When the Soviet Union existed, different governments had ruled the northern Caucasus regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Within the Mountain Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, later annexed into the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, they were known as the Chechen Autonomous Oblast and the Ingush Autonomous Oblast, which were unified on January 15, 1934, to form the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Oblast. It was elevated to an autonomous republic as the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1936 to 1944 and again from 1957 to 1993. Its capital was Grozny.
However, because of alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II, the autonomous republic was abolished on 7 March 1944 resulting the ethnic cleansing of the Chechens and Ingush from its territory. The autonomous republic's status was restored in January 1957. The 1979 census reported the territory had an area of 19,300 square kilometres (7,500 sq mi) and a population of 1,155,805 (1979 Census): 611,405 Chechens, 134,744 Ingush, and the rest were Russians and other ethnic groups.
