Creation of the Turkistan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

Abstract

The political chaos of the two revolutions of 1917 had especially negative effects on the administrative systems in Central Asia. Widely disparate political groups across the whole region, including the emerging nationalist intelligentsia in Central Asia, competed for power in the postimperial era. In this environment of uncertainty, multiple centers of power emerged that often relied on local warlords. The warlords often exploited intertribal grievances, espoused populist policies and were responsible for atrocities against ethnic and religious minorities that ignited the first flames of the disastrous civil war. Many peripheral districts and towns became semi-independent quasi fiefdoms for local rulers, adventurers and even criminals.