Aggressors may use systemic corruption and the distribution of privileges, titles, and large-scale financial resources to win over members of the target state's top leadership, intelligentsia, and military ranks. This technique permeates every stage of colonization: from preparation for seizure (recruiting agents of influence) to the seizure of governance (sabotage during defense) and institutional consolidation (buying the loyalty of a puppet government). By encouraging the personal ambitions of the elite at the expense of national interests, the colonizer destroys the local population's capacity for organized resistance.
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| C0008 | Annexation of the Kyiv Metropolis by the Moscow Patriarchate (1685–1690) |
To gain control over the church, Moscow employed corruption at the international level. "The Kyiv Metropolitanate was seized... through bribery, manipulation, blackmail..." [1]. The envoy of Constantinople "directly asked the Muscovite envoy for money in exchange for issuing the required charter"[2][3]. |
| C0010 | Azov Campaigns and Fortress Construction (1695–1700) |
The distribution of the highest imperial awards to buy the hetman's loyalty against the backdrop of Ukraine's resource exhaustion: Peter I "deigned to name me a cavalier of the glorious order of the holy first-called apostle of Christ, Andrew"[4][5][3]. |
| C1112 | Beginning of the political subjugation of the Nokhchi (1588–1591) |
To secure the political subordination of the Nokhchi elite, the administration used financial incentives: historian Murat Yasar points out that «the signing of the shert went hand in hand with monetary allowances and gifts that the tsar gave to local rulers»[6]. |
| C1107 | Bribery of Elites, Coercion into Subjecthood, and the Taking of Amanats (1645–1658) |
The occupation administration handed out privileges and transferred to loyal Nokhchi leaders power over dependent people in order to win them over to its side: the register of cases of the Posolsky Prikaz for 1645 records a petition from the serving Okotsk murza Chepan Kokhostrov to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and a report extract by the central apparatus «on granting him an increase to his salary and possession of the uzdens and «people» of his brother, murza Albir Kokhostrov»[7]. |
| C1133 | Bribery of the Nobility and Institutionalization of the Hostage System (1735) |
The occupation administration of the Russian Empire bought the loyalty of the local nobility with state payments: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov states that, according to General-in-Chief V. Ya. Levashov, the senior Chechen prince Aidemir «was accepted into Russian subjecthood and was assigned a permanent tsarist stipend»[8], and in general «The princes and their uzdens even began to receive monetary allowances from the Russian government»[8]. |
| C1140 | Bulgakov's Punitive Expedition: Devastation of Chechen Villages and Coercion into Allegiance (1807) |
The Russian Empire bought the loyalty of Nokhchi elders in order to use them to bring recalcitrant villages into subjecthood. The commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, instructed the Andreyevo elder Hadji-Redjeb to incline the villages "into submission and subjecthood," and assigned a salary to the Chechen uzden Bik-Bulat — "I persuaded the Chechen uzden Bik-Bulat… to whom I said… a salary of 300 r. in silver per year"; for winning over the remaining villages, "about 3,000 r. in silver for bringing them into loyal subjecthood" was allocated[9]. The same bribery, from the Nokhchi side, is recorded by the historian D. A. Khozhaev: through the intermediary Hadji-Redjeb, in the name of the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, the very head of the Chechen resistance, Beibulat Taimiev, was won over and took "an oath of fidelity of subjecthood to Russia," while Hadji-Redjeb asked the generals for another 3000 rubles in silver "for bringing the remaining unpacified Chechen villages into loyal subjecthood"[10]. |
| C1141 | Consolidation in Chechnya: Bribery of Elders, Economic Control, and Setting Neighbors against One Another (1809-1811) |
The Russian Empire bought the loyalty of the Nokhchi elders in order to use them to incline the Chechens toward submission. To this end, the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Tormasov, through Esaul Chernov, ordered that the Chechen elders and clergy be given «250 rubles each, and others 150 silver rubles each, as a one-time payment, for which the required sum, 1,400 r. in total»[11]. Historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov notes that the colonial authorities generally acted by relying on the social elite, «bribing them with all manner of rewards and privileges for their service to the benefit of Russia»[12]. Historian D. A. Khozhaev cites the same formula with a direct indication of where the money came from: the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Tormasov, agreed «to win over the principal Chechen elders and their clergy… to give 250, and others 150 silver rubles each, and to collect the said money from their own villages» — that is, the bribery of the elite was paid for by exactions from the Chechen villages themselves[10]. |
| S0009 | Diplomacy |
To guarantee acceptance of the treaty's enslaving terms, the tsardom bribed the local starshyna with guarantees that they would keep their offices, placing the elite's personal ambitions above national ones: "the hetman shall not remove anyone of the general starshyna from office without the will and decree of their most serene tsarist majesty..."[4]. |
| S0009 | Diplomacy |
To gain control over the church, Moscow employed corruption at the international level. "The Kyiv Metropolitanate was seized... through bribery, manipulation, blackmail..." [1]. The envoy of Constantinople "directly asked the Muscovite envoy for money in exchange for issuing the required charter"[2][3]. |
| S0009 | Diplomacy |
The distribution of the highest imperial awards to buy the hetman's loyalty against the backdrop of Ukraine's resource exhaustion: Peter I "deigned to name me a cavalier of the glorious order of the holy first-called apostle of Christ, Andrew"[4][5][3]. |
| S0009 | Diplomacy |
Protection and encouragement of the part of the local elite loyal to Moscow, which allowed the metropole to control the hetman through the hands of his own subordinates (the "divide and rule" principle)[13]. |
| S0009 | Diplomacy |
To secure the political subordination of the Nokhchi elite, the administration used financial incentives: historian Murat Yasar points out that «the signing of the shert went hand in hand with monetary allowances and gifts that the tsar gave to local rulers»[6]. |
| S0009 | Diplomacy |
The Russian Empire, through the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, addressed the elders of the Nokhchi with a proclamation offering economic benefits in exchange for accepting subjecthood and ceasing armed resistance. For submission, the elders were promised access to salt: they would be "permitted to take salt from the local salt lakes by tickets, irrevocably, paying a very small fixed price," as well as the right "to drive livestock to this side of the Terek and freely use the vacant pasture lands." The proclamation was conveyed to Chechen society and its elders (Kusu Al-Temir, Masarai, Idut), but subjecthood was not accepted; at the beginning of the following year the empire proceeded to armed invasion.[9]. The same offer is independently recorded by the imperial historian Dubrovin: the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, "promised… to release salt in unlimited quantity, for the most trifling payment; to permit the driving of livestock for pasture in wintertime to the left bank of the Terek River… and, finally, to make them equal to Russian subjects"[14]. |
| C1135 | Expansion of the Bribery System and Coercion of Highland Societies into Subjecthood (1741–1748) |
The occupation administration of the Russian Empire bought the loyalty of members of the local nobility with state payments: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov records «the granting of Russian stipends to 4 Chechen princes and their uzdens»[8]. |
| C1139 | Failed Attempt to Bribe Nokhchi Elders with Economic Promises in Exchange for Allegiance (1806) |
The Russian Empire, through the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, addressed the elders of the Nokhchi with a proclamation offering economic benefits in exchange for accepting subjecthood and ceasing armed resistance. For submission, the elders were promised access to salt: they would be "permitted to take salt from the local salt lakes by tickets, irrevocably, paying a very small fixed price," as well as the right "to drive livestock to this side of the Terek and freely use the vacant pasture lands." The proclamation was conveyed to Chechen society and its elders (Kusu Al-Temir, Masarai, Idut), but subjecthood was not accepted; at the beginning of the following year the empire proceeded to armed invasion.[9]. The same offer is independently recorded by the imperial historian Dubrovin: the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, "promised… to release salt in unlimited quantity, for the most trifling payment; to permit the driving of livestock for pasture in wintertime to the left bank of the Terek River… and, finally, to make them equal to Russian subjects"[14]. |
| C0097 | Gas Wars and Energy Blackmail (2006–2009) |
Imposition of corrupt gas supply schemes through an intermediary company (RosUkrEnergo), controlled by S. Mogilevich, a crime boss linked to the Russian security services, in order to buy up the loyalty of the Ukrainian elite[15]. |
| C0041 | Introduction of Military Settlements and Liquidation of the Danubian Sich (1817–1828) |
Luring the kish otaman Osyp Hladky over to the side of the Russian Empire in 1828, during the Russo-Turkish war[16]. |
| C0007 | Kolomak Articles (1687) |
To guarantee acceptance of the treaty's enslaving terms, the tsardom bribed the local starshyna with guarantees that they would keep their offices, placing the elite's personal ambitions above national ones: "the hetman shall not remove anyone of the general starshyna from office without the will and decree of their most serene tsarist majesty..."[4]. |
| S0012 | Occupation and Controlled Administrations |
The occupation administration handed out privileges and transferred to loyal Nokhchi leaders power over dependent people in order to win them over to its side: the register of cases of the Posolsky Prikaz for 1645 records a petition from the serving Okotsk murza Chepan Kokhostrov to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and a report extract by the central apparatus «on granting him an increase to his salary and possession of the uzdens and «people» of his brother, murza Albir Kokhostrov»[7]. |
| S0012 | Occupation and Controlled Administrations |
The occupation administration of the Russian Empire bought the loyalty of the local nobility with state payments: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov states that, according to General-in-Chief V. Ya. Levashov, the senior Chechen prince Aidemir «was accepted into Russian subjecthood and was assigned a permanent tsarist stipend»[8], and in general «The princes and their uzdens even began to receive monetary allowances from the Russian government»[8]. |
| S0012 | Occupation and Controlled Administrations |
The occupation administration of the Russian Empire bought the loyalty of members of the local nobility with state payments: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov records «the granting of Russian stipends to 4 Chechen princes and their uzdens»[8]. |
| S0010 | Regular Army |
The Russian Empire bought the loyalty of Nokhchi elders in order to use them to bring recalcitrant villages into subjecthood. The commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, instructed the Andreyevo elder Hadji-Redjeb to incline the villages "into submission and subjecthood," and assigned a salary to the Chechen uzden Bik-Bulat — "I persuaded the Chechen uzden Bik-Bulat… to whom I said… a salary of 300 r. in silver per year"; for winning over the remaining villages, "about 3,000 r. in silver for bringing them into loyal subjecthood" was allocated[9]. The same bribery, from the Nokhchi side, is recorded by the historian D. A. Khozhaev: through the intermediary Hadji-Redjeb, in the name of the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, the very head of the Chechen resistance, Beibulat Taimiev, was won over and took "an oath of fidelity of subjecthood to Russia," while Hadji-Redjeb asked the generals for another 3000 rubles in silver "for bringing the remaining unpacified Chechen villages into loyal subjecthood"[10]. |
| S0010 | Regular Army |
The Russian Empire bought the loyalty of the Nokhchi elders in order to use them to incline the Chechens toward submission. To this end, the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Tormasov, through Esaul Chernov, ordered that the Chechen elders and clergy be given «250 rubles each, and others 150 silver rubles each, as a one-time payment, for which the required sum, 1,400 r. in total»[11]. Historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov notes that the colonial authorities generally acted by relying on the social elite, «bribing them with all manner of rewards and privileges for their service to the benefit of Russia»[12]. Historian D. A. Khozhaev cites the same formula with a direct indication of where the money came from: the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Tormasov, agreed «to win over the principal Chechen elders and their clergy… to give 250, and others 150 silver rubles each, and to collect the said money from their own villages» — that is, the bribery of the elite was paid for by exactions from the Chechen villages themselves[10]. |
| G0009 | Russian Empire |
Luring the kish otaman Osyp Hladky over to the side of the Russian Empire in 1828, during the Russo-Turkish war[16]. |
| G0009 | Russian Empire |
The occupation administration of the Russian Empire bought the loyalty of the local nobility with state payments: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov states that, according to General-in-Chief V. Ya. Levashov, the senior Chechen prince Aidemir «was accepted into Russian subjecthood and was assigned a permanent tsarist stipend»[8], and in general «The princes and their uzdens even began to receive monetary allowances from the Russian government»[8]. |
| G0009 | Russian Empire |
The occupation administration of the Russian Empire bought the loyalty of members of the local nobility with state payments: historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov records «the granting of Russian stipends to 4 Chechen princes and their uzdens»[8]. |
| G0009 | Russian Empire |
The Russian Empire, through the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, addressed the elders of the Nokhchi with a proclamation offering economic benefits in exchange for accepting subjecthood and ceasing armed resistance. For submission, the elders were promised access to salt: they would be "permitted to take salt from the local salt lakes by tickets, irrevocably, paying a very small fixed price," as well as the right "to drive livestock to this side of the Terek and freely use the vacant pasture lands." The proclamation was conveyed to Chechen society and its elders (Kusu Al-Temir, Masarai, Idut), but subjecthood was not accepted; at the beginning of the following year the empire proceeded to armed invasion.[9]. The same offer is independently recorded by the imperial historian Dubrovin: the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, "promised… to release salt in unlimited quantity, for the most trifling payment; to permit the driving of livestock for pasture in wintertime to the left bank of the Terek River… and, finally, to make them equal to Russian subjects"[14]. |
| G0009 | Russian Empire |
The Russian Empire bought the loyalty of Nokhchi elders in order to use them to bring recalcitrant villages into subjecthood. The commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, instructed the Andreyevo elder Hadji-Redjeb to incline the villages "into submission and subjecthood," and assigned a salary to the Chechen uzden Bik-Bulat — "I persuaded the Chechen uzden Bik-Bulat… to whom I said… a salary of 300 r. in silver per year"; for winning over the remaining villages, "about 3,000 r. in silver for bringing them into loyal subjecthood" was allocated[9]. The same bribery, from the Nokhchi side, is recorded by the historian D. A. Khozhaev: through the intermediary Hadji-Redjeb, in the name of the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Gudovich, the very head of the Chechen resistance, Beibulat Taimiev, was won over and took "an oath of fidelity of subjecthood to Russia," while Hadji-Redjeb asked the generals for another 3000 rubles in silver "for bringing the remaining unpacified Chechen villages into loyal subjecthood"[10]. |
| G0009 | Russian Empire |
The Russian Empire bought the loyalty of the Nokhchi elders in order to use them to incline the Chechens toward submission. To this end, the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Tormasov, through Esaul Chernov, ordered that the Chechen elders and clergy be given «250 rubles each, and others 150 silver rubles each, as a one-time payment, for which the required sum, 1,400 r. in total»[11]. Historian Ya. Z. Akhmadov notes that the colonial authorities generally acted by relying on the social elite, «bribing them with all manner of rewards and privileges for their service to the benefit of Russia»[12]. Historian D. A. Khozhaev cites the same formula with a direct indication of where the money came from: the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, General Tormasov, agreed «to win over the principal Chechen elders and their clergy… to give 250, and others 150 silver rubles each, and to collect the said money from their own villages» — that is, the bribery of the elite was paid for by exactions from the Chechen villages themselves[10]. |
| G0011 | Russian Federation |
Imposition of corrupt gas supply schemes through an intermediary company (RosUkrEnergo), controlled by S. Mogilevich, a crime boss linked to the Russian security services, in order to buy up the loyalty of the Ukrainian elite[15]. |
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services |
Luring the kish otaman Osyp Hladky over to the side of the Russian Empire in 1828, during the Russo-Turkish war[16]. |
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services |
Imposition of corrupt gas supply schemes through an intermediary company (RosUkrEnergo), controlled by S. Mogilevich, a crime boss linked to the Russian security services, in order to buy up the loyalty of the Ukrainian elite[15]. |
| C0025 | The Konotop Articles of Ivan Samoilovych (1672) |
Protection and encouragement of the part of the local elite loyal to Moscow, which allowed the metropole to control the hetman through the hands of his own subordinates (the "divide and rule" principle)[13]. |
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy |
To guarantee acceptance of the treaty's enslaving terms, the tsardom bribed the local starshyna with guarantees that they would keep their offices, placing the elite's personal ambitions above national ones: "the hetman shall not remove anyone of the general starshyna from office without the will and decree of their most serene tsarist majesty..."[4]. |
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy |
To gain control over the church, Moscow employed corruption at the international level. "The Kyiv Metropolitanate was seized... through bribery, manipulation, blackmail..." [1]. The envoy of Constantinople "directly asked the Muscovite envoy for money in exchange for issuing the required charter"[2][3]. |
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy |
The distribution of the highest imperial awards to buy the hetman's loyalty against the backdrop of Ukraine's resource exhaustion: Peter I "deigned to name me a cavalier of the glorious order of the holy first-called apostle of Christ, Andrew"[4][5][3]. |
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy |
Protection and encouragement of the part of the local elite loyal to Moscow, which allowed the metropole to control the hetman through the hands of his own subordinates (the "divide and rule" principle)[13]. |
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy |
To secure the political subordination of the Nokhchi elite, the administration used financial incentives: historian Murat Yasar points out that «the signing of the shert went hand in hand with monetary allowances and gifts that the tsar gave to local rulers»[6]. |
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy |
The occupation administration handed out privileges and transferred to loyal Nokhchi leaders power over dependent people in order to win them over to its side: the register of cases of the Posolsky Prikaz for 1645 records a petition from the serving Okotsk murza Chepan Kokhostrov to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and a report extract by the central apparatus «on granting him an increase to his salary and possession of the uzdens and «people» of his brother, murza Albir Kokhostrov»[7]. |