1929?1991 republic of the Soviet Union
The
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
,
[a]
also commonly known as
Soviet Tajikistan
, the
Tajik SSR
, or simply
Tajikistan
, was one of the
constituent republics
of the
Soviet Union
which existed from 1929 to 1991 located in
Central Asia
.
The Tajik Republic was created on 5 December 1929 as a national entity for the
Tajik people
within the Soviet Union. It succeeded the
Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
(Tajik SSR), which had been created on 14 October 1924 as a part of the predominantly
Turkic
Uzbek SSR
in the process of
national delimitation in Soviet Central Asia
. On 24 August 1990, the Tajik SSR declared sovereignty in its borders. The republic was renamed the
Republic of Tajikistan
on 31 August 1991 and declared its independence from the disintegrating Soviet Union on 9 September 1991; thus modern Tajikistan is its direct legal
successor state
.
Geographically, at 143,100 km
2
(55,300 sq mi), it was bordered by
Afghanistan
to the south,
China
to the east,
Pakistan
to the south, separated by the narrow
Wakhan Corridor
, as well as internally by fellow Soviet republics of
Uzbekistan
to the west,
Kyrgyzstan
to the north. Notably, the Tajik SSR was the only republic of the Soviet Union to be separated from the Russian SFSR by more than one other republic.
Nomenclature
[
edit
]
The name Tajik refers to the name of a pre-Islamic tribe that existed before the seventh century A.D. Based on the
Library of Congress
's 1997 Country Study of Tajikistan, it is difficult to definitively state the origins of the word "Tajik" citing due to its "embroiled in twentieth-century political disputes about whether Turkic or Iranian peoples were the original inhabitants of Central Asia."
[1]
The name of the country was often spelt "Tadzhikistan" in the
English language
during
Soviet times
due to it being borrowed directly from the
Russian
spelling "Таджикистан", where the letters 'дж' produce a 'j' sound.
Date
|
Name
|
5 December 1929
|
Tajik Socialist Soviet Republic
|
5 December 1936
|
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
|
31 August 1991
|
Republic of Tajikistan
|
History
[
edit
]
One of the new states created in the process of
national delimitation of Soviet Central Asia
in October 1924 was the
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic
? Uzbek SSR or Soviet Uzbekistan. Soviet Tajikistan was created at the same time within the predominantly
Turkic
Uzbek SSR as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik ASSR) ? one rank below a
Soviet Socialist Republic
in USSR geopolitical hierarchy. The new autonomous republic included what had been eastern
Bukhara
and had a population of about 740,000, out of a total population of nearly 5 million in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as a whole. Its capital was established in
Dyushambe
, which had been a village of 3,000 in 1920. In December 1929, Tajik ASSR was detached from the Uzbek SSR and given full status as a
Soviet Socialist Republic
?
Tajik Socialist Soviet Republic
. At that time, its capital was renamed
Stalinabad
, after
Joseph Stalin
, and the territory that is now northern Tajikistan (
Sughd Province
) was added to the new republic. Even with the additional territory, the Tajik SSR remained the smallest
Central Asian
republic. On 5 December 1936, it was renamed the
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
.
[
citation needed
]
With the creation of a Tajik republic defined in national terms came the creation of institutions that, at least in form, were likewise national. The first Tajik-language newspaper in Soviet Tajikistan began publication in 1926. New educational institutions also began operation at about the same time. The first state schools, available to both children and adults and designed to provide basic education, opened in 1926. The central government also trained a small number of Tajiks for public office, either by putting them through courses offered by government departments or by sending them to schools in the Uzbek SSR.
[
citation needed
]
Under Soviet rule, Tajikistan experienced some economic and social progress. However, living standards in the republic were still among the lowest in the Union. Most people still lived in rural
qishlaqs
, settlements that were composed of 200 to 700 one-family houses built along a waterway.
[
citation needed
]
After Stalin's death in March 1953, Stalinabad was renamed
Dushanbe
on 10 November 1961 as part of the
De-Stalinization
program.
[
citation needed
]
In February 1990,
riots
occurred in the republic's capital Dushanbe. 26 people died and 565 more were injured and the Soviet troops put down the riots.
Yaqub Salimov
, a future Interior Minister, and some youth activists were convicted for participation in the riots.
[
citation needed
]
Later on 24 August 1990, Tajik SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. By 1991, Tajikistan participated in a
referendum in March
as part of the
attempt to preserve the union
with a turnout of 96.85%. However, this did not happen when
hardliners took control of Moscow during the next three days in August
. After the failure of the coup, the Tajik SSR was renamed the
Republic of Tajikistan
on 31 August 1991. On 9 September 1991, Tajikistan seceded from the Soviet Union months before the country itself ceased to exist on 26 December 1991. Conflicts after independence caused a
civil war throughout the country
over the next six years.
[
citation needed
]
Politics
[
edit
]
Tajikistan, like all other republics in the Soviet Union, was officially a Soviet republic governed by the
Tajik republican branch
within the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
in all organs of government, politics and society. The
Supreme Soviet
was a
unicameral
legislature
of the republic headed by a Chairman, with its superiority to both the executive and judicial branches and its members convened in the Supreme Soviet building in
Dushanbe
. Since independence in 1991, it retained the unicameral structure before being replaced by a
bicameral
system in 1999 using the
presidential system
. The republic's government structure was similar to those of other republics.
[
citation needed
]
Military
[
edit
]
Tajikistan was the only
Central Asian Republic
to not form an army under the
Soviet Armed Forces
. In replacement were the Soviet units under the
Ministry of Defence
, as well as troops who were subordinates of the
Turkestan Military District
and the
Central Asian Military District
in neighboring
Uzbekistan
and
Kazakhstan
respectively. In the early 1990s the army was the smallest in the union and had more
Russians
than native
Tajiks
in it. The army failed to effectively defend the regime as proven in the
1990 Dushanbe riots
. There was a large contingent of Soviet border guards who were commanded by
Russians
based from
Moscow
who commanded ethnic
Tajik
conscripts. When the TurkVO was dissolved in June 1992, its personnel were distributed between Tajikistan and the other 4
Central Asian
republics.
[
citation needed
]
The Tajik SSR also operated its own Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Internal Troops
, which was an independent republican affiliate of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs
of the
Soviet Union
.
[
citation needed
]
Economy
[
edit
]
Industry
[
edit
]
Light industry
and
food industries
accounted for over 60% of industrial output. The main branches of
heavy industry
were electric power,
mining
, non-ferrous metallurgy,
machine building
,
metalworking
, and
building materials
industry. The basis of the electricity accounted for HPP. Mining activities concentrate on
brown coal
,
oil and natural gas
. Non-ferrous metals industries were an aluminum plant in Tursunzade and hydrometallurgical in Isfara. Engineering enterprises produced winding, agricultural machinery, equipment for trading enterprises and public catering, textile, lighting and wiring equipment, transformers, household refrigerators, cable and other (main center - Dushanbe). The chemical industry included plants - nitrogen fertilizer in Kurgan-Tube, electrochemical in Yavan, and plastics in Dushanbe. The main branches of light industry were cotton ginning, silk, and carpet weaving. In the food industry stood fruit-canning, vegetable oil and fat industry.
[
citation needed
]
Agriculture
[
edit
]
In 1986, there were 299 state and 157 collective farms in the country. Agricultural land was 4.2 million hectares.
Due to the large irrigation works in the area of irrigated land 1986 have reached 662 thousand hectares. Agriculture gave about 65% of gross agricultural output. The leading branch of agriculture was cotton (cotton collection 922 thousand tons in 1986), developed in Fergana, Vakhsh, Hissar valleys.
Tajikistan
was the main base of the country for the production of long-staple cotton. Cultured and
tobacco
,
geranium
,
linen
- Kudryashov,
sesame
. Approximately 20% of crops were occupied by grain crops (gross grain harvest - 246 thousand tons in 1986 in.). They grow vegetables and melons. Was developed fruit (including citrus fruit) and
grapes
. Meat and wool sheep and meat and dairy cattle. Livestock (in 1987, in millions):
cattle
- 1.4 (including cows - 0.6),
sheep
and
goats
- 3.2.
Sericulture
.
[
citation needed
]
Transportation
[
edit
]
Operating length (in 1986):
- Railways ? 470 km
- Roads ? 13,200 km (including paved ? 11,600 km.)
- Airports
Tajikistan is supplied with gas from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan with
gas pipelines
from Kelif to
Dushanbe
, from local gas fields.
[
citation needed
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Tajik
:
?ум?урии Ш?равии Сотсиалистии То?икистон
,
Jumhuriji ??ravii Socialistii Tojikiston
;
Russian
:
Таджикская Советская Социалистическая Республика
,
Tadzhikskaya Sovietskaya Socialisticheskaya Respublika
References
[
edit
]
- ^
A Country Study: Tajikistan, Ethnic Background, Library of Congress Call Number DK851 .K34 1997,
[1]
External links
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]
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