revolution of 1905 are stated in the work, which represents an important documentary material. In a book published in French in Paris in 1906, Claude Anet also interestingly describes the revolutionary events in the Crimea and the Caucasus and asks the question: Where should one look for those responsible for the unrest that causes misfortune to the Caucasus? Do the Caucasians have hope in the future for the separation of the Caucasus from Russia and the formation of a politically independent state? The author has so much information about the situation in those parts of the empire where he travels that he actually accurately reflects the causes of unrest and current events. The information of an eyewitness of the events of the revolutionary and interethnic confrontation is very important and interesting for modern researchers.

Keywords: Claude Anet, Caucasus, XX century, interethnic conflicts, national policy of Russia.