Postcard from Bishkek

Independence Day – 31^st August – marks the formal declaration of independence of the Khirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (KSSR) from the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in 1991.

The relationship between the small republic and the rest of the country had been subject to much upheaval.  Although the Kyrgyz from the Northern regions had sent emissaries to the Tsar back in the 19^th Century, seeking support against the Bukhara Khanate, the influx of Russian explorers, merchants, army and settlers was not without opposition.   The events of 1916 proved to be particularly bloody and led to a sense of oppression amongst many of the Kyrgyz.  In many ways the “colonization” of Central Asia is seen by many as the Russian equivalent of the expansion into the “Wild West” in the United States – and the oppression of the native peoples of Central Asia compared to the fate suffered by the American Indian.

Then came the Bolshevik Revolution – and some Kyrgyz feel that this saved them from “genocide” at the hands of the Russian colonists.

Even this however, was resisted – in the Civil War that followed and the Bashmachi Revolt.  Eventually, however, the authorities in Moscow prevailed and the area was subsumed into various republics – eventually culminating in the KSSR being established.

During the years of Soviet Rule, the borders of the various republics were re-drawn, people were transported to Central Asia – for example, into “internal exile”, or as whole factories were transferred away from the Western Front and the advancing German armies in the Second World War.

The country became a closed area … off the world stage, but not forgotten.  There were various subsidies and industries established.  Health, education and social services developed.  The infrastructure was built up.

Although not necessarily directed against Moscow, tensions still existed.  In particular there was a problem in electing a new President in 1990 – and to break a political stalemate which had developed in the Supreme Soviet of the KSSR, the post eventually went to Askar Akaev.

Then came the attempted coup d’etat in Moscow, in August 1991 which proved to be a catalyst.

There was a growth of republican separatism within the USSR.  Trouble had been brewing in the Baltic States for some years … Estonia even declaring in 1990 that all Soviet power in the country since 1940 was illegal.  A union-wide referendum was held in March 1991, and although 6 of republics boycotted it, a majority in each of the other nine – including the KSSR, (Kyrgyzstan) – voted in favour of the retention of the USSR.

Mikhail Gorbachev, attempted to create a new, less centralised state structure.  On August 20^th was to be the signing of a new Union Treaty, which would effectively reform the 15 existing republics of the USSR into a federation of independent republics, with a common president, foreign policy and armed services.  Generally, the leaders of the Central Asian republics supported him in this, along with many reformers who thought that the adoption of a free market economy was the only way to solve the economic problems facing the superpower.   But not everybody in the Union supported the move.

Gorbachev was on holiday in the Crimea, and his Vice President, Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the head of the KGB, along with some other senior officials formed the State Committee on the State Emergency”.  The sent troops to place him under house arrest, and issued decrees suspending all political activity and placing limits on the media – banning most of the newspapers published throughout the Union.  They may have expected popular support, but whilst the world – and the rest of the Soviet Union – watched, thousands went onto the streets of the capital Moscow to “defend the White House” – the home of the Russian parliament, (the “Duma”) where the Mayor of Moscow, Boris Yeltsin was leading a vigourous opposition to the new authorities.

In Bishkek, performances of “Swan Lake” were broadcast on the State Television Service, and then President Akaev appeared to address the nation.  He denounced the coup, and mobilized the army onto the streets to prevent any local attempt to seize power.

The coup collapsed after just and the organizers arrested.

The various republics accelerated their process towards independence, declaring their sovereignty one by one.

Akayev resigned from the Communist Party, along with his Vice President, and was followed by the entire politburo and secretariat of the republic. The Communist Party was outlawed and its assets seized.  This was followed by a vote in the Supreme Soviet declaring independence from the USSR on August 31, 1991.

The day was designated as a national holiday – to mark Independence and the creation of a new state.

Incidentally, August 31^st is also Independence Day for Trinidad and Tobago.

Tags: Calendar, For_the_Record, History, Kyrgyzstan, Soviet_Union