Forced Mobilization

Aggressors may forcibly conscript members of the Indigenous people into their own armed forces to take part in combat operations (including against their own compatriots). This technique is used to extract benefits by exploiting the local population as a free human resource. At the same time, it serves the purposes of neutralizing defenses: by sending men to distant fronts, the colonizer deliberately depletes the region's demographic and military potential, depriving the society of its capacity for self-defense.

ID: T0049
Sub-techniques:  No sub-techniques
Peoples: Nokhchi (Chechens), Ukrainians
Version: 1.0
Created: 21 April 2026
Last Modified: 21 April 2026

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
C0082 "Scorched Earth" Tactics and Criminal Mobilization (1941–1945)

Mass forced conscription, by field military enlistment offices, of the population of just-liberated territories into the ranks of the Red Army[1].

C0031 Abolition of the Cossack Order in Sloboda Ukraine (1765)

Forced incorporation of the autochthonous armed forces into the imperial army: "the transformation of the regiments into regular hussar ones"[2].

C1112 Beginning of the political subjugation of the Nokhchi (1588–1591)

The occupation administration obliged the subordinated Nokhchi societies to take part in military campaigns: historian E. N. Kusheva points to documents «on the possibility of the participation of Murza Shikh... in a campaign of Russian men-at-arms»[3].

C1114 Deprivation of the Nokhchi of political agency and the imposition of alien governance (1614–1616)

The occupation administration forcibly sent subordinated Nokhchi to fight against their own compatriots: historian E. N. Kusheva indicates in the heading of a primary document that there took place a «campaign of Terek men-at-arms and Terek Okochans... against the Endirey ruler Saltan-Magmut and the people of the Okotsk and Michkiz kabaks who had joined him»[3].

C1021 Destruction of the Nokhchi Villages along the Sunzha and Erection of the Groznaya Fortress in Their Place (1817–1818)

The Regular Army of the Russian Empire compelled the Indigenous population to perform military service on the conqueror’s side, including against their own kin. Imperial general Yermolov testifies in his "Notes" that "instead of tribute it was ordained that men be sent out for service at the requisition of the commanders," and admits: "there has not yet been an instance of anyone being able to force the Chechens to use arms against their own countrymen, but the first step toward this has already been taken, and it has been impressed upon them that this will always be demanded of them"[4].

C1149 Destruction of the Refugee Aul of Uzeni-Yurt, Extortion of Hostages from Geldigen, and Capture of Samashki Residents at Harvest (1826-1827)

On the night of January 10, 1827, General Laptev, commander of the left flank of the Caucasian Line, forced four hundred Chechens of subjugated communities to take part in a raid on the Nokhchi village of Uzeni-Yurt with a combat mission against their compatriots. The imperial historian Potto wrote: they "swam across the Argun and were to go by a roundabout road in order to cut off the inhabitants' retreat to the forest"[5]. In the summer of 1827, General Engelhardt, commander of the left flank of the Caucasian Line, compelled to take part in the ambush on the inhabitants of Samashki, alongside a hundred Mozdok Cossacks, as Potto recorded, "as many peaceable Chechens"[5]. The subjugation of these communities was maintained by a system of hostages, as documented by Laptev's same practice with regard to Geldigen.

C1122 Establishment of Alien Governance and the Mobilization of the Nokhchi for the Crimean Campaigns (1661–1676)

The appointed controlled administration sent subordinated Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in the metropole's Crimean campaigns: a dispatch from the Kabardian prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky to the Posolsky Prikaz in 1675 states that for the campaign against the Crimean ulusy he had at his disposal «190 Okochan men»[6]; the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova adds that in 1675 detachments fought in Crimea alongside the prince «with uzdens, with the newly baptized, and with «Okochans»»[7].

C1123 Forcible Mobilization of the Nokhchi for the Russo-Turkish War (1677–1679)

The occupation administration sent subordinated Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in armed conflicts (the Chyhyryn campaigns) on the territory of Ukraine: the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova notes that in 1678 the Kabardian prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky (under whose authority the Okochans were) received a tsar's charter «for having taken part in the Crimean and Chyhyryn campaigns»[7]; the document registers for 1678 record a dispatch from the Chuhuiv voivode Ivan Rykhtarov to the Razryadny Prikaz «on the march of the regiment of Prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky to Chuhuiv»[6]; and in 1679 Tsar Fedor Alekseevich issued a decree to the Posolsky Prikaz «on his regiment performing guard duty in the vicinity of Chuhuiv and Kharkiv»[6].

C0063 Formation of the Ideology of Great-Power Chauvinism (1864–1876)

Use of Ukrainians within the imperial army as cannon fodder for waging large-scale wars of conquest and subjugating peoples in the Caucasus and Central Asia[1].

S0008 Government

The occupation administration obliged the subordinated Nokhchi societies to take part in military campaigns: historian E. N. Kusheva points to documents «on the possibility of the participation of Murza Shikh... in a campaign of Russian men-at-arms»[3].

C0011 Integration Reforms of Peter I and the Great Northern War (1700–1708)

The dispatch of Cossack regiments to distant theaters of war (the Baltic countries, Poland), which led to their exhaustion. The troops were "wearied by year-round military service, worn down, left without horses, and destitute"[8][9][10].

C0035 Military Annexation of the Crimean Khanate (1783)

Use of Ukrainian peasants and Black Sea Cossacks as a military resource for storming Turkish fortresses (Ochakiv, Khotyn, Izmail) and consolidating imperial claims to Crimea[11].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

The occupation administration forcibly sent subordinated Nokhchi to fight against their own compatriots: historian E. N. Kusheva indicates in the heading of a primary document that there took place a «campaign of Terek men-at-arms and Terek Okochans... against the Endirey ruler Saltan-Magmut and the people of the Okotsk and Michkiz kabaks who had joined him»[3].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

The occupation administration of Tersky Town mobilized the metropole's subordinate allies: in a petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the Kabardian prince Sholokh reported that «the voivode Mikita Dmitreevich Velyaminov sent me... with my father on your sovereign's service... against your sovereign's disobedient ones — the Michkiz people, against their kabaks»[3].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

The occupation administration compelled the subordinate Nokhchi to take part in armed conflicts: in their petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the Okotsky murza Kokhostrov Biytemirov and the serving Okochans of Tersky Town reported that «we, your sovereign's kholops (bonded servants), fight your sovereign's disobedient ones, not sparing our heads; for you, sovereign, we shed our blood and lay down our heads»[3].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

The occupation administration and forces loyal to it sent the subordinate Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in armed conflicts, including against their own compatriots: the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova states that in 1626 the voivodes sent «252 Okochans»[7][6] on a campaign, and in 1628, during an armed incursion, the Kabardian murza Konshov-murza Bitemryukov «went against these "mountain people"... with the "Okochans"»[7].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

The appointed controlled administration sent subordinated Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in the metropole's Crimean campaigns: a dispatch from the Kabardian prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky to the Posolsky Prikaz in 1675 states that for the campaign against the Crimean ulusy he had at his disposal «190 Okochan men»[6]; the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova adds that in 1675 detachments fought in Crimea alongside the prince «with uzdens, with the newly baptized, and with «Okochans»»[7].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

The occupation administration sent subordinated Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in armed conflicts (the Chyhyryn campaigns) on the territory of Ukraine: the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova notes that in 1678 the Kabardian prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky (under whose authority the Okochans were) received a tsar's charter «for having taken part in the Crimean and Chyhyryn campaigns»[7]; the document registers for 1678 record a dispatch from the Chuhuiv voivode Ivan Rykhtarov to the Razryadny Prikaz «on the march of the regiment of Prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky to Chuhuiv»[6]; and in 1679 Tsar Fedor Alekseevich issued a decree to the Posolsky Prikaz «on his regiment performing guard duty in the vicinity of Chuhuiv and Kharkiv»[6].

C1120 Punitive campaign and the devastation of the Nokhchi mountain communities (1617–1618)

The occupation administration of Tersky Town mobilized the metropole's subordinate allies: in a petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the Kabardian prince Sholokh reported that «the voivode Mikita Dmitreevich Velyaminov sent me... with my father on your sovereign's service... against your sovereign's disobedient ones — the Michkiz people, against their kabaks»[3].

S0010 Regular Army

The dispatch of Cossack regiments to distant theaters of war (the Baltic countries, Poland), which led to their exhaustion. The troops were "wearied by year-round military service, worn down, left without horses, and destitute"[8][9][10].

S0010 Regular Army

Forced incorporation of the autochthonous armed forces into the imperial army: "the transformation of the regiments into regular hussar ones"[2].

S0010 Regular Army

Use of Ukrainian Cossack regiments for the grueling war against the Ottoman Empire: mobilization of the indigenous people's resources for imperial expansion[12].

S0010 Regular Army

Use of Ukrainian peasants and Black Sea Cossacks as a military resource for storming Turkish fortresses (Ochakiv, Khotyn, Izmail) and consolidating imperial claims to Crimea[11].

S0010 Regular Army

Use of Ukrainian resources and Cossack regiments in yet another Russo-Turkish war for imperial geopolitical expansion[13].

S0010 Regular Army

Mass conscription into the militia and formation of Cossack regiments for the war against France (the formation of 22 regiments and 75,000 militiamen) on the basis of the authorities' false promises to restore Cossack liberties[14].

S0010 Regular Army

Mass conscription of peasants as recruits and militia for participation in the Crimean War, which was arduous for the empire[15].

S0010 Regular Army

Use of Ukrainians within the imperial army as cannon fodder for waging large-scale wars of conquest and subjugating peoples in the Caucasus and Central Asia[1].

S0010 Regular Army

Use of the inhabitants of the colonized Ukrainian governorates as cannon fodder in yet another bloody war in the Balkans[1][16].

S0010 Regular Army

Forced conscription of millions of Ukrainians into the Russian imperial army to take part in World War I for the alien geopolitical interests of empires[17].

S0010 Regular Army

Mass forced conscription, by field military enlistment offices, of the population of just-liberated territories into the ranks of the Red Army[1].

S0010 Regular Army

The Regular Army of the Russian Empire compelled the Indigenous population to perform military service on the conqueror’s side, including against their own kin. Imperial general Yermolov testifies in his "Notes" that "instead of tribute it was ordained that men be sent out for service at the requisition of the commanders," and admits: "there has not yet been an instance of anyone being able to force the Chechens to use arms against their own countrymen, but the first step toward this has already been taken, and it has been impressed upon them that this will always be demanded of them"[4].

S0010 Regular Army

On the night of January 10, 1827, General Laptev, commander of the left flank of the Caucasian Line, forced four hundred Chechens of subjugated communities to take part in a raid on the Nokhchi village of Uzeni-Yurt with a combat mission against their compatriots. The imperial historian Potto wrote: they "swam across the Argun and were to go by a roundabout road in order to cut off the inhabitants' retreat to the forest"[5]. In the summer of 1827, General Engelhardt, commander of the left flank of the Caucasian Line, compelled to take part in the ambush on the inhabitants of Samashki, alongside a hundred Mozdok Cossacks, as Potto recorded, "as many peaceable Chechens"[5]. The subjugation of these communities was maintained by a system of hostages, as documented by Laptev's same practice with regard to Geldigen.

G0009 Russian Empire

Forced incorporation of the autochthonous armed forces into the imperial army: "the transformation of the regiments into regular hussar ones"[2].

G0009 Russian Empire

Use of Ukrainian Cossack regiments for the grueling war against the Ottoman Empire: mobilization of the indigenous people's resources for imperial expansion[12].

G0009 Russian Empire

Use of Ukrainian peasants and Black Sea Cossacks as a military resource for storming Turkish fortresses (Ochakiv, Khotyn, Izmail) and consolidating imperial claims to Crimea[11].

G0009 Russian Empire

Use of Ukrainian resources and Cossack regiments in yet another Russo-Turkish war for imperial geopolitical expansion[13].

G0009 Russian Empire

Mass conscription into the militia and formation of Cossack regiments for the war against France (the formation of 22 regiments and 75,000 militiamen) on the basis of the authorities' false promises to restore Cossack liberties[14].

G0009 Russian Empire

Mass conscription of peasants as recruits and militia for participation in the Crimean War, which was arduous for the empire[15].

G0009 Russian Empire

Use of Ukrainians within the imperial army as cannon fodder for waging large-scale wars of conquest and subjugating peoples in the Caucasus and Central Asia[1].

G0009 Russian Empire

Use of the inhabitants of the colonized Ukrainian governorates as cannon fodder in yet another bloody war in the Balkans[1][16].

G0009 Russian Empire

Forced conscription of millions of Ukrainians into the Russian imperial army to take part in World War I for the alien geopolitical interests of empires[17].

G0009 Russian Empire

The Regular Army of the Russian Empire compelled the Indigenous population to perform military service on the conqueror’s side, including against their own kin. Imperial general Yermolov testifies in his "Notes" that "instead of tribute it was ordained that men be sent out for service at the requisition of the commanders," and admits: "there has not yet been an instance of anyone being able to force the Chechens to use arms against their own countrymen, but the first step toward this has already been taken, and it has been impressed upon them that this will always be demanded of them"[4].

G0009 Russian Empire

On the night of January 10, 1827, General Laptev, commander of the left flank of the Caucasian Line, forced four hundred Chechens of subjugated communities to take part in a raid on the Nokhchi village of Uzeni-Yurt with a combat mission against their compatriots. The imperial historian Potto wrote: they "swam across the Argun and were to go by a roundabout road in order to cut off the inhabitants' retreat to the forest"[5]. In the summer of 1827, General Engelhardt, commander of the left flank of the Caucasian Line, compelled to take part in the ambush on the inhabitants of Samashki, alongside a hundred Mozdok Cossacks, as Potto recorded, "as many peaceable Chechens"[5]. The subjugation of these communities was maintained by a system of hostages, as documented by Laptev's same practice with regard to Geldigen.

C0064 Russo-Turkish War and Pan-Slavism (1877–1878)

Use of the inhabitants of the colonized Ukrainian governorates as cannon fodder in yet another bloody war in the Balkans[1][16].

C0039 Russo-Turkish War and the Annexation of Bessarabia (1806–1812)

Use of Ukrainian resources and Cossack regiments in yet another Russo-Turkish war for imperial geopolitical expansion[13].

C0032 Russo-Turkish War and the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1768–1774)

Use of Ukrainian Cossack regiments for the grueling war against the Ottoman Empire: mobilization of the indigenous people's resources for imperial expansion[12].

C0061 The Crimean War and the Suppression of the "Kyiv Cossack Movement" (1853–1856)

Mass conscription of peasants as recruits and militia for participation in the Crimean War, which was arduous for the empire[15].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The dispatch of Cossack regiments to distant theaters of war (the Baltic countries, Poland), which led to their exhaustion. The troops were "wearied by year-round military service, worn down, left without horses, and destitute"[8][9][10].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The occupation administration obliged the subordinated Nokhchi societies to take part in military campaigns: historian E. N. Kusheva points to documents «on the possibility of the participation of Murza Shikh... in a campaign of Russian men-at-arms»[3].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The occupation administration forcibly sent subordinated Nokhchi to fight against their own compatriots: historian E. N. Kusheva indicates in the heading of a primary document that there took place a «campaign of Terek men-at-arms and Terek Okochans... against the Endirey ruler Saltan-Magmut and the people of the Okotsk and Michkiz kabaks who had joined him»[3].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The occupation administration of Tersky Town mobilized the metropole's subordinate allies: in a petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the Kabardian prince Sholokh reported that «the voivode Mikita Dmitreevich Velyaminov sent me... with my father on your sovereign's service... against your sovereign's disobedient ones — the Michkiz people, against their kabaks»[3].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The occupation administration compelled the subordinate Nokhchi to take part in armed conflicts: in their petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the Okotsky murza Kokhostrov Biytemirov and the serving Okochans of Tersky Town reported that «we, your sovereign's kholops (bonded servants), fight your sovereign's disobedient ones, not sparing our heads; for you, sovereign, we shed our blood and lay down our heads»[3].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The occupation administration and forces loyal to it sent the subordinate Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in armed conflicts, including against their own compatriots: the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova states that in 1626 the voivodes sent «252 Okochans»[7][6] on a campaign, and in 1628, during an armed incursion, the Kabardian murza Konshov-murza Bitemryukov «went against these "mountain people"... with the "Okochans"»[7].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The appointed controlled administration sent subordinated Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in the metropole's Crimean campaigns: a dispatch from the Kabardian prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky to the Posolsky Prikaz in 1675 states that for the campaign against the Crimean ulusy he had at his disposal «190 Okochan men»[6]; the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova adds that in 1675 detachments fought in Crimea alongside the prince «with uzdens, with the newly baptized, and with «Okochans»»[7].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

The occupation administration sent subordinated Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in armed conflicts (the Chyhyryn campaigns) on the territory of Ukraine: the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova notes that in 1678 the Kabardian prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky (under whose authority the Okochans were) received a tsar's charter «for having taken part in the Crimean and Chyhyryn campaigns»[7]; the document registers for 1678 record a dispatch from the Chuhuiv voivode Ivan Rykhtarov to the Razryadny Prikaz «on the march of the regiment of Prince Kaspulat Mutsalovich Cherkassky to Chuhuiv»[6]; and in 1679 Tsar Fedor Alekseevich issued a decree to the Posolsky Prikaz «on his regiment performing guard duty in the vicinity of Chuhuiv and Kharkiv»[6].

C1116 Use of the Nokhchi in Military Expeditions, Intervention, and Imposition of Yasak (1626–1628)

The occupation administration compelled the subordinate Nokhchi to take part in armed conflicts: in their petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the Okotsky murza Kokhostrov Biytemirov and the serving Okochans of Tersky Town reported that «we, your sovereign's kholops (bonded servants), fight your sovereign's disobedient ones, not sparing our heads; for you, sovereign, we shed our blood and lay down our heads»[3].

C1116 Use of the Nokhchi in Military Expeditions, Intervention, and Imposition of Yasak (1626–1628)

The occupation administration and forces loyal to it sent the subordinate Nokhchi (Okochans) to take part in armed conflicts, including against their own compatriots: the historian I. Kh. Tkhamokova states that in 1626 the voivodes sent «252 Okochans»[7][6] on a campaign, and in 1628, during an armed incursion, the Kabardian murza Konshov-murza Bitemryukov «went against these "mountain people"... with the "Okochans"»[7].

G0010 USSR

Mass forced conscription, by field military enlistment offices, of the population of just-liberated territories into the ranks of the Red Army[1].

C0040 War with Napoleon: Forced Mobilization and Deception (1812)

Mass conscription into the militia and formation of Cossack regiments for the war against France (the formation of 22 regiments and 75,000 militiamen) on the basis of the authorities' false promises to restore Cossack liberties[14].

C0070 World War I and the Occupation of Galicia (1914–1917)

Forced conscription of millions of Ukrainians into the Russian imperial army to take part in World War I for the alien geopolitical interests of empires[17].

References