You can often come across the question of which republic Mozdok is located in. The answer is quite simple: it is located in North Ossetia-Alania. However, it is worthwhile to understand why this question arises so often. One of the possible reasons may be that the name of the city does not sound like Ossetian by ear. In whatever republic Mozdok would not be, and its name is taken from the Kabardian language. But this question will be considered in more detail below.
Where is Mozdok located?
The name of the city in Kabardian language means “dense forest”, since at the time when the first fortress was laid on the site of Mozdok, the area was covered with dense floodplain forests of the Terek. Today, the region where Mozdok is located belongs to the territory of the Mozdok region, a significant part of which is occupied by the priterechnaya plain.
In its modern borders, the Mozdok district was created in 1944, when, as a result of the struggle against nationalism on the outskirts of the USSR, the territories of Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and the Chechen-Ingush Republic were transferred to North Ossetia, as well as the city of Mozdok itself, which was formerly located in the Stavropol Territory .
The region where Mozdok is located belongs to the forest-steppe zone of the Republic of North Ossetia, which means that the relief of the city is mostly flat, and only in the south does a ridge of minor hills appear.
The city’s water resources consist mainly of the Terek River, several swampy lakes south of the city. In addition, a few kilometers northwest of the city is Lake Kara.
History of the city
The date of the creation of Mozdok is considered to be 1762, when the imperial Senate sent Catherine ll a message about the need to allot land for the foundation of a new fortress, in which the newly baptized Kabardian prince Kurgok Konchokin and Ossetians could settle.
The construction of the fortress created tension between the local Kabardians, who demanded to demolish the fortress, and the Russian military administration. The surroundings of the new city were populated mainly by Russians, Armenians and Greeks. It was in Mozdok that negotiations between the Ossetians and the tsarist government took place, as a result of which Ossetia became part of Russia in 1774.
The new city was actively developing, fairs were organized in it, a soap factory and a brewery were built, they made faults and even produced kerosene, which was sent to different cities of Russia right up to Moscow.
For a long time, Mozdok remained the key city through which the road to the Caucasus passed, but with the construction of the road through the village of Yekaterinodar, its significance became significantly less, the city gradually began to decline.
Mozdok on the eve of the revolution
Since the second half of the XlX century, he began to come to desolation. Factories began to go bankrupt, the population left it. At the same time, the fortress was constantly subjected to raids by the highlanders, and the local authorities had to take retaliatory measures.
At the beginning of the twentieth year, it became obvious that the city was in extremely poor condition: its access was poor, there was no electricity, and the railway line was brought to the city only in 1913. To understand what Mozdok is on the eve of the revolution, it is enough to find out that the city, which once served as the key to the Caucasus, has lost the status of a city and turned into a settlement.
In 1918, under the leadership of Sergei Mironovich Kirov, a congress of the peoples of the Tver province was held in Mozdok, at which workers and peasants took power into their own hands. After this significant event in the history of the city, a new stage begins, associated with the active development of various industries.
The pre-war condition of Mozdok
The Republic of North Ossetia, of which Mozdok is one of the largest cities, occupies an important place not only in the economy but also in the politics of the Caucasus. Through its territory runs one of the most popular highways leading to Transcaucasia.
During the first five-year plans, active industrial construction began in Mozdok. A narrow gauge railway to Malgobek was built, brick factories were reconstructed, an oil loading ramp was built, and a construction and installation department was organized.
During the period between the revolution and World War II, the city also paid great attention to culture and education. Several schools, a hospital and a polyclinic were built, but Mozdok did not have time to reach the level at which the city was in the first years after its foundation before the war.
Post-war and modern state of affairs
Having answered the question about which republic Mozdok is located in and what place it occupies on the map of the Caucasus, we can proceed to the current state of affairs. The post-war city was an extremely sad sight, since it had been occupied by the German army for a long time.
After the liberation of the North Caucasus from Nazi occupation, an active restoration of the territories began, although it was accompanied by such sad events as the deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples, as well as the elimination of the national autonomy of the Balkars.
Today, the population of Mozdok is more than forty thousand people and is constantly growing. We answered in the article in which republic Mozdok, what is its economic condition and development prospects. It is also worth saying that this city is also a strategically important object from a military point of view.