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107 
 
the various Mountain peoples could form autonomous local governments. Under 
the governor-general a special local governor of native birth would be appointed 
for each region, and the administrative organs could be developed as each saw fit 
within this framework. In short, the Mountain Republic, as such, did not exist for 
the Volunteers, and the compromise offered by Liakhov was the only concession, 
which would be made.
293
 
In response, the Mountaineer government issued a statement of protest 
against the profound coercion by the Volunteer Army and ordered the mobilization 
of all armed forces to defend the territory against the volunteers. The first group to 
face the Volunteers was the Chechen-Ingush.
294
 The Whites’ ultimatum to the 
Ingush caused bewilderment.. They responded to this ultimatum by appealing to 
the North Caucasian government for an explanation of the situation, as they 
recognized only this government and acted according to its orders. Nevertheless, 
the government in Temir Khan Shura had neither the opportunity nor the time to 
come to the aid of the Ingush. As a result, the Volunteer Army under the command 
of General Heimann defeated the Ingush after a seven-day fight. 
“After this defeat, experienced by the most courageous tribe and the one 
most devoted to the idea of independence, which, according to General 
Heimann, constituted an ‘iron gate’ to the North Caucasus, there was 
nothing to prevent them taking Vladikavkaz and the whole territory 
between there and Groznyi.”
295
 
 
Kotsev in a last attempt appointed General Khabaev, an Orthodox Osetian, 
commander in chief of Chechen troops. However, Khabaev compromised with 
                                                 
293
 Brinkley, Allied Intervention, 149-150 and see Takho Godi, 196-7. 
294
 Kosok, “Revolution and Sovietization II,” 53. 
295
 Jabagi, “Revolution,” 128. 

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108 
 
Denikin who appointed him governor (pravitel)  of the Osetian region.
296
 This 
situation caused disputes among the members of the North Caucasians government. 
Kotsev was accused of passivity and failure. He was forced to resign from the 
government. To ensure his resignation Nuh Bey Tarkovskiy, Reshid Khan 
Kaplanov and Vassan Girey Jabagiev resigned from their posts in early March. In 
addition, Kotsev got no support from the British and his government collapsed on 
20 March 1919.
297
 Nevertheless, in spite of strong opposition, Kotsev was once 
more given the duty of setting up a new government. This new Kotsev government 
included military names like Butayev and Pensulayev. However this second cabinet 
of Kotsev resulted in a split between the Mountaineers. 
 
Seeing the split within the members of the Mountaineer government 
Denikin himself journeyed to Grozny in April to use the situation to his advantage. 
In early May, because of increasing criticisms the second Kotsev government was 
resigned and after much discussion, General Mikail Halilov was appointed 
President of the Republic and given the duty of setting up a new government. 
Halilov was unable to create a cabinet, however.
298
 During this general confusion, 
without encountering any opposition, the Volunteer Army captured first 
Shamilkale (Petrovsk), and later Derbent. The Dagestani section of the Parliament 
                                                 
296
 Baytugan, “Kuzey Kafkasya,” 10. 
297
 Kotsev, “Yeşil Mayıs,” 7. Cabaği, Kafkas-Rus Mücadelesi, 99-100. Mikhail Halilov or Mikhail 
Halil Paşa in his reply to Denikin in Gortsy Kavkaza has given this date as 18 May. See Mikhail 
Halilov, 1934. “Otvet Generalu Denikinu,” Gortsy Kavkaza, (Warsaw), 50: 16. 
298
 Jabagi, asserted that the decisive factor in the election of Halilov was the support of the pro-
Denikin group headed by Danyal Apashev, a former tsarist police officer and landowner. 
“Revolution,” 131. And Halilov stressed that he did not want to be a President initially. He defined 
himself as a military man not politician therefore he said that he was not ready or suit to the 
Presidency but despite this reality the North Caucasian Parliament elected him unanimously to the 
post of Presidency. See Halilov, “Otvet”, 16. 

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109 
 
of the Mountain Republic decided to separate from the Mountain Republic ‘for an 
indefinite time’ to establish a provisional Dagestan Government under General 
Halilov on 23 May 1919. Moreover it authorized him to enter an agreement with 
Denikin along the lines suggested by the British. With this decision the peoples of 
the North Caucasus lost their ephemeral independence. Denikin appointed native 
names as local governors in compliance with his general policy. The last president 
of the Republic, Mikail Halilov was appointed as the governor-general of 
Dagestan. General Aliyev, General Khabaev, and General Bekovich-Cherkaskiy 
were appointed as the governors of Chechen, Osetian, and Kabardian territories 
respectively. General Hacı Murat Orozhkhanov was appointed regional commander 
of Temir Khan Shura. “The latter tried, on the order of the parliamentary 
opposition after some stormy scenes in Parliament, but twelve of them managed to 
escape via Baku to Tiflis.” In this way, the independence of the North Caucasus 
Republic came to an end.
299
 
 
Following the disintegration of the North Caucasian Mountaineer Republic, 
the leading political figures of North Caucasians were divided into four distinct 
groupings: (1) a group of former Tsarist generals who collaborated with Denikin; 
(2) a group of Mountaineers controlled by the religious leaders or sheikhs; (3) the 
Bolsheviks and, (4) the group of leading nationalist figures of the Mountaineer 
Republic which has to move outside of the North Caucasus. 
 
                                                 
299
 Baytugan, “Kuzey Kafkasya,” 10. 

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