By Amerbi Karmov — The subject of revolution and civil war in the North Caucasus invariably garners heightened interest from a broad readership. This interest stems from the complex situation that emerged in this region, characterised by a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional population and compounded by unresolved land issues in the Terek area. Thus, unlike in central Russia, where civil strife was primarily based on class differentiation—the struggle of the proletariat allied with peasantry against the bourgeoisie—the lines of civil conflict in the Terek initially followed ethnic markers. This confrontation was further intensified by the involvement of various political forces in armed conflict. Soviet regional historiography's oversimplification and glossing over these complexities led to the substitution of the intricate, multidimensional historical narrative of the peoples with a simplistic construct of the "Reds" versus the "Whites". The most selfless individuals, dedicated to serving the people, were pigeonholed under ideological labels like "counter-revolutionary nationalist bourgeoisie", "anti-people social elites", "world bourgeoisie's followers", etc. Among them is Pshemakho Kotsev [in Circassian: Куэцэ Пщымахуэ -Ed.], a figure largely unknown to the general public, except to a small circle of Caucasian historians.
