History of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 1945-1991





Uzbekistan 1925-1945



Constitution and Territory . In 1925, the Turkestan ASSR and the SSRs of Bukhara and Khorezm were merged to form the Uzbek SSR. The capital was Samarkand; in the 1930s it was moved to Tashkent. In 1929 the Tajik ASSR was split off to form the Tajik SSR (Tajikistan). In 1936 the Karakalpak ASSR was fully integrated into the Uzbek SSR.

Administration - Communist Policies and the Muslim Uzbeks . The government continued to promote Atheism and barred Muslims from holding public office. Uzbek, Tajik and Karakalpak culture was promoted, historical monuments were restored. In 1928-1930 the Latin Alphabet was introduced, replacing the Arab script hitherto used (only to be replaced by Cyrillic in 1939-1940). The execution of party officials and Kulaks (1930) was officially interpreted as a sign of transfer of power to the Uzbek population.
In 1931 Basmachi rebel leader Ibrahim Beg was captured; the rebellion died down in 1933.
In 1933 the population of Uzbekistan numbered 5,417,800; that of her largest cities Tashkent 491,000, that of Samarkand 154,600. In 1935, 13,000 party members in Uzbekistan were purged. Drastic measures were taken to end the practice of women wearing the veil, causing resistance (1927). The autonomy of Uzbekistan was of theoretical nature, as Uzbek high officials on several occasions, upon orders from Moscow, were deposed (for instance in Jan. 1937).

Administration - Deportation . When German forces invaded the USSR in June 1941, they soon occupied major industrial centres. In order to strengthen the Russian war industry, new factories were established in the cities of Russian Central Asia, and a workforce, predominantly consisting of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, was brought in to work these factories. In 1944, the Crimean Tatars and the Meshketian Turks from Georgia were forcefully relocated to Central Asia (among others the Fergana Valley).

The Economy . In 1928-1929 the USSR established a network of routes served by her airline, improving communication. Also, a network of shortwave radio stations was established. In 1930 the Turksib railroad reached Uzbekistan (connecting it with the Transib). The anti-Kulak campaign was also implemented in Uzbekistan. The Five Year Plans foresaw an increase in cotton production, and the state showed little patience with officials who reported underachievement and loss. In 1930, accused of sabotaging the cotton crop, a number of party officials and Kulaks were sentenced and executed. Irrigation canals were constructed to facilitate the expansion of cotton cultivation.
When German forces occupied and devastated large tracts of Soviet territory in European Russia, the Baltic, Belarus and Ukraine, Central Asia's contribution to the Soviet economy rose in importance. Factories were relocated here, complete with a workforce consisting of Russians, Ukrainians etc. As food was scarce, food production became a national priority.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Major Events relevant to Central Asian History (since 1600), from oxuscom
DOCUMENTS New York Times, Archive 1851-1980, Uzbekistan
REFERENCE Hübner's Weltstatistik, 73rd edition, editor Ernst Rösner, Wien 1939, in German, [G]
Article : USSR : Uzbekistan, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1928 p.1266, 1929 pp.1242-1243, 1932 pp.1261-1262, 1937 pp.1300-1301, 1943 pp.1259-1260 [G]
Article : Uzbekistan, in : Americana Annual 1930 p.785, 1931 p.777, 1932 p.731, 1933 p.775, 1934 p.610, 1935 p.739, 1936 pp.750-751, 1937 p.719, 1938 pp.718-719, 1939 p.783 [G]
Article : Uzbek SSR, in : Americana Annual 1940 p.796, 1943 p.759, 1944 p.723 [G]
Article : Soviet Central Asia, in : New International Year Book 1930 p.730, 1932 p.762, 1933 p.758, 1934 p.660, 1935 p.676, 1938 p.686, 1939 p.716 [G]
Article : Uzbek SSR, in : New International Year Book 1939 p.790 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 31st 2002, last revised on August 25th 2007

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