ARMED CONFLICT IN THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC IN THE FRENCH HISTORIOGRAPHY

The article deals with the problems of historiography of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic. The active phase of the military operations of the armed conflict in Chechnya was completed in 2001. At that time, historians, analysts and journalists created a wide range of theoretical works concerning the conflict. A number of common features on the use of basic resources are discussed in these publications. The degree of accessibility of the sources which focus on the description of the conflict and its socio-political assessment is of great importance for researchers and their objectives. The author analyzes the European (French) historiography of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic, considers publications and specialized monographs by French authors on the given subject. The author reveals the ideas about the consequences of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic, articulated in the works of the European researchers. For the first time within the study of the Western historiography of the war in Chechnya the author analyzes these consequences for both the Russian and Chechen sides. Being one of the most influential historical traditions, French historiography dedicated to the armed conflict in Chechnya is in the stage of development and is characterized by a number of qualitative changes and conceptual approaches.