Second East Turkestan Republic
Encyclopedia
The Second East Turkestan Republic, usually known simply as the East Turkestan Republic (ETR), was a short-lived Soviet
-backed Turkic people's republic which existed in the 1940s (November 12, 1944 - October 20, 1949) in three northern districts (Ili
, Tarbaghatai
, Altai
) of Xinjiang
province of the Republic of China
, what is now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China
(PRC).
was under the influence of the Soviet Union in a way similar to Outer Mongolia
. The local warlord Sheng Shicai
was dependent on the Soviet Union for military support and trade. Soviet troops twice, in 1934 and in 1937, entered Xinjiang for a limited period of time to perform direct military support of Sheng Shicai's regime. After suppressing the 36th Division General Ma Chung-yin in 1934 and the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1935, the USSR sent a commission to Xinjiang to draw up a plan for reconstruction of the province, led by Stalin's brother-in-law, Deputy Chief of Soviet State Bank
, Alexander Svanidze
, that resulted in a Soviet five-year loan of 5 million gold ruble
s to Sheng Shicai's regime. The draft was signed by Sheng Shicai on May 16, 1935 without consultation or approval by the Central Government of China. After Soviet intervention in 1937 and quelling of both Tungan and Uyghur rebels on the South of Xinjiang with liquidation of the 36th Tungan Division and 6th Uyghur Division, the Soviet Government did not withdraw all Soviet troops, keeping a regiment of soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs at Kumul beginning in October 1937 in order to prevent a possible offensive from the Japanese Army
into Xinjiang
through Inner Mongolia
. In exchange concessions were granted for oil well
s, tin
and tungsten
(wolfram) mines, as well as trade conducted on terms highly favorable to the USSR.
In 1936, after Sheng Shicai
expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui
led by General Ma Bufang
massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.
On November 26, 1940, Sheng Shicai concluded an Agreement granting the USSR additional concessions in the whole province of Xinjiang for 50 years, including areas bordering India
and Tibet
and placing Xinjiang under virtually full political and economic control of the USSR, making it part of China in name only (as Sheng Shicai himself recalled in his Memoirs "Red failure in Sinkiang", published by the University of Michigan
in 1958, the pressure on him from Joseph Stalin
in 1940 was so hard that refusal to sign this secret Agreement of Concessions in 17 articles, prepared by Stalin, would have resulted in Xinjiang sharing the same fate as Poland
, as he was informed by Soviet representatives in Urumchi Bakulin and Karpov).
The first article of Agreement stated that The Government of Sinkiang agrees to extend to the Government of the USSR within the territory of Sinkiang exclusive rights to prospect for, investigate and exploit tin mines and its ancillary minerals. USSR established trust Sin-Tin as independent juridical person subject only to legislative procedures of USSR for implementation of the provisions of Agreement in accordance with Article 4 with right to establish without hindrance branch offices, sub-branch offices and agencies within the whole territory of Sinkiang with all supplies of needs of concessions, deliveries of equipment and materials and other imports from USSR and exports of minerals from Sinkiang free of custom duties and other imposts and taxes and payment of fixed price of 5% of the cost of mined minerals to the Xinjiang Government (Article 7 of the Agreement).
Following this agreement, large-scale geological exploration expeditions were sent by the Soviets to Xinjiang in 1940-1941 and large deposits of diverse mineral resources, including uranium
and beryllium
, were found in the mountains near Kashgar
and in the Altai
region. Ore
s of both minerals continued to be delivered from Xinjiang Altai mines to the USSR until the end of 1949 (although Soviet geologists continued to work in Xinjiang till 1955 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
refused to Mao Zedong
's demand to hand over to PRC the techology of nuclear weapons production and own Chinese atomic project was initiated using facilities built by Soviets in Chuguchak and Altai in Northern Xinjiang) and were used in nuclear weapon design
and the creation of the first Soviet atomic bomb
, successfully tested on August 29, 1949.
Following the Operation Barbarossa
, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the entry of the United States
into the war in December 1941, the Soviet Union became far less attractive, and the Kuomintang
far more attractive, as a patron. At the end of 1942, Sheng demanded that the Soviet Union withdraw all military forces and political officers from Xinjiang. In 1943, Sheng was appointed the head of the Kuomintang branch in Xinjiang and allowed Kuomintang cadres into the province. In the summer of 1944, following the German defeat on the Eastern Front
, he attempted to reassert control over Xinjiang and turned to the Soviet Union for support once more. He not only arrested a number of Kuomintang cadres in Urumchi but also sent a letter to Stalin with offer to incorporate Xinjiang into USSR as its 18th Soviet Socialistic Republic (besides of original 15 Soviet Republics of the Soviet Union
, Sheng Shicai considered Mongolia
as 16th Soviet Republic and Tuva
, whose incorporation into USSR was under way, as 17th Soviet Republic). For himself Sheng Shicai pleaded the post of a Ruler of the new Soviet Republic. This time Stalin refused to deal with him and forwarded this confidential letter of Sheng Shicai to Chiang Kai-shek
and, as a result, in August 1944, the Kuomintang removed him from the province by appointing him to a low-level post in the Ministry of Forestry in Chongqing
.
region, were unable to contain a group of rioters. By October 8, the rioters had captured Nilka, the county seat. During October, the Three District Rebellion broke out generally south of Ghulja in the Ili
, Altay
and Tarbagatay
districts of northern Xinjiang. Aided by the Soviet Union, and supported by several Xinjiang exiles trained in the Soviet Union, the rebels quickly established control over the three districts, capturing Ghulja in November. The ethnic Chinese population of the region was reduced by massacre and expulsion. According to United States consular officials the Islamic scholar Elihan Töre
declared a "Turkistan Islam Government":
"The Turkestan Islam Government is organized: praise be to Allah for his manifold blessings! Allah be praised! The aid of Allah has given us the heroism to overthrow the government of the oppressor Chinese. But even if we have set ourselves free, can it be pleasing in the sight of our God if we only stand and watch while you, our brethren in religion ... still bear the bloody grievance of subjection to the black politics of the oppressor Government of the savage Chinese? Certainly our God would not be satisfied. We will not throw down our arms until we have made you free from the five bloody fingers of the Chinese oppressors' power, nor until the very roots of the Chinese oppressors' government have dried and died away from the face of the earth of East Turkestan, which we have inherited as our native land from our fathers and our grandfathers."
The demands of the rebels included termination of Chinese rule, equality for all nationalities, recognised use of native languages, friendly relations with the Soviet Union, and opposition to Chinese immigration into Xinjiang. The military forces available to the rebellion were the newly formed Ili National Army
, which included mostly Uighur, Kazakh and White Russian soldiers (around 25,000 troops, armed and trained by the Soviet Union, strengthened with regular Red Army units), and a group of Kazak
Karai tribesmen under the command of Osman Batur (up to 20,000 horsemen). The Kazaks expanded to the north, while the INA expanded to the south. By September 1945, the Kuomintang Army and the INA occupied positions on either side of the Manasi River
near Ürümqi
. By this time the ETR held Zungaria while the Kuomintang held the mainly Uyghur
-inhabited parts of southern Xinjiang.
Despite presence of Russian troops in Ili army, Uyghur mobs attacked White Russians during riots.
. This ended overt Soviet support for the East Turkistan Republic. The Kuomintang reached a negotiated settlement with the leaders of the ETR in July 1946. In effect, little changed. The ETR remained a de facto separate pro-Soviet state with its own currency and military forces. Political activity in the Republic was limited to the Union for the Defense of Peace and Democracy, a party on the Leninist one-party model. Kuomintang officials were prohibited from the Three Districts and in return the Kuomintang actively supported opposition politicians. By this time, these included Elihan Töre who disappeared visiting the Soviet Union and the Kazak leader Osman Batur who broke with the other rebels when their pro-Soviet orientation became clear. The Kuomintang appointed several important Uyghurs as advisors to the Xinjiang administration and made Ehmetjan Qasim, the leader of the ETR, Provincial Vice-Chairman.
Bai Chongxi
, the Defence Minister of China, and a Muslim, was considered for being appointed Governor of Xinjiang. The position was then given to Masud Sabri
, a pro Kuomintang Uyghur who was anti-Soviet.
General Ma Bufang
was sent with his Muslim Cavalry to Ürümqi
by the Kuomintang in 1945 to protect it from the Uyghur army from Hi (name for Ili at that time).
, and started fighting against the Soviet Union and the Mongolian army during the Pei-ta-shan Incident. The Tungan (Chinese Muslim or Hui) 14th cavalry regiment, which worked for the Kuomintang, was sent by the Chinese government to attack Soviet And Mongol army at Peitashan on the Xinjiang-Mongolia border.
and the Mongolian People's Republic. The Mongolian People's Republic became involved in a border dispute with the Republic of China, as the Chinese Muslim Hui
cavalry regiment was sent by the Chinese government to attack Mongol and Soviet positions.
There had always been a Xinjiang police station manned by a Chinese police force with Chinese sentry posts before and after 1945.
Chinese Muslim and Turkic Kazakh forces working for the Chinese Kuomintang, battled Soviet Russian and Mongol troops. In June 1947, the Mongols and the Soviets launched an attack against the Kazakhs, driving them back to the Chinese side. However, fighting continued for another year, 13 clashes taking place between 5 June 1947 and July 1948.
Mongolia invaded Xinjiang with the intention to assist Li Rihan, the pro-Russian Special Commissioner, to gain control of Xinjiang, over Special Commissioner Us Man (Osman) who was pro-ROC. The Chinese defence ministry spokesman announced that Outer Mongolian soldiers were captured at Peitashan, and stated that troops were resisting near Peitashan.
Elite Qinghai
Hui cavalry were sent by the Chinese Kuomintang to destroy the Mongols and the Russians in 1947.
The Chinese troops recaptured Peitashan and continued to fight against Soviet and Mongolian bomber planes. China's Legislative Yuan demanded a firmer policy against Russia.
The Chinese General Ma Xizhen and the Kazakh Osman Batur fought against the Mongol troops and airplanes throughout June as fierce fighting erupted. The MPR used a battalion size force and had Soviet air support on June 1947. The Mongolians repeatedly probed the Chinese lines.
Osman continued to fight against the Uyghur forces of the Yili regime in north Ashan after being defeated by the Soviet forces.
Many Ining Muslim leaders planned to move to Tihwa (Urumchi and escape to Inner China to escape Soviet pressure. They feared that they were going to be murdered by the Soviet army.
Ehmetjan Qasim demanded Masud Sabri to be removed as Governor and all prisoners to be released from Kuomintang jails.
crossed the Yangtze River
and cut off the Kuomintang administration in southern Xinjiang. Some Kuomintang officials fled to Afghanistan
, India
and Pakistan
, but most surrendered to the Communist Party of China
. In August 1949, the Communist Party of China sent Deng Liqun to negotiate with the ETR's leadership in Ghulja (Yining in Chinese). Mao Zedong
invited the leaders of the ETR to take part in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
later that year. The leaders of the ETR traveled to the Soviet Union on August 22, accompanied by Soviet vice-consul at Ghulja Vasiliy Borisov, where they were told to cooperate with the Communist Party of China. On August 24, Ehmetjan Qasim, Abdulkerim Abbas, Ishaq Beg, Luo Zhi and Delilhan Sugurbayev boarded a plane in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, headed for Beijing
. On September 3, the Soviet Union informed the Chinese government that the plane had crashed near lake of Baikal
on route to Beijing, killing all on-board.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
in 1991, former KGB
leaders revealed that five top ETR leaders were killed on Stalin's orders in Moscow
on August 27, 1949, after a three-day imprisonment in former Tsar
's stables, in accordance with a deal between Stalin and China's communist leader Mao Zedong
, but this allegation has never been confirmed. The remaining important figures of the ETR including Saifuddin Azizi agreed to incorporate the three districts
into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and accept important positions within the administration. However, some Kazakhs led by Osman Batur continued their resistance until 1954. Saifuddin then became the first chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which replaced Xinjiang Province in 1955.
1. Suidun infantry regiment
2. Ghulja regiment
3. Kensai regiment
4. Ghulja reserve regiment
5. Kazakh
cavalry regiment
6. Tungan regiment
7. Sibo battalion
8. Mongol battalion
General conscription of all races, except the Chinese one, into National Army was enforced in the Ili zone.
Later, Sibo and Mongol battalions were upgraded to regiments, but when Kazakh irregulars under Osman Batur defected to the Kuomintang in 1947, Kazakh cavalry regiment of National Army defected to Osman Batur. Motorized part of Army consisted of Artillery Division, which included 12 cannons, two armoured vehicles and two tanks. National aviation forces included 42 airplanes, captured on Kuomintang
air base in Ghulja on January 31, 1945, all of them were damaged during battle for air base, but later part of them were repaired and put into service by Soviet military personnel in ETR. These air planes participated first time in the battle between Ili rebels and Kuomintang for Shihezi
and Jinghe
in September 1945, highly fortified Kuomintang bases in Northern Xinjiang (Jungaria) that were conducted by two large rebel groups, strengthened by Soviet Red Army units, who launched offensive simultaneously from Ghulja against Jinghe and from Chuguchak against Shihezi.
This battle resulted in capturing of both KMT bases and also oil fields in Dushanzi and trapping with following capitulation of two just newly-formed Divisions of Kuomintang Second Army, armed with American weapons (6,000 surrendered of originally 20,000-25,000 troops). During the battle one more Kuomintang air plane was captured, detachments of National Army reached Manasi River
, north of Urumchi, creating panic in the city and evacuation of Government offices to Kumul
, but an offensive on Xinjiang capital, whose defense line in yearly October consisted of only six demoralized Kuomintang battalions, was cancelled due to direct pressure from Moscow
on Ili rebels leadership which agreed to follow orders from Moscow to start peace talks with Kuomintang and ordered the National Army to cease fire on all frontiers. First peace talks between Ili rebels and Kuomintang, shortly followed after Chiang Kai Shek's speech on China State Radio with offer to rebels " to peacefully resolve Xinjiang crisis " and mediated by USSR, started in Urumchi on October 14, 1945.
The National Army enlisted 25,000-30,000 troops, but in accordance with the peace agreement with Chiang Kai-Shek signed on June 6, 1946, it was reduced to 11,000-12,000 troops and restricted in stationing in only three districts (Ili, Tarbaghatai and Altai) of Northern Xinjiang. The detachments of National Army were also withdrawn from Southern Xinjiang, leaving strategic Old City of Aksu
and opening road from Urumchi to Kashgar
Region, that gave opportunity to Kuomintang to send 70,000 troops there 1946–47 and quell Rebellion in Pamir Mountains
.
This rebellion was broken on August 19, 1945 in Sariqol area of Taghdumbash Pamir
, where within just three days rebels (under leadership of Uyghur Sadiq Khan Khoja from Kargilik and Sariqoli Tajik Karavan Shah) captured all boundary posts near Afghanistan
, USSR and India frontiers (Su-Bashi, Daftar, Mintaka Qarawul, Bulunqul) and also Tashkurgan fortress, killing Kuomintang troops as they had been taken by surprise as they were celebrating the capitulation of Japanese Army
in Manchuria
. Only part of Kuomintang forces in Sariqol survived, who fled to India during the rebel attack. Original base of Rebellion was situated on the mountainous Pamir village of Tagarma, close to the Soviet border. On September 15, 1945, Tashkurgan rebels took Igiz-Yar on the road to Yangihissar
and at the same time other group of rebels took Oitagh, Bostan-Terek and Tashmalik on the road to Kashgar.
By the end of 1945, Tashkurgan rebels launched offensive on Kashgar and Yarkand districts and on January 2, 1946, the same day when Preliminary Peace Agreement in 11 clauses was signed in Urumchi between Ili rebels and Kuomintang representatives under Soviet mediation, took important towns Guma, Kargilik
and Poskam
, which controlled communications between Xinjiang, Tibet and India. On January 11, 1946, Kuomintang Army launched counter- attack in Yarkand military zone, bringing reinforcements from Aksu Region, that was already left by Ili National Army
, repelled Tashkurgan rebels from outskirts of Yarkand, recaptured towns Poskam
, Kargilik
, Guma and again brought under Chinese control Tashkurgan Region by summer 1946.
Of the originally formidable 7000 rebel force (which included a large number of Xinjiang exiles from USSR, up to 2000, armed with German weapons, Ili rebel forces, and numerous local volunteers—only in Kargilik, 2000 men joined rebels) only a few hundred survived, who managed to retreat to high mountainous Pamir base in Qosrap (village in present Akto County
of XUAR). Actually, National Army was inactive from 1946 to 1949 until the arrival of People's Liberation Army
(PLA) units to Xinjiang.
According to the special envoy of Mao Zedong
, Deng Li-Chun, who arrived at Ghulja on August 17, 1949 to perform negotiations with ETR leadership about future of ETR and sent secret telegram to Mao about ETR forces next day, it included about 14,000 troops, armed mostly by German weapons, had heavy artillery weaponry, military trucks and about 6,000 horses for cavalry, Soviet military personnel was presented in the Army and was servicing 14 airplanes, which were used as air bombers.
On December 20, 1949 National Army was incorporated into the PLA as its Xinjiang 5th Army Corps.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-backed Turkic people's republic which existed in the 1940s (November 12, 1944 - October 20, 1949) in three northern districts (Ili
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture , in northernmost Xinjiang, is the only Kazakh autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China.-Geography and coordinates:The following figures excludes both Tacheng Prefecture and Altay Prefecture....
, Tarbaghatai
Tacheng Prefecture
Tacheng Prefecture is located in northern Xinjiang, China. It has an area of 98,824 km² and a population of 892,397 . It is a part of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. The prefecture level city of Karamay forms a separate enclave in the middle of Tacheng.- Subdivisions :Tacheng prefecture is...
, Altai
Altay Prefecture
Altay Prefecture is located in northern Xinjiang, China. It has an area of 118,015 km² and a population of 561,667 . It is a part of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture...
) of Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
province of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, what is now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(PRC).
Background
From 1934 to 1941 XinjiangXinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
was under the influence of the Soviet Union in a way similar to Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia was a territory of the Qing Dynasty = the Manchu Empire. Its area was roughly equivalent to that of the modern state of Mongolia, which is sometimes informally called "Outer Mongolia" today...
. The local warlord Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who "ruled" Xinjiang province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944....
was dependent on the Soviet Union for military support and trade. Soviet troops twice, in 1934 and in 1937, entered Xinjiang for a limited period of time to perform direct military support of Sheng Shicai's regime. After suppressing the 36th Division General Ma Chung-yin in 1934 and the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1935, the USSR sent a commission to Xinjiang to draw up a plan for reconstruction of the province, led by Stalin's brother-in-law, Deputy Chief of Soviet State Bank
Gosbank
Gosbank was the central bank of the Soviet Union and the only bank whatsoever in the entire Union from the 1930s until the year 1987. Gosbank was one of the three Soviet economic authorities, the other two being "Gosplan" and "Gossnab"...
, Alexander Svanidze
Alexander Svanidze
Alexander Semyonovich "Alyosha" Svanidze was a Georgian Old Bolshevik and historian. He was a personal friend of Joseph Stalin and a brother of Stalin’s first wife Kato. Nevertheless, Stalin had him arrested during a purge in 1937...
, that resulted in a Soviet five-year loan of 5 million gold ruble
Ruble
The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. Currently, the currency units of Belarus, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and, in the past, the currency units of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union, are named rubles, though they all are...
s to Sheng Shicai's regime. The draft was signed by Sheng Shicai on May 16, 1935 without consultation or approval by the Central Government of China. After Soviet intervention in 1937 and quelling of both Tungan and Uyghur rebels on the South of Xinjiang with liquidation of the 36th Tungan Division and 6th Uyghur Division, the Soviet Government did not withdraw all Soviet troops, keeping a regiment of soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs at Kumul beginning in October 1937 in order to prevent a possible offensive from the Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
into Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
through Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
. In exchange concessions were granted for oil well
Oil well
An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
s, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
and tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
(wolfram) mines, as well as trade conducted on terms highly favorable to the USSR.
In 1936, after Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who "ruled" Xinjiang province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944....
expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
led by General Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...
massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.
On November 26, 1940, Sheng Shicai concluded an Agreement granting the USSR additional concessions in the whole province of Xinjiang for 50 years, including areas bordering India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
and placing Xinjiang under virtually full political and economic control of the USSR, making it part of China in name only (as Sheng Shicai himself recalled in his Memoirs "Red failure in Sinkiang", published by the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1958, the pressure on him from Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
in 1940 was so hard that refusal to sign this secret Agreement of Concessions in 17 articles, prepared by Stalin, would have resulted in Xinjiang sharing the same fate as Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, as he was informed by Soviet representatives in Urumchi Bakulin and Karpov).
The first article of Agreement stated that The Government of Sinkiang agrees to extend to the Government of the USSR within the territory of Sinkiang exclusive rights to prospect for, investigate and exploit tin mines and its ancillary minerals. USSR established trust Sin-Tin as independent juridical person subject only to legislative procedures of USSR for implementation of the provisions of Agreement in accordance with Article 4 with right to establish without hindrance branch offices, sub-branch offices and agencies within the whole territory of Sinkiang with all supplies of needs of concessions, deliveries of equipment and materials and other imports from USSR and exports of minerals from Sinkiang free of custom duties and other imposts and taxes and payment of fixed price of 5% of the cost of mined minerals to the Xinjiang Government (Article 7 of the Agreement).
Following this agreement, large-scale geological exploration expeditions were sent by the Soviets to Xinjiang in 1940-1941 and large deposits of diverse mineral resources, including uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
and beryllium
Beryllium
Beryllium is the chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a divalent element which occurs naturally only in combination with other elements in minerals. Notable gemstones which contain beryllium include beryl and chrysoberyl...
, were found in the mountains near Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
and in the Altai
Altai Krai
Altai Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul...
region. Ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
s of both minerals continued to be delivered from Xinjiang Altai mines to the USSR until the end of 1949 (although Soviet geologists continued to work in Xinjiang till 1955 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
refused to Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's demand to hand over to PRC the techology of nuclear weapons production and own Chinese atomic project was initiated using facilities built by Soviets in Chuguchak and Altai in Northern Xinjiang) and were used in nuclear weapon design
Nuclear weapon design
Nuclear weapon designs are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three basic design types...
and the creation of the first Soviet atomic bomb
Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb , was a clandestine research and development program began during and post-World War II, in the wake of the Soviet Union's discovery of the United States' nuclear project...
, successfully tested on August 29, 1949.
Following the Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the entry of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
into the war in December 1941, the Soviet Union became far less attractive, and the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
far more attractive, as a patron. At the end of 1942, Sheng demanded that the Soviet Union withdraw all military forces and political officers from Xinjiang. In 1943, Sheng was appointed the head of the Kuomintang branch in Xinjiang and allowed Kuomintang cadres into the province. In the summer of 1944, following the German defeat on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
, he attempted to reassert control over Xinjiang and turned to the Soviet Union for support once more. He not only arrested a number of Kuomintang cadres in Urumchi but also sent a letter to Stalin with offer to incorporate Xinjiang into USSR as its 18th Soviet Socialistic Republic (besides of original 15 Soviet Republics of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Sheng Shicai considered Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
as 16th Soviet Republic and Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
, whose incorporation into USSR was under way, as 17th Soviet Republic). For himself Sheng Shicai pleaded the post of a Ruler of the new Soviet Republic. This time Stalin refused to deal with him and forwarded this confidential letter of Sheng Shicai to Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
and, as a result, in August 1944, the Kuomintang removed him from the province by appointing him to a low-level post in the Ministry of Forestry in Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
.
Rebellion
Following Sheng Shicai's departure from Xinjiang, the new Kuomintang administration had increasing trouble maintaining law and order. On September 16, 1944, troops that had been sent to Gongha county, a majority KazakKazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
region, were unable to contain a group of rioters. By October 8, the rioters had captured Nilka, the county seat. During October, the Three District Rebellion broke out generally south of Ghulja in the Ili
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture , in northernmost Xinjiang, is the only Kazakh autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China.-Geography and coordinates:The following figures excludes both Tacheng Prefecture and Altay Prefecture....
, Altay
Altay Prefecture
Altay Prefecture is located in northern Xinjiang, China. It has an area of 118,015 km² and a population of 561,667 . It is a part of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture...
and Tarbagatay
Tacheng
-References:* Khālidī, Qurbanʻali, Allen J. Frank, and Mirkasym Abdulakhatovich Usmanov. An Islamic Biographical Dictionary of the Eastern Kazakh Steppe, 1770-1912. Brill's Inner Asian library, v. 12. Leiden: Brill, 2004....
districts of northern Xinjiang. Aided by the Soviet Union, and supported by several Xinjiang exiles trained in the Soviet Union, the rebels quickly established control over the three districts, capturing Ghulja in November. The ethnic Chinese population of the region was reduced by massacre and expulsion. According to United States consular officials the Islamic scholar Elihan Töre
Elihan Tore
Elihan Tore Saghuniy (ʿAli Khan Türe or Alihan Tore Shakirjan Khoja ogli) Алихан -тюре was president of the Second East Turkistan Republic....
declared a "Turkistan Islam Government":
"The Turkestan Islam Government is organized: praise be to Allah for his manifold blessings! Allah be praised! The aid of Allah has given us the heroism to overthrow the government of the oppressor Chinese. But even if we have set ourselves free, can it be pleasing in the sight of our God if we only stand and watch while you, our brethren in religion ... still bear the bloody grievance of subjection to the black politics of the oppressor Government of the savage Chinese? Certainly our God would not be satisfied. We will not throw down our arms until we have made you free from the five bloody fingers of the Chinese oppressors' power, nor until the very roots of the Chinese oppressors' government have dried and died away from the face of the earth of East Turkestan, which we have inherited as our native land from our fathers and our grandfathers."
The demands of the rebels included termination of Chinese rule, equality for all nationalities, recognised use of native languages, friendly relations with the Soviet Union, and opposition to Chinese immigration into Xinjiang. The military forces available to the rebellion were the newly formed Ili National Army
Ili National Army
Ili National Army consisted originally of six regiments: Suidun Infantry Regiment, Ghulja Regiment, Kensai Regiment, Ghulja Reserve Regiment, Kazakh Cavalry Regiment, Dungan Regiment, Artillery Subdivision, Sibo Subdivision, Mongol Subdivision. Last two Subdivisions were later reformed to Regiments...
, which included mostly Uighur, Kazakh and White Russian soldiers (around 25,000 troops, armed and trained by the Soviet Union, strengthened with regular Red Army units), and a group of Kazak
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
Karai tribesmen under the command of Osman Batur (up to 20,000 horsemen). The Kazaks expanded to the north, while the INA expanded to the south. By September 1945, the Kuomintang Army and the INA occupied positions on either side of the Manasi River
Manasi River
The Manasi River is in the south of Dzungarian Basin, Xinjiang, China. Flowing into Lake Manasi, the river is about 450 km long....
near Ürümqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
. By this time the ETR held Zungaria while the Kuomintang held the mainly Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
-inhabited parts of southern Xinjiang.
Despite presence of Russian troops in Ili army, Uyghur mobs attacked White Russians during riots.
Negotiations and coalition government in Ürümchi
In August 1945, China signed a Treaty of Friendship and Alliance granting the Soviet Union a range of concessions the US had promised at the Yalta conferenceYalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
. This ended overt Soviet support for the East Turkistan Republic. The Kuomintang reached a negotiated settlement with the leaders of the ETR in July 1946. In effect, little changed. The ETR remained a de facto separate pro-Soviet state with its own currency and military forces. Political activity in the Republic was limited to the Union for the Defense of Peace and Democracy, a party on the Leninist one-party model. Kuomintang officials were prohibited from the Three Districts and in return the Kuomintang actively supported opposition politicians. By this time, these included Elihan Töre who disappeared visiting the Soviet Union and the Kazak leader Osman Batur who broke with the other rebels when their pro-Soviet orientation became clear. The Kuomintang appointed several important Uyghurs as advisors to the Xinjiang administration and made Ehmetjan Qasim, the leader of the ETR, Provincial Vice-Chairman.
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi , , also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and a prominent Chinese Nationalist Muslim leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith...
, the Defence Minister of China, and a Muslim, was considered for being appointed Governor of Xinjiang. The position was then given to Masud Sabri
Masud Sabri
Masud Sabri , also known as Masʿūd Ṣabrī , , was a Uyghur political leader in Xinjiang and Governor of Xinjiang during the Ili Rebellion...
, a pro Kuomintang Uyghur who was anti-Soviet.
Kuomintang military actions
The Chinese MuslimHui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
General Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...
was sent with his Muslim Cavalry to Ürümqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
by the Kuomintang in 1945 to protect it from the Uyghur army from Hi (name for Ili at that time).
Kazakh Defection
Osman Batur, the Kazakh leader, defected to the KuomintangKuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
, and started fighting against the Soviet Union and the Mongolian army during the Pei-ta-shan Incident. The Tungan (Chinese Muslim or Hui) 14th cavalry regiment, which worked for the Kuomintang, was sent by the Chinese government to attack Soviet And Mongol army at Peitashan on the Xinjiang-Mongolia border.
Pei-ta-shan Incident
The Pei-ta-shan Incident was a border conflict between the Republic of ChinaRepublic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
and the Mongolian People's Republic. The Mongolian People's Republic became involved in a border dispute with the Republic of China, as the Chinese Muslim Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
cavalry regiment was sent by the Chinese government to attack Mongol and Soviet positions.
There had always been a Xinjiang police station manned by a Chinese police force with Chinese sentry posts before and after 1945.
Chinese Muslim and Turkic Kazakh forces working for the Chinese Kuomintang, battled Soviet Russian and Mongol troops. In June 1947, the Mongols and the Soviets launched an attack against the Kazakhs, driving them back to the Chinese side. However, fighting continued for another year, 13 clashes taking place between 5 June 1947 and July 1948.
Mongolia invaded Xinjiang with the intention to assist Li Rihan, the pro-Russian Special Commissioner, to gain control of Xinjiang, over Special Commissioner Us Man (Osman) who was pro-ROC. The Chinese defence ministry spokesman announced that Outer Mongolian soldiers were captured at Peitashan, and stated that troops were resisting near Peitashan.
Elite Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
Hui cavalry were sent by the Chinese Kuomintang to destroy the Mongols and the Russians in 1947.
The Chinese troops recaptured Peitashan and continued to fight against Soviet and Mongolian bomber planes. China's Legislative Yuan demanded a firmer policy against Russia.
The Chinese General Ma Xizhen and the Kazakh Osman Batur fought against the Mongol troops and airplanes throughout June as fierce fighting erupted. The MPR used a battalion size force and had Soviet air support on June 1947. The Mongolians repeatedly probed the Chinese lines.
Osman continued to fight against the Uyghur forces of the Yili regime in north Ashan after being defeated by the Soviet forces.
Riots
American telegrams reported that certain Uyghur mobs in parts of Xinjiang were calling for White Russians to be expelled from Xinjiang, now that they had expelled Han Chinese. They said, "We freed ourselves from the yellow men, now we must destroy the white." White Russians were in terror of the uprising. Races native to Xinjiang, such as Uyghurs frequently attacked people of other races, like Russians and Chinese. General conscription of all races continued in the Ili zone.Many Ining Muslim leaders planned to move to Tihwa (Urumchi and escape to Inner China to escape Soviet pressure. They feared that they were going to be murdered by the Soviet army.
Ehmetjan Qasim demanded Masud Sabri to be removed as Governor and all prisoners to be released from Kuomintang jails.
Absorption by the People's Republic of China
In July 1949, the advancing People's Liberation ArmyPeople's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
crossed the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
and cut off the Kuomintang administration in southern Xinjiang. Some Kuomintang officials fled to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, but most surrendered to the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
. In August 1949, the Communist Party of China sent Deng Liqun to negotiate with the ETR's leadership in Ghulja (Yining in Chinese). Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
invited the leaders of the ETR to take part in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference [], shortened as 人民政协, Rénmín Zhèngxié, i.e. "People's PCC"; or just 政协, Zhèngxié, i.e. "The PCC"), abbreviated CPPCC, is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China...
later that year. The leaders of the ETR traveled to the Soviet Union on August 22, accompanied by Soviet vice-consul at Ghulja Vasiliy Borisov, where they were told to cooperate with the Communist Party of China. On August 24, Ehmetjan Qasim, Abdulkerim Abbas, Ishaq Beg, Luo Zhi and Delilhan Sugurbayev boarded a plane in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, headed for Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. On September 3, the Soviet Union informed the Chinese government that the plane had crashed near lake of Baikal
Baikal
Baykal commonly refers to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia.Baykal or Baikal may also refer to:-Russia:*Baykal, Irkutsk Oblast, an urban-type settlement*Baykal, Aurgazinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan, a village...
on route to Beijing, killing all on-board.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
in 1991, former KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
leaders revealed that five top ETR leaders were killed on Stalin's orders in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
on August 27, 1949, after a three-day imprisonment in former Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
's stables, in accordance with a deal between Stalin and China's communist leader Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, but this allegation has never been confirmed. The remaining important figures of the ETR including Saifuddin Azizi agreed to incorporate the three districts
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture , in northernmost Xinjiang, is the only Kazakh autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China.-Geography and coordinates:The following figures excludes both Tacheng Prefecture and Altay Prefecture....
into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and accept important positions within the administration. However, some Kazakhs led by Osman Batur continued their resistance until 1954. Saifuddin then became the first chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which replaced Xinjiang Province in 1955.
National army
The National Army of the Second East Turkestan Republic was formed on April 8, 1945 and originally consisted of six regiments:1. Suidun infantry regiment
2. Ghulja regiment
3. Kensai regiment
4. Ghulja reserve regiment
5. Kazakh
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
cavalry regiment
6. Tungan regiment
7. Sibo battalion
8. Mongol battalion
General conscription of all races, except the Chinese one, into National Army was enforced in the Ili zone.
Later, Sibo and Mongol battalions were upgraded to regiments, but when Kazakh irregulars under Osman Batur defected to the Kuomintang in 1947, Kazakh cavalry regiment of National Army defected to Osman Batur. Motorized part of Army consisted of Artillery Division, which included 12 cannons, two armoured vehicles and two tanks. National aviation forces included 42 airplanes, captured on Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
air base in Ghulja on January 31, 1945, all of them were damaged during battle for air base, but later part of them were repaired and put into service by Soviet military personnel in ETR. These air planes participated first time in the battle between Ili rebels and Kuomintang for Shihezi
Shihezi
Shihezi is a sub-prefecture-level city in northern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.-Demography:Shihezi is the second largest city in Xinjiang, after Urumqi....
and Jinghe
Jinghe County
The Jinghe County is a county within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Börtala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. It contains an area of...
in September 1945, highly fortified Kuomintang bases in Northern Xinjiang (Jungaria) that were conducted by two large rebel groups, strengthened by Soviet Red Army units, who launched offensive simultaneously from Ghulja against Jinghe and from Chuguchak against Shihezi.
This battle resulted in capturing of both KMT bases and also oil fields in Dushanzi and trapping with following capitulation of two just newly-formed Divisions of Kuomintang Second Army, armed with American weapons (6,000 surrendered of originally 20,000-25,000 troops). During the battle one more Kuomintang air plane was captured, detachments of National Army reached Manasi River
Manasi River
The Manasi River is in the south of Dzungarian Basin, Xinjiang, China. Flowing into Lake Manasi, the river is about 450 km long....
, north of Urumchi, creating panic in the city and evacuation of Government offices to Kumul
Kumul
Kumul or Hami is an oasis in Hami Prefecture, Xinjiang ; it is also the name of a modern city and the surrounding district...
, but an offensive on Xinjiang capital, whose defense line in yearly October consisted of only six demoralized Kuomintang battalions, was cancelled due to direct pressure from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
on Ili rebels leadership which agreed to follow orders from Moscow to start peace talks with Kuomintang and ordered the National Army to cease fire on all frontiers. First peace talks between Ili rebels and Kuomintang, shortly followed after Chiang Kai Shek's speech on China State Radio with offer to rebels " to peacefully resolve Xinjiang crisis " and mediated by USSR, started in Urumchi on October 14, 1945.
The National Army enlisted 25,000-30,000 troops, but in accordance with the peace agreement with Chiang Kai-Shek signed on June 6, 1946, it was reduced to 11,000-12,000 troops and restricted in stationing in only three districts (Ili, Tarbaghatai and Altai) of Northern Xinjiang. The detachments of National Army were also withdrawn from Southern Xinjiang, leaving strategic Old City of Aksu
Aksu
Aksu , is a city in the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang and the capital of Aksu Prefecture...
and opening road from Urumchi to Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
Region, that gave opportunity to Kuomintang to send 70,000 troops there 1946–47 and quell Rebellion in Pamir Mountains
Pamir Mountains
The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range in Central Asia formed by the junction or knot of the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains and since Victorian times they have been known as the "Roof of the World" a probable...
.
This rebellion was broken on August 19, 1945 in Sariqol area of Taghdumbash Pamir
Taghdumbash Pamir
Taghdumbash Pamir is a pamir or high valley in the south west of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. It lies to the west of the Karakoram Highway...
, where within just three days rebels (under leadership of Uyghur Sadiq Khan Khoja from Kargilik and Sariqoli Tajik Karavan Shah) captured all boundary posts near Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, USSR and India frontiers (Su-Bashi, Daftar, Mintaka Qarawul, Bulunqul) and also Tashkurgan fortress, killing Kuomintang troops as they had been taken by surprise as they were celebrating the capitulation of Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
. Only part of Kuomintang forces in Sariqol survived, who fled to India during the rebel attack. Original base of Rebellion was situated on the mountainous Pamir village of Tagarma, close to the Soviet border. On September 15, 1945, Tashkurgan rebels took Igiz-Yar on the road to Yangihissar
Yengisar County
Yengisar County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwestern China. It is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It contains an area of 3,373 km2. As of the 2002 census, it had a population of 230,000....
and at the same time other group of rebels took Oitagh, Bostan-Terek and Tashmalik on the road to Kashgar.
By the end of 1945, Tashkurgan rebels launched offensive on Kashgar and Yarkand districts and on January 2, 1946, the same day when Preliminary Peace Agreement in 11 clauses was signed in Urumchi between Ili rebels and Kuomintang representatives under Soviet mediation, took important towns Guma, Kargilik
Kargilik County
Kargilik County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It contains an area of 28,600 km². According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 370,000.-Transportation:...
and Poskam
Poskam County
Poskam or Zepu County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It contains an area of 985 km2. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 180,000.-Transportation:...
, which controlled communications between Xinjiang, Tibet and India. On January 11, 1946, Kuomintang Army launched counter- attack in Yarkand military zone, bringing reinforcements from Aksu Region, that was already left by Ili National Army
Ili National Army
Ili National Army consisted originally of six regiments: Suidun Infantry Regiment, Ghulja Regiment, Kensai Regiment, Ghulja Reserve Regiment, Kazakh Cavalry Regiment, Dungan Regiment, Artillery Subdivision, Sibo Subdivision, Mongol Subdivision. Last two Subdivisions were later reformed to Regiments...
, repelled Tashkurgan rebels from outskirts of Yarkand, recaptured towns Poskam
Poskam County
Poskam or Zepu County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It contains an area of 985 km2. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 180,000.-Transportation:...
, Kargilik
Kargilik County
Kargilik County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It contains an area of 28,600 km². According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 370,000.-Transportation:...
, Guma and again brought under Chinese control Tashkurgan Region by summer 1946.
Of the originally formidable 7000 rebel force (which included a large number of Xinjiang exiles from USSR, up to 2000, armed with German weapons, Ili rebel forces, and numerous local volunteers—only in Kargilik, 2000 men joined rebels) only a few hundred survived, who managed to retreat to high mountainous Pamir base in Qosrap (village in present Akto County
Akto County
The Akto County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture. It contains an area of 24,107 km2...
of XUAR). Actually, National Army was inactive from 1946 to 1949 until the arrival of People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
(PLA) units to Xinjiang.
According to the special envoy of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, Deng Li-Chun, who arrived at Ghulja on August 17, 1949 to perform negotiations with ETR leadership about future of ETR and sent secret telegram to Mao about ETR forces next day, it included about 14,000 troops, armed mostly by German weapons, had heavy artillery weaponry, military trucks and about 6,000 horses for cavalry, Soviet military personnel was presented in the Army and was servicing 14 airplanes, which were used as air bombers.
On December 20, 1949 National Army was incorporated into the PLA as its Xinjiang 5th Army Corps.
Press
The Newspaper in East Turkestan was "Azat Sherkiy Turkistan" (Free Eastern Turkestan), first issue of which under #1 was published on November 17, 1944 in the city of Ghulja, five days after establishing of Second ETR Government. Later newspaper was renamed as "Inqlawiy Sherkiy Turkistan" ( Revolutionary Eastern Turkestan).See also
- First East Turkestan RepublicFirst East Turkestan RepublicThe First Eastern Turkestan Republic , or Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan , or, Republic of Uyghurstan, was a short-lived breakaway would-be Islamic republic founded in 1933...
- East Turkestan independence movementEast Turkestan independence movementThe East Turkestan independence movement is a broad term that refers to advocates of an independent, self-governing East Turkestan in the region now known as Xinjiang, an autonomous region in the People's Republic of China.-Historical background:...
- History of XinjiangHistory of XinjiangThe recorded history of Xinjiang dates to the 2nd millennium BC. There have been many empires, primarily Han, Turkic, and Mongolic, that have ruled over the region, including the Yuezhi, Xiongnu Empire, Han Dynasty, Sixteen Kingdoms of the Jin Dynasty , Tang Dynasty, Uyghur Khaganate, Kara-Khanid...
Sources
- Burhan S., Xinjiang wushi nian [Fifty Years in Xinjiang], (Beijing, Wenshi ziliao, 1984).
- Clubb, O. E., China and Russia: The 'Great Game’. (NY, Columbia, 1971).
- Forbes, A. D. W. Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republic Sinkiang, 1911-1949 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986).
- Hasiotis, A. C. Jr. Soviet Political, Economic and Military Involvement in Sinkiang from 1928 to 1949 (NY, Garland, 1987).
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- Kotov, K. F., Mestnaya Natsional'nya Avtonomiya v Kitaiskoi Narodnoi Respublike—Na Primere Sin'tszyansko-Uigurskoi Avtonomoi Oblasti, [Autonomy of Local Nationalities in the Chinese People's Republic, as an Example of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region], (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel’stvo Yuridichekoi Literaturi, 1959).
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