Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Turkmenistan, a constituent republic of the USSR until 1991, was one of the last to secede. Tribalism was prominent in the area that is now Turkmenistan until Russian forces began to control the region in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Soviet Russia encouraged nationalism within the region to support modernity, although Turkmen wanted greater control over the process than the Soviets would grant. Turkmen anti-Soviet movements, such as the Jadidism and Basmachi movements, were generally suppressed through a combination of Soviet force and reversal of policy. Russia had gained control of the area that is now Turkmenistan by the late 1800s (through events like the massacre of thousands at the Battle of Gök-Tepe in 1881) and built a fortress near Ashgabat to establish a seat of occupation. The fortress provided protection to the city, thereby attracting wealthy merchants, and, after the building of a major railroad, Ashgabat became a major industrial center. In 1907, Russian control over Turkmenistan solidified with the Anglo-Russian Convention, an agreement that defined Russian and British spheres of influence. Prior to 1917, concepts of nationalism in Turkmenistan were vague – tribalism was prominent, and people were bound together by ancestry and not by clearly defined national borders, a defined political system, or language. Members of a tribe might consider another tribe just ... log in or subscribe to read full text