Caucasus
Modern-day Countries in this region
Bronze Age
The Caucasus in the Bronze Age was a cradle of metallurgy, as one of the earliest regions to develop bronze-working. The Kura-Araxes culture (circa 3400-2000 BC) dominated, characterized by advanced farming, pottery, and trade networks stretching to Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.
Colchis became famous as the land of the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology, illustrating early links with the Mediterranean.
Bronze Age
Mesopotamian Bronze Age
Iron Age
Kingdoms like Colchis (western Georgia) and Urartu (eastern Anatolia and Armenia) emerged as influential states.
Nomadic peoples, like the Cimmerians and Scythians, passed through the region, influencing local cultures and trade.
Iron Age
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Mesopotamian Iron Age
Antiquity
Between the 6th and 4th centuries BC much of the region, including Armenia and parts of modern Azerbaijan and Georgia, was incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
Greek Colonies were established on the Black Sea Coast.
Following Alexander the Great’s conquests, Hellenistic culture influenced the region, particularly in Armenia and Iberia (eastern Georgia).
Armenia became a regional power, achieving its zenith under Tigranes the Great (1st century BC).
The region was a battleground between Rome and Parthia, influencing the rise of Christianity, which Armenia adopted as a state religion in 301 AD, the first nation to do so.
Greek Poleis
Independent Greek poleis in the Mediterranean Basin between the 8th and 4th century BC.
Rome
Greco-Persian Wars
Were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states.
Achaemenid Period
Rise of Macedon
Ancient history
Wars of the Diadochi
Were a series of conflicts that were fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
Diadochi
Successor states to the Macedonian Empire (323-276 BC).
Hellenistic Period
Seleucid Secessionist States
Polities that emerged during the dynastyc wars of the Seleucid Empire (312-62 BC).
Roman Republic Classic Wars
Roman-Persian Wars
Were a series of Wars between Rome (first the Roman Republic then the Roman Empire and finally the Eastern Roman Empire) and Persia (the Parthian Empire, and then its successor, the Sasanian Empire). The wars were ended by the early Muslim conquests, which led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and huge territorial losses for the Byzantine Empire.
Principate Times of Rome
Civil wars of the Tetrarchy
Factions during the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy (306-324 AD).
Tetrarchy
Civil war of the Constantinian Dynasty
Polities ruled by the successors of Constantine The Great after his death (337 AD).
Constantinian dynasty
Barbarian Invasions
Eastern Roman Empire
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Definitive Division of the Roman Empire
After the death of Theodosius I, the last Emperor of the whole Roman Empire, the empire was divided between his two sons in a Western and Eastern part.
Early Eastern Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
Battle of Avarayr
Was a battle fought on 2 June 451 on the Avarayr Plain in Vaspurakan between a Christian Armenian army under Vardan Mamikonian and Sassanid Persia.
Early Middle Ages
The Caucasus was contested between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires. Christianity remained dominant in Georgia and Armenia, while Zoroastrianism influenced parts of Azerbaijan.
From the 7th century, the region came under Arab influence, particularly in Azerbaijan, where Islam began to spread.
Armenian and Georgian kingdoms re-emerged as semi-independent entities under Byzantine and Abbasid influence.
Early Middle Ages
Early Muslim conquests
Were the military campaigns by the first three Islamic Caliphates (the Caliphate of Muhammad, the Rashidun Caliphate and the Umayyad Caliphate) that led to the Islamic conquest of most of the Middle East as well as the Iberian Peninsula.
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Arab-Byzantine Wars
Were a series of wars between a number of Muslim Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire from the 7th to the 11th century. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests, under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, in the 7th century and continued by their successors until the mid-11th century.
Abbasid Revolution
Was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1517 CE).
Early Middle Ages
Caucasian Khanates
The Caucasian Khanates, also known as the Azerbaijani khanates, Persian khanates, or Iranian khanates, were various principalities established by Persia in the Caucasus from the late Safavid to the Qajar dynasty (from 1747 until the mid-19th century).
Norse/Viking Polities
Polities created by the Norsemen in Europe and North America during the Middle Ages.
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Iranian Intermezzo
A period in history which saw the rise of various native Iranian Muslim dynasties in the Iranian Plateau after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Iran and the fall of Sasanian Empire.
The Kievan Rus'
Kurdish Principalities
Polities created by Kurds in the Medieval and Modern era.
High Middle Ages
This period saw the consolidation of local kingdoms and increased interactions with the broader Islamic and Christian worlds.
Georgia experienced a golden age under Queen Tamar (1184-1213), becoming a major power in the region.
The Seljuk Empire brought new waves of Islamic culture and control to parts of the Caucasus.
At the end of the period the Mongol invasions destabilized the region, which was annexed to the Mongol Empire and became a border region between the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate.
High Middle Ages
Byzantine-Georgian wars
Were a series of conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Georgia.
Conquests of Tughril I
Expansion during the rule of Tughril I in the Seljuk Empire.
Byzantine-Seljuq wars
Were a series of conflicts in the Middle Ages between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire.
Georgian-Seljuk wars
Were a series of military conflicts between the Seljuk Empire and its vassals against the Kingdom of Georgia.
Conquests of Malik Shah I
Expansion during the rule of Malik Shah I in the Seljuk Empire.
Anatolian Beyliks
Turkish principalities in Anatolia that resulted from the fragmentation of the Seljuk Empire in the second half of the 13th century.
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Mongol invasions and conquests
Were a series of military campaigny by the Mongols that created the largest contiguous Empire in history, the Mongol Empire, which controlled most of Eurasia.
High Middle Ages
Persia after the Disintegration of the Ilkhanate
Polities that emerged from the collapse of the Ilkhanate in Persia (1335 AD).
Successors of the Mongol Empire
Polities emerged after the fall of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368).
Mongol Civil Wars
Were a series of wars between the successor states of the Mongol Empire.
Late Middle Ages
After the collapse of the Mongol Ilkhanate, the region saw the rise of smaller khanates and principalities.
The 14th-century campaigns of Timur devastated parts of the region, particularly Azerbaijan and Armenia.
By the end of the 15th century, the Kingdom of Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty client kingdoms subject to either Persia (Kingdom of Kakheti, Kingdom of Kartli) or the Ottomans (Kingdom of Imereti).
Late Middle Ages
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Timurid invasions
Military campaigns of Timur (or Tamerlane), a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia.
Late Middle Ages
Early modern period
The Caucasus became a contested frontier between the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Persia, and later the Russian Empire.
Much of Azerbaijan and Armenia were integrated into the Safavid Empire, with Shi’a Islam becoming prominent in Azerbaijan.
Western regions, including parts of Georgia, experienced Ottoman incursions and influence.
By the 18th century, Russia began asserting control over northern Caucasus.
Following the assassination of Nader Shah (r. 1736-1747) in 1747, internal chaos erupted in Iran, particularly in the South Caucasus, where semi-autonomous khanates emerged as a result of the lack of a centralized government.
Early modern period
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Ottoman-Persian Wars
Were a series of wars between Ottoman Empire and the Safavid, Afsharid, Zand, and Qajar dynasties of Iran (Persia) through the 16th-20th centuries.
Conquests of Murad III
Expansion during the rule of Murad III in the Ottoman Empire.
Time of Troubles
Was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty, and ended in 1613 with the accession of Michael I of the House of Romanov.
Early modern period
Russo-Persian Wars
Were a series of wars between Persia and Russia in the period 1651-1828.
Conquests of Nader Shah
Expansion during the rule of Nader Shah of the Afsharid Dynasty.
Civil War between Afsharid and Qajar
Was a civil war in Persia that led to the end of the Afsharid Dynasty, whose place was taken by the Qajar Dynasty.
Caucasian War
Was a series of Russian military expeditions into northern Caucasus that resulted in the inglobation of this region in the Russian Empire.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Period (1789-1815)
The Caucasus was not directly affected by the French Revolution or Napoleonic Wars. This period saw increased Russian expansion.
Eastern Georgia sought Russian protection against Persian and Ottoman threats, leading to annexation in 1801.
The Treaty of Gulistan (1813) marked the end of the Russo-Persian War, with Persia ceding significant territories in modern Azerbaijan to Russia.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
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XIX Century
19th Century
By mid-century, Russia had fully annexed the region, incorporating Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. ocal resistance, particularly among the Muslim populations in the North Caucasus (e.g., Imam Shamil’s struggle), persisted for decades.
XIX Century
From 1900 to the End of World War II
The collapse of the Russian Empire (1917) led to short-lived independent states in Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. By 1921, the region was absorbed into the Soviet Union, forming the Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republics.
During World War II the Caucasus was a strategic zone, with the Nazis attempting to capture its oil fields. Stalin’s policies caused widespread suffering, including mass deportations of ethnic minorities like the Chechens and Ingush.
World War I
Was a global conflict between two coalitions, the Allies (primarily France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States) and the Central Powers (led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). It was mainly caused by the competition of the western countries over domain in Europe and in the rest of the world with their colonial empires. The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. The war also caused the Russian Revolution and the ensuing Russian Civil War.
1900-1945
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1900-1945
Bolsheviks (Russian Civil War)
Bolshevik territories during the Russian Civil War (1917-1923).
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Separatists (Russian Civil War)
Local secessionist polities during the Russian Civil War (1917-1923) that were neither communists nor whites.
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Whites (Russian Civil War)
Conservative countries - in many cases created with the support of western europeans, japanese and U.S. - during the Russian Civil War (1917-1923).
Russian Civil War
Was a Civil War in Russia that involved varios factions but mainly the Bolsheviks and the conservative White Army in the core Russian territories, as well as a multitude of local secessionist states. At the end of war the Bolsheviks were victorious and established the Soviet Union.
Turkish War of Independence
Was a series of military campaigns waged by the Turkish National Movement after parts of the Ottoman Empire were occupied and partitioned following its defeat in World War I. The war led to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.
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World War II
Was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 (it started sooner in certain regions) between the Axis Powers (mainly Germany, Japan and Italy) and the Allies (mainly the Soviet Union, the U.S.A., the U.K., China and France). It was the war with more fatalities in history. The war in Asia began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937. The war in Europe began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The war ended with the complete defeat of the Axis powers, which were occupied by the Allies.
Cold War Period
Under Soviet rule, the Caucasus underwent modernization but also ethnic and political tensions. The region saw industrial growth, particularly in Azerbaijan's oil sector.
Cold War
Cold War
Post-Cold War Period (1990-2010)
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to independence of the Soviet Republics of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
At the same time several breakaway states with limited recognition emerged, like the Republic of Artsakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Many of these states were supported by Russia, in an effort to maintain its influence in the region.
End of the Cold War
Post-Soviet Conflicts
Are a series of conflicts that are considered to be a consequence of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Post–Cold War era
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Post–Cold War era
2010s and 2020s
This period saw Geopolitical Rivalries. Russia, Turkey, and Iran compete for influence, while Western nations promote energy and security partnerships.
The region seeks to capitalize on its oil and gas resources, though political instability and corruption hinder progress.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict saw renewed fighting.
