Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to work the farms. Massive, futuristic irrigation schemes were drawn up
to water the formerly arid grassland, with water taken from as far away
as the Ob River in Siberia. The initial gains in productivity soon dwin-
dled as the fragile exposed soil of the steppes literally blew away in the
wind. The Russians, however, remained.
Benefits of the Soviet Era
In spite of their heavy-handedness, the Soviets made profound improve-
ments in Central Asia. Overall standards of living were raised consider-
ably with the help of health care and a vast new infrastructure. Central
Asia was provided with industrial plants, mines, farms, ranches and
services employing millions of people. Outside the capitals, the face of
the region today is still largely a Soviet one.
Education reached all social levels (previously education was through
the limited, men-only network of Islamic schools and medressas), and
pure and applied sciences were nurtured. Literacy rates hit 97% and the
languages of all nationalities were given standard literary forms. The
Kyrgyz language was given an alphabet for the first time.
Soviet women had 'economic equality' and although this meant that
they had the chance to study and work alongside men
while
retaining
all the responsibilities of homemakers, female literacy approached male
levels, maternity leave was introduced and women assumed positions of
responsibility in middle-level administration as well as academia.
Artistic expression was encouraged within the confines of commu-
nist ideology, and cinemas and theatres were built. The Central Asian
republics now boast active communities of professional artists who were
trained, sometimes lavishly, by the Soviet state. And through the arts, the
republics were allowed to develop their distinctive national traditions
and identities (within bounds).
If the Central Asian republics were at all prepared when independ-
ence came, they were prepared by the Soviet era.
Genetic testing
has revealed
that more than
16 million men
in Central Asia
have the same
Y-chromosome
as Chinggis
(Genghis) Khan.
The Soviet-Afghan War
In 1979 the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, determined to prop up a
crumbling communist regime on their doorstep. In retrospect, someone
should have consulted the history topics beforehand, for the lessons of
history are clear; no one wins a war in Afghanistan.
Of the 50,000 Soviet troops engaged in Afghanistan, up to 20,000
were Central Asians, mainly Tajiks and Uzbeks, drafted into the war
to liberate their backward relatives. They faced a poorly equipped but
highly motivated guerrilla force, the mujaheddin, united for once in their
jihad against the godless invaders.
When the Soviets
invaded Afghani-
stan in December
1979 there were
already 8000
Soviet troops
and 4000 Soviet
advisers in the
country.
1979-89
Soviet army invades
Afghanistan. The
ensuing war with the
mujaheddin results in
the death of 15,000
Soviets, 1.5 million Af-
ghans, and the exodus
of six million refugees.
1989
Nevada Semey Move-
ment forces an end to
nuclear tests in
Kazakhstan. It is the
irst great popular
protest movement
in the USSR. Ethnic
violence breaks out in
the Fergana Valley.
8 Dec 1991
Collapse of the
Soviet Union, as Russia,
Ukraine and Belarus
found the Common-
wealth of Independent
States (CIS). Two weeks
later the Central Asian
ex-Soviet republics
join; Gorbachev resigns
three days later.
1997
Astana replaces
Almaty as the capital
of Kazakhstan, shifting
focus to the centre
of the steppe. An
ambitious program of
architectural projects
is initiated.
