The evolution of mountain farms in the North Caucasian region in the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries

The long process of joining the peoples of Central and Eastern Caucasus to the Russian Empire ended in 1859 after the capture in Gunib village of Imam Shamil, the leader of the People’s Liberation Movement. Adyghe people of the Northwest Caucasus in spring 1864, having lost independence and having joined Russia, were involved in the advanced capitalist relations characterized by a number of specific features. The article considers the problems of engaging mountain farms of the North Caucasian region in progressive capitalist relations. It identifies the main and specific features of capitalist relations in Russia which were characterized by in-depth development of capitalism and in-width development of capitalist production. The article considers the mechanisms and stages of economic conquest of the provinces of Russia in the post-reform period, gives characteristics of the complex Caucasian realities with profound social contradictions, diversity of everyday lifestyles and customs of the local population. The author analyzes implementation of the peasant reform in the Northern Caucasus, where the mechanism of liberating dependent classes was almost the same as in Russia. In conclusion, the article identifies the consequences of this reform for Adygeyan peasantry.