SECTION 1
The Conquest of Central Asia (Turkestan) by Tsarist Russia and the Local People’s Resistance
This section is dedicated to the history of Uzbekistan during the colonial period. It was during this time, amid struggles for the country’s independence, freedom, and liberation, that thousands of our patriotic and selfless sons and daughters perished. The colonial period, which lasted nearly 150 years, was a time of relentless struggle. Therefore, reflecting the historical truth about our ancestors who became martyrs on the path to independence and immortalising their memory is one of the important aspects of the museum’s exposition.
The exhibits in this section consist of materials related to the chronology of Central Asia’s conquest by Tsarist Russia and the struggles against colonial oppression.
SECTION 2: The National Awakening Movement, Its Manifestation and Practical Directions
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the Turkestan region faced political, cultural, and economic decline as a result of colonial policies. The advanced intelligentsia of the region, striving to free themselves from the oppression of Tsarist Russia, to awaken the nation, to pave the way not only for economic but also cultural development, and to enlighten the people, founded the enlightenment movement. The second section of the museum is dedicated to these processes, reflecting the activities of the Jadids aimed at renewing economic, social, and cultural life and implementing reforms in society.
These efforts of the enlighteners for the future of the nation were met with severe pressure from the colonial government. However, despite pressure and persecution, the enlightenment movement began to spread widely and continued secretly in some areas. In Turkestan, this movement became known as Jadidism.
SECTION 3: The Abolition of the Turkestan Autonomy Government and the Beginning of the Soviet State's Repressive Policy (1917–1924)
The February Revolution of 1917 in Russia, which led to the abdication of the Emperor, gave impetus to sharp political changes in Turkestan. The rule of the Tsarist regime in the region was overthrown, but the newly formed Provisional Government continued to view Turkestan as a colony of Russia and implemented political changes here directly mirroring those in Russia. The revolutionary mood in Russia had a serious impact on the national enlighteners. From this time, their political activity intensified, and the first national social organisations began to be established. They founded political organisations such as “Shuro-i Islam” and “Ulamo”.
In October 1917, a state coup was carried out in Russia by the Bolsheviks, and during these days, they seized power in Turkestan by force. On 1 November, the Bolsheviks in Tashkent arrested members of the Turkestan Committee of the Provisional Government and declared the establishment of Soviet power in Turkestan.
The national progressive forces in Turkestan, based on the Soviet government’s decree on the right of every nation to self-determination, convened the IV Extraordinary Congress of Muslims of the Turkestan Region in the city of Kokand on 26–28 November 1917. The congress held discussions on important issues. The majority supported the idea of proclaiming the Turkestan Autonomy. A new democratic government—the Turkestan Autonomy—was declared.
SECTION 4: Resistance and Armed Uprisings Against Oppression and Violence in the Central Asian Region (1918–1924)
The violence of the Soviet authorities caused sharp resistance and discontent among the people. Armed resistance against Soviet power began throughout the region. This movement manifested itself particularly acutely and massively in the Ferghana Valley. Local leaders such as Madaminbek, Katta (Big) Ergash, and Shermuhammadbek led the resistance.
The exhibits feature the centres of armed resistance against Soviet power that began in February 1918 and continued until 1924 in Turkestan.Ekspozitsiyada Turkistonda sovet hokimiyatiga qarshi 1918-yil fevralda boshlanib, 1924-yilgacha davom etgan qurolli qarshilik harakati o‘choqlari aks ettirilgan.
SECTION 5: The Soviet Government's Policy of "Collectivisation" and "Dekulakisation" and Its Tragic Consequences (1930–1936)
This section is dedicated to the repressive policies of the Soviet government in the economic sphere. During the implementation of land and water reforms, collectivisation, the elimination of private property, and the establishment of state monopoly in industry and agriculture carried out by the Soviet government at the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, a “dekulakisation” campaign was conducted. The Bolsheviks confiscated the land and water of thousands of households in favour of the state.
As noted in the information presented in the exhibits, the Soviet government deprived not only large landowners but also artisans with private means of production, traders, those who leased property and means, entrepreneurs who used hired labour, middle peasants, and religious scholars of their homes and property, and exiled them from their homeland along with their family members as “kulaks”.
In the exhibits are displayed five maps showing the destinations of “dekulakised” individuals deported from Uzbekistan to other regions and Central Asia, the routes of deportation, as well as models of the train carriages in which “kulaks” were transported and the makeshift shelters and dugouts in which they lived.
Video materials in the exhibit include memories of the children of families subjected to “dekulakisation”, providing information about the harsh conditions in which they lived and worked.
SECTION 6: Political Repressions of the Early 1930s (1929–1936)
By the early 1930s, the administrative-command system was firmly established, and the Bolsheviks intensified the promotion of their ideology. It was during this period that persecution and pressure increased against those who opposed this ideology and the anti-national, inhumane, and illegal reforms carried out by the Soviet government in socio-economic and spiritual spheres. In particular, the intelligentsia who came out with national ideas against Bolshevik ideology, participants of the resistance movement of 1918–1924, and their relatives were subjected to repression by the Soviet authorities.
Those who were repressed were mobilised for construction work in harsh conditions, particularly on large-scale projects such as the “Belomor Canal”, “BelBaltLag”, and “DmitLag”, which were completed in short periods mainly through the labour of prisoners.
The sixth section of the museum sheds light on these processes.
SECTION 7: Political Repressions of 1937–1938
The political repressions carried out by the Soviet government under the leadership of I.V. Stalin in 1937–1938 were one of the most terrible tragedies in human history. During this period, with the aim of putting an end to any dissenting thought and behaviour contradicting the Soviet government and its ideology, to keep the people in subjugation, and to turn party and government bodies into an army of cadres who obeyed unconditionally, an unprecedented scale of repressive policy was unleashed.
This wave of repression was directed primarily against state figures, responsible cadres of party and government bodies and institutions. In this process, the most advanced, active, educated, and organisational national cadres, intelligentsia, education and culture workers, scientists, and writers in Uzbekistan became victims of repression. The Stalinist government drew into the circle of repression not only themselves but also their family members.
In the exhibits of the section are presented photographs of the family members of the well-known statesman Fayzulla Khojaev, repressed along with him, as well as the wives of public figures repressed during these years, such as Cholpon, Fitrat, Akbar Rustamov, Abdulhay Tajiev. There are also photographs of students sent to study in Germany in 1922, as well as photographs of representatives of various fields repressed during this period—state figures, figures of literature and art, science and education workers, representatives of various sectors of the national economy.
SECTION 8: Political Repressions of the 1940s–1950s
The Second World War of 1939–1945 was one of the most terrible tragedies in human history. On 22 June 1941, Hitler’s Germany suddenly attacked the USSR. Along with the peoples who were part of the Soviet Union, Uzbeks were also drawn into the war against fascism. The Uzbek people, from the first days of the war, mobilised all their strength for victory over fascism. The war disrupted the country’s economy, complicating its life. Martial law was introduced in the country, and all resources were directed towards defence interests.
However, even in such difficult days, the repressive policy of the Soviet government did not stop. On the eve of the war and during the war years, the Soviet government, under the new pretext of “preventing the manifestation of sympathy towards fascism”, began ethnic repressions against the peoples living in border regions. In this process, Koreans, Crimean Tatars, Meskhetian Turks, Poles, Volga Germans, and other peoples living in regions bordering countries such as Japan, Turkey, and Poland were unjustifiably and illegally deported from their homelands to other regions, in particular to the territory of Uzbekistan. Providing them with housing, work, land, and food fell on the shoulders of the Uzbek people.
The exhibits include historical photographs and documents related to the deportation of various peoples to the territory of Uzbekistan.
In addition, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, repressions became the next stage of systematic pressure and persecution carried out by the Soviet regime in Uzbekistan. In this process, first of all, scientists, writers, and poets who, in their works, referred to the past history of the Uzbek people, to the spiritual heritage, and dared to write about it, were accused of “idealising the past”, “nationalism”, and were repressed. This is highlighted based on historical documents and photographic materials.
SECTION 9: The Repressions of the 1980s: The "Cotton Affair" Campaign
In the exhibits of this section, the tragic consequences of the Soviet government’s cotton monopoly policy, the disruption of the natural balance as a result of the drying up of the Aral Sea, and the impact of the ecological disaster on human health are shown using diagrams.
In the 1980s, a new stage of mass repressions against the Uzbek people began by the former Central authorities. Through a political campaign known as the “Cotton Affair”, various slanderous and false accusations were directed at the Uzbek people, and thousands of innocent people were punished. The section presents materials about the complaints of the victims unjustly accused in the “Cotton Affair”, their sufferings during the investigation processes, and materials related to the organised persecutions of their families. The efforts begun by Islam Karimov in 1986 in the Kashkadarya region to exonerate the victims of the “Cotton Affair” and restore justice are reflected.
SECTION 10 Historical actions undertaken in the years of independence to restore historical justice, immortalise the memory of the victims of repression, and preserve and develop national values (period after 1991)
This section is dedicated to how, in the years of independence, historical justice and national values in Uzbekistan, which were unjustly defamed or falsified in the past, were restored, and what opportunities were opened up for the youth thanks to independence, as shown by historical facts.
The exhibits reflect the restoration of historical truth about great state figures and commanders, whose names were defamed during the Soviet era, in particular about Amir Timur, Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur, Mirzo Ulugbek, as well as the restoration of historical truth about such commanders and rulers as Jaloliddin Manguberdi. It shows how, in the years of independence, our vast spiritual heritage, national and religious values, the names and creative heritage of Islamic thinkers, were restored and appreciated, how material monuments repressed during the Soviet era were repaired and improved in the years of independence, and provides historical information about the effective work carried out in our country during the years of independence in studying the foundations of Islam, its history, Islamic culture, architecture, and spiritual heritage.
In this section, there are also reflections on the limitless opportunities given to our youth, their successes, the significant achievements of young people in science, sports, the education system, culture, and art.
In these scientific-thematic sections, photographs of our compatriots who were repressed, numerous documents and materials related to the repressive policy of that time are presented. The exhibits are enriched with a vehicle reminiscent of the horrors of the 1930–1938 repressions, a map of the GULAG, and personal belongings left by the victims of repression.
In the museum’s exhibitions, 12 sensor kiosks, 8 monitors, 2 interactive LED screens, and 2 interactive information sensor kiosks are installed, featuring unique archival data reflecting the hardships of the colonial and repressive periods, memories, interviews, musical works, video clips, and scenes. This provides museum visitors with the opportunity to deeply feel the difficult moments experienced in the history of our people.