65 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
65 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
The **Central Asian Revolt of 1916**, also called **Urkun** or the
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**Semirechye Revolt** was an uprising of the mainly
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[Muslim](Islam "wikilink")-inhabitants against the [Russian
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Empire](Russian_Empire "wikilink") in what is now
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[Kazakhstan](Kazakhstan "wikilink") and
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[Kyrgyzstan](Kyrgyzstan "wikilink") which had attempted to conscript
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them into fighting in [World War I](World_War_I "wikilink").
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## Background
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Following the abolition of serfdom in Russia by 1861 the area had been
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stepped in poverty, inequality and religious tension. Redistribution of
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Muslim land to non-muslims and [cossacks](cossacks "wikilink") caused
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anger. By the time World War I rolled around, conscription was soon
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introduced to the area for all people aged 19 to 43. Leading to Muslim
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leaders to declare a holy war against the 'infidel' Russian government.
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## Events
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Initially, people just began to bribe military officers to exempt
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themselves from military service. But eventually, an outraged mob of
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protesters attacked government officials, leading to police shooting the
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protesters. People began to attack government officials and police, and
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soon the entire city of Tashkent was taken by rebels. The rebels listed
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several demands including an end to discrimination in conscription, one
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man to stay home and a delay of conscription until the end of the
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harvest. Soon other cities were taken and the Russian army was deployed
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as the rebels cut telephone lines, the rebels used spears and whips as
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weapons during a shortage of guns.
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Unfortunately, the rebels fell victim to anti-Russian and anti-Cossack
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racism and began to kill them and burn down their houses. To ease the
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rebellion the Russian Empire allowed for teaching in Kazakh and Kyrgyz
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languages and allowing greater freedom of the press. But soon 30,000
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soldiers armed with machine guns and artillery arrived to the region via
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the train. The rebels fled to the mountains and either died of cold or
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left the rebellion.
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## Aftermath
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Many Kyrygz people faced massive amounts of racism, [Alexander
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Kerensky](Alexander_Kerensky "wikilink") said to the Russian Parliament:
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> "How can we possibly blame a backward, uneducated and suppressed
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> aboriginal people so dissimilar to us, for having lost patience and
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> committing acts of revolt for which they immediately felt remorse and
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> regret?"
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Military courts were established in cities and all participants were
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sentenced to death. Vigilante revenge killings by Russians affected by
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the racism occured. Leading to tens of thousands of people fleeing to
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China via the mountains, thousands dying in the mountain passes. 2,325
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Russians died (with 1,384 going missing) and between 100,000 and 270,000
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Kyrgyz were killed, amounting to 40% of the Kyrgyz population.
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The rebellion inspired the [Basmachi
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Movement](Basmachi_Movement "wikilink").
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The rebellion was not taught in schools in the [USSR](USSR "wikilink")
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and it was only recognised as a [genocide](genocide "wikilink") in 2016.
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## References
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- [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_revolt_of_1916> |