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Tuzbek SSR

Page history last edited by Michael 5 years, 11 months ago

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Geography

 

circa 1932; railways indicated by hashmark lines

 

The Tuzbek Soviet Socialist Republic is a small, dry, landlocked province of the Soviet Union; none of its rivers lead to the sea. Winters are cold with average temperatures from 27 °F to 40 °F in January, while summers are hot with average temperatures from 20.3 °C (69 °F) to 34.7 °C (94 °F) in July. Precipitation is low, and is higher in winter and autumn (essentially no rain falls between July and September).

 

Except for a few hundred square miles of mountains, the province is within the Fergana Valley, with an area of 8500 square miles; the valley floor has an elevation of about 1500' above sea level. Horses, cattle and sheep are raised there; and the arable land is under heavy cultivation. There's an increasing amount of cotton being raised, by order of the Soviet authorities.

 

The two main rivers are the Naryn and the Kara Darya, which combine (near Namangan) to form the Syr-Darya (known before the 18th Century as the Seyhun River). There are many irrigation canals leading from this river across the valley floor.

 

Karkidon Ko'l is a large lake in the foothills of the Alai range, to the south of the town of Kuva (thus southeast of the city of Ferghana). It's located about ten miles or so from the valley floor.

 

Population and Ethnicity

 

Prior to the Russian Revolution, this area was all part of the (much-larger) Turkmenistan province of the Russian Empire. It was a predominantly-Turkic, Islamic area; but some ethnic Russians have been settled in the cities. Russians who aren't involved in the military or government are now often exiles due to subversive behavior. The total population was 1,100,000 persons as of 1926, the vast majority of whom are Sunni Muslims -- in fact 95+% are Tuzbeks.

 

Tuzbek is a Turkic language, currently written in the Latin script (but was in Arabic script up until 1928). A Turkish (or Uzbek) speaker and an Tuzbek speaker could probably understand each other, with difficulty. Up until about 1933, the Soviet Union encouraged schools of the Central Asian republics to teach in the local languages; but just recently a vigorous program to replace and suppress local languages has begun. Adult literacy is increasing, but is certainly still below 75%.

 

Officially (by Soviet policy since 1924) all persons speaking a Turkish-derived language are "Uzbeks", whatever the locals, or ethnographers, might say.

 

Other ethnic groups include the Sarts and Kipchaks; Uzbeks; Kazakhs, Kashgarians, Bukharan Jews, Gypsies, and of course Russians.

 

Local foods usually include breads or noodles; rice pilaf is typical.

 

Cities

 

The capital and largest city, Fergana, has about 10,000 residents; 10% of them are ethnic Russians (soldiers, administrators, refinery and oilfield workers, etc.). The city is famous for having many ancient structures, old mosques and museums -- "the city of a hundred mosques", many of them in dilapidated condition. Recently the Soviet government has begun pulling down old buildings. An oil refinery was built next to the city in 1908, and under the Soviet Union more and more oil wells, refineries and pipelines have been built.

 

Other cities are:

  • Andijan (pop. 50,000), at the eastern end of the province.

  • Kokand (pop. 87,000), near the western end of the province; it is the site of the last khan's palace.

  • Namangan (pop. 62,000)

  • Old Marghelan (pop. 43,000)

  • Chust (pop. 14,000)

 

Transport

 

A rail line was built during Tsarist times running from Samarkand, in the Uzbek SSR, though the Tajik SSR at Khujand, then into the Fergana Valley to Kokand (about 50 miles west-northwest of Fergana) and then to Andijan. This route, following the Syr-Darya, represents the only way into or out of the valley except by pack animals crossing high mountain passes. Kokand is also the junction of several of the old trading routes of the "Silk Road".

 

A few roads run the length of the country, and along the Syr-Darya to the Tajik SSR. Camels, horses and donkeys are used for most transport; the nationally-funded projects (oil wells, refineries, canals, etc.) and the military have trucks.

 

By 1933, several Aeroflot routes meet at Tashkent, with the famous Kalinin K-5 flying in from more important locatons. A less-important route, probably with service only three times a week in a small four-passenger airplane (probably the Stal-2 or Stal-4), leads from Tashkent to Khujana, Ferghana, Andijan, and Osh. There are, therefore, air fields at each of those places. Government and military officials have priority for the few available seats, and fares for the public are staggeringly high ... 350 rubles for a flight between two cities isn't uncommon.

 

Government

 

Since 1925, Emile P. Schmidlap has been chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.

 

Military

 

The Tuzbek SSR is part of the Central Asian Military District, with headquarters in Tashkent (in the Uzbek SSR); the district covers the Turkmen, Uzbek, Tuzbek, Tadjik, Kirgiz and Kazakh ASSRs. Component Red Army units include 3 divisions of cavalry, a motorized division of armored cars and truck-mounted infantry, and the 58th Rifle Corps (three mountain rifle divisions - the 68th, 83rd at Ashkabad, and 194th up to 1935) -- these are spread all over the military district, of course. There are a couple of air regiments which move around between Kharkov, Frunze, Tashkent and Stalinabad; their aircraft include Polikarpov R-5 reconnaissance bombers, ANT-9 transports, and Polikarpov Po-2 utility aircraft. Russian military aircraft of this period do not include oxygen equipment; if high-altitude flights must be made, oxygen bottles attached with surgical tubing to pipe-stems are used as a primitive system.

 

There is a military garrison in Fergana; it's likely that at least a landing strip exists at this city also.

 

Three regiments (the 14th, 15th, and 66th; each with 1500 men) of NKVD (so-called since 1934) troops guard the borders of the six SSRs, internal and external; and operate some forced-labor camps at gold mines, lumber camps, hydroelectric dam projects, etc.. A couple of NKVD armored rail battalions guard the rail lines.

 

I'll fill out more the details later ... Michael

 

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