Islamization and Mongolian Empires
The area of today’s Uzbekistan, belonging to the historical region of West Turkestan, shared its history in antiquity and the Middle Ages (Turkestan , especially the landscapes of Sogdiana , Charism). At the beginning of the 8th century the area was conquered by the Arabs and then Islamized as part of the caliphate (known under the Arabic name »Mawarannahr«). In the 9th and 10th centuries, the region was under the rule of the Samanids. 1219-21 the Mongols subjugated the country under Genghis Khan ; In 1369 / 70–1405 it was ruled by Timur and then by his successors (Timurids), under whom it rose to become an East Islamic cultural center.
Under the pressure of the Oirats advancing from the east and the Kazakh tribes advancing from the north, the Turkic Uzbeks (their name derives from the Mongol Khan Uzbek [Özbeg], † 1341 , from) intervened in the power struggles of the Timurids in Transoxania from the end of the 15th century. Under Mohammed Schaibani (* 1451, † 1510) the Uzbeks conquered the area around 1500 (Schaibaniden). The Turkicization of the region was completed; the ruling culture of the Uzbeks obscured the traditions of the Iranian cultural centers. In the 16th century, the Sunni Shaibanids and the Shiite Safavids fought in devastating campaigns for Khorasan. After the collapse of the Uzbek Empire (end of the 16th century), the rival khanates of Bukhara (an emirate since the 18th century), Khiva and Kokand were formed. Since the 16th century, the area had lost wealth and power, especially due to the constant decline in caravan trade (Silk Road , source of the wealth of the oasis cities) and the shifting of the Far Eastern trade routes to the north.
Russian rule
In colonial competition with Great Britain, according to itypeauto, Russia subjugated Uzbek territory in the 1860s and 1870s (1865 conquest of Tashkent, 1867 formation of the General Government of Turkestan, 1868 establishment of a protectorate over Bukhara and 1873 over Khiva, 1876 annexation of Kokand). After the Russian October Revolution, the regionally limited Turkestan ASSR was proclaimed on April 30, 1918; Further artificial boundaries were decisive: After their conquest by Soviet Russian troops under M. W. Frunze In 1920 the Khiva Khanate was transformed into the Soviet People’s Republic of Khorezm (April 26th) and the Emirate of Bukhara into the Socialist People’s Republic of Bukhara (October 8th). In 1923 the status of the People’s Republic of Khorezm was changed to SSR and it was divided into an Uzbek, Turkmen and Kyrgyz-Karakalpak autonomous region. In 1924 the People’s Republic of Bukhara, the Khorezm SSR and the Turkestan ASSR were dissolved and territorially assigned to the SSR Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which was founded on October 27, 1924, and the Tajik ASSR created on October 14, 1924. Uzbekistan joined the USSR on May 13, 1925, including the latter (until 1929); In 1936 the Karakalpakische ASSR (Karakalpakstan) Part of Uzbekistan. The capital of Uzbekistan was initially Samarkand, replaced by Tashkent in 1930.
The resistance of the “Basmachi” (Muslim guerrilla movement) was directed against Bolshevik rule well into the 1920s. In the framework of the Stalinist “revolution from above” the Islamic tradition was suppressed; The forced collectivization was accompanied by a forced increase in the production of cotton and its industrial processing. The “Great Chistka” fell victim to numerous local officials in the 1930s (including Prime Minister Faisullah Chodschajew , who was shot in 1938). Under Sharaf Rashidov (Party leader 1959–83), who paid homage as “Otakhan” (German father of the nation), a pronounced clique economy developed (large-scale embezzlement and plan forgery affairs in the cotton sector), which prompted the central Soviet power to intervene in 1983.
Foreign policy developments
The focus of Uzbekistan’s foreign and security policy was initially the cooperation with the other Central Asian republics of the CIS (including an economic community in 1993, agreement with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to deepen economic integration in 1997). Concerned that Islamic extremism from neighboring countries (until the end of 2001 rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, 1992-97 civil war in Tajikistan, 1999/2000 penetration of Muslim rebel groups into the Kyrgyz part of the Fergana Basin) could also spread to Uzbekistan, the government concluded a number of other agreements. In June 2001 Uzbekistan was accepted into the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization”. Shortly after the terrorist attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001, Uzbekistan offered since 1994 member of the NATO program “Partnership for Peace”, this support and made possible the stationing of v. a. American troops in the country (in addition, establishment of an air transport base for German ISAF units in 2002); in return, Uzbekistan received economic aid from the USA. In particular after the events of Andizhan in May 2005, relations with the USA deteriorated considerably; At the end of July 2005, they were finally asked to evacuate their military bases in the country. The contract on the use of the Air Force Base Termes by the German Armed Forces, however, was extended so that the German soldiers in neighboring Afghanistan could continue to receive supplies. In November 2005, Uzbekistan and Russia signed a military assistance pact, which also aimed at economic cooperation. Uzbekistan joined the Eurasian Economic Community in 2006, but suspended its membership again in 2008. The main line of foreign policy remained the emphasis on one’s own interests within the framework of a cooperation with Russia, China and the West that was as balanced as possible.
