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Basmachi Revolt



 
 
The Basmachi Revolt , or Basmachestvo (???????????), was a Muslim and largely Turkic
Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia, and who mostly speak languages belonging to the Turkic languages....
 uprising against Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 and Soviet Russia
Russian SFSR

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , also called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Russian SFSR and the RSFSR for short, was the largest and most populous of the fifteen Republics of the Soviet Union of the Soviet Union and became the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union....
 rule in Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
.

The movement started in 1916 during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 as an anti-tsarist and anti-Russian revolt and it developed into a long-time civil war against the Soviets.

et sources portray it as a movement of Islamic traditionalists, together with common thugs and rabble-rousers as well as Islamic radicals.






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The Basmachi Revolt , or Basmachestvo (???????????), was a Muslim and largely Turkic
Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia, and who mostly speak languages belonging to the Turkic languages....
 uprising against Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 and Soviet Russia
Russian SFSR

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , also called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Russian SFSR and the RSFSR for short, was the largest and most populous of the fifteen Republics of the Soviet Union of the Soviet Union and became the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union....
 rule in Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
.

The movement started in 1916 during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 as an anti-tsarist and anti-Russian revolt and it developed into a long-time civil war against the Soviets.

The Basmachi Movement

Soviet sources portray it as a movement of Islamic traditionalists, together with common thugs and rabble-rousers as well as Islamic radicals. The rebels who started the revolt were called Basmachi, or 'Bandits', a deliberately pejorative
Pejorative

Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt. When used as an adjective, pejorative is synonymous with derogatory, derisive, dyslogistic, and contemptuous....
 term. Other historians would argue that many ordinary peasants and nomads who opposed the cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism

Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating, or artificially injecting the culture or language of one culture into another....
 of Russia, and perhaps more importantly objected to Soviet harsh policies and requisitioning of food and livestock, were an important component of the rebel base, also taking into account that Soviet authorities continued the colonization politics of the tsarist regime. However, Muslim traditionalism and Pan-Turanism were two important components of the movement and common bandits were also present.

Against the Russian Empire, 1916

The rebellion started in the summer of 1916, when the Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 government ended its exemption of Muslims from military service; under these circumstances, Central Asians rose in a general revolt against Russian rule. The confiscation of grazing land by the Tsarist authorities already had created animosity among the indigenous population. The revolt resulted in a series of clashes and in brutal massacres committed by both sides.

The first phase of the Basmachi Revolt, 1918-1920

Prokudin Gorskii 19
After the October Revolution, some local leaders, like Faizullah Khojaev
Faizullah Khojaev

Faizullah Ubaidullaevich Khojaev . b.1896 Bukhara—March 1938, Moscow was an Uzbeks politician.Khojaev was born in to a family of wealthy traders....
, allied with the Soviet Russia and assisted the Red Army in the capture of Bukhara
Emirate of Bukhara

The Emirate of Bukhara was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana....
 and Khiva
Khanate of Khiva

The Khanate of Khiva was the name of a Central Asian state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Persian occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740?1746....
; other leaders, like the former Emir of Bukhara, Mohammed Alim Khan
Mohammed Alim Khan

Emir Mohammed Alim Khan was the last emir of the Manghit dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of the Emirate of Bukhara in Central Asia. Although Bukhara was a protectorate of the Russian Empire from 1873, the Emir presided over the internal affairs of his emirate as absolute monarchy and reigned from January 3 1911 to August 30 1920....
, joined the Basmachi movement against the Soviets with two of his generals raising a militia
Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service....
 of over 30.000 men. By the summer of 1920, the Basmachi gained popular backing in a sizeable part of the Fergana Valley
Fergana Valley

The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Shakhimardan khanate Pamirs Central Asia....
, a traditional bastion of conservative Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
. The Basmachi had soon spread and multiplied across most of Turkestan
Turkestan

Turkestan is a region in Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by Turkic peoples. It has been referenced in many Turkic and Persian sagas and is an integral part of Turan ....
. Much of Turkestan at the time was, ironically, not actually under Soviet Russia against which the Basmachi were rebelling, but under other regimes (Khorezm SSR
Khorezm SSR

Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was created as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva in February 1920, when the khan abdicated in response to popular pressure, and officially declared by the First Khorezm Kurultay on 26 April 1920....
 and Bukharan People's Soviet Republic
Bukharan People's Soviet Republic

The Bukharan People's Soviet Republic was a short-lived Soviet state which governed the former Emirate of Bukhara during the period immediately following the October Revolution from 1920-1925....
), albeit regimes that were allied with Soviet Russia. The Red Army
Red Army

The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
 forces included Tatars
Tatars

Tatars , sometimes spelled Tartars, refers to a Turkic people ethnic group mainly inhabiting Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, and Poland....
 and Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
ns, who enabled the invading force to appear at least partly indigenous. It has to be noticed that, unlike the anti-Bolshevik White Army, the Basmachi were not considered as allies by the Western Powers and did not receive any outside help. The Entente
Allies of World War I

File:Map Europe alliances 1914-en.svgThe Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The main allies were the Russian Empire, French Third Republic, the British Empire, Kingdom of Italy , the Empire of Japan, and the United States....
 saw the Basmachi as potential enemies due to the Pan-Turkist or Pan-Islamist
Pan-Islamism

Pan-Islamism is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state often a Caliphate. While Pan-Arabism, a ideology often in competition with Pan-Islamism, advocates the unity and independence of Arabs regardless of religion, pan-Islamism advocates the unity and independence of Muslims regardless of ethnicity....
 ideologies of some of their leaders. However, some Basmachi groups received support from British and Turkish intelligence services and in order to contrast this outside help, special military detachments of the Red Army were masqueraded as Basmachi forces and successfully intercepted these supplies. By the early 1920s, the Basmachi Revolt had become so widespread that the Soviet government realized they risked losing their Turkestani territory. However, infighting among the Basmachi meanwhile made them weaker compared to the Soviet political establishment (who, by comparison, had a common purpose and single vision, in addition to greater military power). Lenin's government made conciliations to national sentiment in order to quell the Turkestanis' objections to being politically a part of the Soviet Union (conciliatory measures included grants of food, tax relief, the promise of land reform, the reversal of anti-Islamic policies launched during the Civil War
Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed and the Bolshevik party assumed power in Saint Petersburg....
 and the promise of an end to agricultural controls). Altogether these measures diminished the appeal of the Basmachi movement and enabled the Red Army to overpower the Basmachi led by the former Emir of Bukhara.

The second phase of the Basmachi Revolt, 1921-1923

Ismail Enver
In November 1921, General Ismail Enver
Ismail Enver

Ismail Enver Beyefendi , known to Europeans during his political and military career as Enver Pasha or Enver Bey, was a Turkey military officer and a leader of the Young Turk revolution....
, former Turkish war minister, arrived in the region with the task to conciliate the warring parties but instead of doing so, he joined the Basmachi leaders and rose against his former supporters, the Soviets, under the slogans of pan-Turkism
Pan-Turkism

Pan-Turkism is a political movement aiming to unite the various Turkic peoples into a modern political state, a confederation, or an economic union closely resembling that of the European Union....
 and pan-lslamism with the aim of creating a single Islamic state in the region. He managed to transform the Basmachi militiamen into a professional army of 16000 men; by early 1922, a considerable part of the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic was under Basmachi control.

Again the Soviet authorities adopted a double strategy to crush the rebellion: political and economic reconciliation with the creation of a voluntary militia composed by indigent Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 peasants called the Red Sticks and the engagement of regular Muslim soldiers to fight the Basmachi. This Soviets strategy was successful once again and when, in May 1922, Enver Pasha rejected a peace offer and issued an ultimatum demanding that all Red Army troops be withdrawn from Turkestan within fifteen days, Moscow was well prepared for a confrontation. In June 1922, Soviet units led by General Kakurin, defeated the Basmachi forces in the Battle of Kafrun where Enver Pasha suffered his first major defeat. The Red Army began to drive the rebels eastwards and took back most of the towns and villages captured by the Basmachi. Enver himself was killed in a failed last-ditch cavalry
Cavalry

The Cavalry is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat, it represents the mobility and offensive power of the armed forces....
 charge on August 4, 1922, near Baldzhuan in Turkestan
Turkestan

Turkestan is a region in Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by Turkic peoples. It has been referenced in many Turkic and Persian sagas and is an integral part of Turan ....
 (present-day Tajikistan
Tajikistan

Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east....
).

Another Basmachi commander, Selim Pasha, continued the struggle but finally fled to Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
 in 1923.

Other Basmachi retreated to the Ferghana Valley (1923-1924) and were directed by Sher Muhammad Bek (Kurshermat). British intelligence reported (according to ) Sher Mohammed had forces of 5,000-6,000 men. In addition several thousand Basmachi gradually turned into pure bandits who terrorized countryside (same British report).

Intermittent Basmachi operations and defeat of the revolt, 1923-1931

After losing their best commanders and many men, the Basmachi movement was destroyed as a political and military force and the few rebels remained decided to hide on the mountains and to start a guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is the Irregular warfare warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile Military tactics to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
 that consisted in terrorist acts, hostage taking, sabotage
Sabotage

Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy, oppressor or employer through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction....
, blackmails and brutal raids. This kind of warfare and the conciliatory measures of the Soviet Government caused them the loss of the support of the local population who began to see the Basmachi as purely criminal elements. The Basmachi revolt had largely died out by 1926; however, skirmishes and occasional fighting continued until 1931 when the Soviets captured the Basmachi leader Ibrahim Beg. In the area of present-day Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and People's Republic of China to the east....
, the last seats of the Basmachi were destroyed in 1934.

Aftermath

Flag of Uzbek Ssr
The indigenous leaders started to cooperate with Soviet authorities and large numbers of Central Asians joined the Communist Party, many of them gaining high positions in the government of the Uzbek SSR
Uzbek SSR

The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924....
, a republic established in 1924 that included present-day Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked_country country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union....
 and Tajikistan
Tajikistan

Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east....
. During the Soviet period, Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
 became a focal point for the antireligious drives of Communist authorities. The government closed most mosques, and religious schools became anti-religion museums. Uzbeks who remained practicing Muslims were deemed nationalist and often targeted for imprisonment or execution. Other developments that took place under the Soviet rule included the emancipation of women
Women's rights

The term women's rights refers to Freedom and entitlements of women and girls of all ages. These rights may or may not be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, local custom, and behavior in a particular society....
 and industrialization
Industrialization

Industrialization is the process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a pre-industrial society into an industry one....
. With time a higher standard of living was attained and illiteracy virtually eliminated, even in rural areas. Only a small percentage of the population was literate before 1917; this percentage increased to nearly 100 percent under the Soviets.

The Red Army
Red Army

The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
 took 1,441 casualties during its operations against the Basmachi, of which 516 were killed in action or died from wounds.

"Red Westerns" about Basmachi Revolt

The rebellion was a popular subject for Red Westerns, and featured as a central part of the plot of the films White Sun of the Desert
White Sun of the Desert

White sun of the desert , a classic 'Eastern' or Ostern film of the Soviet Union.White Sun of the Desert is one of the most popular Russian films of all time....
 (????? ?????? ???????), The Seventh Bullet
The Seventh Bullet

The Seventh Bullet is a Soviet Ostern film of directed by Ali Khamraev....
 (??????? ????) and Telokhranitel
Telokhranitel

Telokhranitel , or The Bodyguard in its English language title, is a 1979 Soviet Union film released by Tadjikfilm. It is one of the best known of the Red Westerns and directed by the veteran feature and documentary maker, Ali Khamraev....
 (????????????? - The Bodyguard).

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