Chechnya was conquered by the Bolsheviks and forcefully annexed to the Soviet Union in 1923. It was actually one country, until the U.S.S.R. divided it.
You are right, and Solzhenitsyn notes that the Chechens were the only subjugated minority who continued to resist Stalin.
However, with their actions now, the Chechens have abrogated all right to consideration of their demands or even to treatment as human beings, AFAIC. The correct tactic for them, in the aftermath of the breakup of the USSR, was to have taken the long view and begun political agitation for their independence while building credibility with the rest of the world - and meanwhile renouncing terrorism and reining in their extremists.
Instead, they have now gotten themselves in a position where if Russia were to obliterate the entire region with a nuclear assault, the biggest complaint would be for the spread of radiation outside the area. Moreover, unlike al Quaida, they comprise an identifiable geopolitical region, and therefore are targetable as such.
Dumb move, Chechens... REAL dumb...
As was the rest of Russia annexed by the Bolsheviks after very bloody Civil War.