Uzbekistan – the forgotten country of Central Asia
The Uzbeks, the dominant ethnic group of Uzbekistan, accounting for about 80% of the total population, belong to the Turkic Altaic language family and are of mixed Eurasian race
Everyone should know more or less the name of the Israeli "Uzi submachine gun". As one of the best submachine guns in the world, the success of the Uzi submachine gun has made the word "Uzi" (the name of its inventor Uzi Gale) famous all over the world.
The Uzi submachine gun, developed by Israeli weapons expert Uzi Gale in 1951, is known worldwide for its ultra-high rate of fire and ease of maneuverability
But there is more than one "Uzi" in this world, the name of the person can be called "Uzi", the name of the gun can be called "Uzi", and the name of the country can also be called "Uzi". There is really a "Uzbekistan" on the map, that is, "Uzbekistan". This "Uzi" is not the other "Uzi", playing a harmonic sound, in fact, the two have no half-cent relationship.
At an outpost outside Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1960, a female Israeli soldier armed with an Uz submachine gun was on alert (Israel has a national military service system).
As one of the five Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan has always had close relations with the mainland, both in history and in the present.
Schematic map of the five Central Asian countries
But compared with Kazakhstan, the "largest in Central Asia" and the turbulent Kyrgyzstan, the world knows very little about Uzbekistan, and even some people do not know the country at all, but only wishful thinking that the "Uzbekistan" was born in "Uzbekistan", so it was named "Uzbekistan", which is why I played a "harmonic" meme at the beginning.
Due to historical and geographical reasons, ethnic Russians are also widely distributed in Central Asia, of which Kazakhstan is the largest, accounting for about 20%, while Uzbekistan also has 5%.
In today's interconnected world, which is the era of economic globalization, the prosperity of a country depends largely on how it finds its place in the world economy, such as the West mastering the core technology, while East Asia dominates the manufacturing process. It is very important to be close to the sea or not, and coastal areas are always easier to develop than inland.
Map of Zheng He's Voyage to the West. Some historians believe that Zheng He's voyage to the West may have been the only opportunity for China to transform into a maritime empire
Currently, there are 224 countries or regions in the world, of which 42 are landlocked states (landlocked states) are countries that do not have coastlines. The geographical location of not relying on the sea can really make these countries bitter, and the national behavior of importing and exporting goods, state affairs exchanges, etc. all need to pass through other countries.
The red part is landlocked
Imagine that every time you go out, you have to pass through someone else's yard, and sometimes even have to pay tolls.
Uzbekistan is the only two "double landlocked countries" in the world
But Uzbekistan is even more unfortunate, it is one of the only two "double landlocked countries" in the world (the other is Liechtenstein), and this so-called "double landlocked country" is even more absolute, which means that not only you are a landlocked country, but even your neighbors are landlocked countries, basically blocked tightly, and the day of "facing the sea" is basically hopeless.
Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan
In Central Asia, where social unrest, a dilapidated economy and backward infrastructure are in place, Uzbekistan's situation is not too bad, and the economic level of others can be ranked second. But the country is still an agro-pastoral country, with more than 60% of the population being farmers and herders, and is a "low- and middle-income country" recognized by the United Nations.
A dish artisan in Tashkent. Uzbekistan's handicraft industry is very developed, and there are many small workshops that make a living from it
30% of the population lives below the poverty line, the unemployment rate is about 25%, the water and electricity connection rate is about 76%, the Internet coverage rate is only 44%, only 62% of the urban residents of the whole country can enjoy basic medical facilities, and the level of urban construction in Tashkent, the most developed urban capital in the country, is still inferior to that of China's third- and fourth-tier cities.
Commemorative sculpture of the Great 1966 Earthquake in Central Asia in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Don't look at it and ours is a world apart, but its economic level is second only to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus among the CIS countries.
The so-called CIS countries are the "Commonwealth of Independent States", which is an international organization used after the collapse of the Soviet Union to maintain cooperative relations between the former Soviet union member states
But Uzbekistan's presence is indeed too low, and in fact it is the most populous country in Central Asia. With a total population of about 75 million, uzbekistan alone accounts for 45 percent, or about 33 million people, the country is best known for cotton, which is a mixed-race woman with a delicate face and a tall figure (Uzbekistan is the country with the largest number of mestizo ethnic groups in Central Asia).
A mixed-race woman from Uzbekistan (mixed Russian and Uzbek)
As a country with a complex history and ethnicity, Uzbekistan is inextricably linked to Russia (Soviet Union), China, Mongolia and other countries. So this time, I will talk to you about this "forgotten" Central Asian country.
Uzbekistan military parade, all Russian equipment. For historical reasons, Central Asian countries are generally greatly influenced by Russia, and Uzbekistan is no exception
Uzbekistan – the crossroads of Eurasia
Uzbekistan is located in southern Central Asia, looking north of Russia, china in the east, the oil- and gas-rich Caspian Sea in the west, and the chaotic Afghanistan to the south. In terms of geographical location, Uzbekistan is known as the "crossroads of Eurasia", and such a place has been a place of contention since ancient times.
Administrative divisions of Uzbekistan
With an area of about 447,000, it is the 3rd in Central Asia and 56th in the world; the population is about 33 million, the first in Central Asia, and the main ethnic group is the Uzbek ethnic group, and some people have quipped that uzbekistan's "specialty" is a mixed-race beauty.
The Uzbeks are of Mongolian, Turkic and even Iranian origins
Uzbekistan's economy is highly dependent on cotton cultivation and oil and gas exports, with a GDP of about $55 billion, which is considered a leader in Central Asia, but when put into the world, it is still at the level of "poor life", with a per capita GDP of just over $1600.
Central Asia is the world's largest cotton-producing region, and it is famous for producing high-quality long-staple cotton
Among them, cotton is an absolute fist product, and its output is as high as 60% of the total cotton production in Central Asia. 65% of the country's water is used for cotton irrigation, please note that this is an extremely water-scarce country, which shows the importance of cotton to Uzbekistan.
In Uzbekistan, cotton is considered as valuable as gold and is known as "platinum".
National costumes of Uzbekistan
After a brief understanding of the geopolitical, economic and social situation of Uzbekistan, let's talk about history.
The origins of the Uzbeks are mixed, and are now largely considered to be a Central Asian people of mixed Persian, Mongol and Turkic origins. Unlike the mountainous and fragmented rest of Central Asia, 80% of Uzbekistan's land is plain, so in addition to the nomadic life of "living by water and grass", the Uzbeks have also developed relatively developed agriculture, and cotton cultivation has been recorded as early as 2,000 years ago.
Uzbeks are harvesting cotton
To say that this Uzbekistan, is really a god to appreciate food, not only the geographical location is good, but even the natural conditions are good. Snow-capped mountain meltwater and abundant river irrigation, combined with the climate-friendly Fergana Basin, make it no wonder that Uzbekistan has a much larger population than other Central Asian regions.
Topographic topographic map of Uzbekistan
Such a good place, of course, will not be "lonely".
Since 1000 BC, the Uzbekistan region has been constantly invaded by neighboring ethnic groups, and the Persians, Huns, Kazakhs, Sogdians and many nomadic peoples from Xinjiang, China, have all been here to leap horses and even conquered by the Greeks, which is why their ethnic ancestry is diverse.
Alexander's Empire was a large empire established by The Macedonian king Alexander the Great across the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and once expanded to the Indus Valley
In fact, the Uzbeks are not indigenous peoples, they are just a nation that moved in later, but gradually multiplied and occupied the main position. In any case, the richest regions of Central Asia at that time were the river region of Uzbekistan and the Fergana Basin, which developed nomadic tribes, agricultural settlements and even a large number of towns, which were necessary for the Silk Road.
Uzbekistan once monopolized the Silk Road in Central Asia and became a trading center with several large cities.
The Hezhong region and the Fergana Basin are among the best naturally located regions in Central Asia
In ancient times, Central Asia has always been our sphere of influence, and the peoples and regimes here have to be dependent on the Central Plains Dynasty, and Uzbekistan is no exception, relying on commercial exchanges with the Central Plains, once becoming the most powerful region in Central Asia. But this ancillary relationship did not last long, and after the 8th century, the Arab Empire from the West extended its hand.
In 751, the Black Empire of the Arab Empire expanded eastward and collided with the Ansi Capital, and the two sides fought in a small town in Central Asia called Thyros (in present-day Kazakhstan). The impact of the war was so far-reaching that it could even be said to have revolutionized the geography, politics, religion and culture of Central Asia.
Gliyan Mosque, Uzbekistan
Of course, the battle itself did not matter who lost and who won, the Arab Empire stopped in Central Asia, could not continue to the east into the Chinese mainland, and the Central Plains Dynasty could not continue to march west, since then, "a thousand miles of Buddha's country is green" (Central Asia has previously believed in Buddhism), Central Asia is free from the control of the Central Plains Dynasty.
Uzbekistan's specialty clay dolls
In the midst of Arab and Persian military conquest, commercial trade, and cultural exchanges, the Uzbek region converted to Islam and initially developed national cohesion.
Mixed Uzbek females
In the 9th and 12th centuries, after the decline of the Arab Empire, the Persian Empire rose again and invaded the rich river region, and Uzbekistan became a province of Persia, at this time there was no unified Uzbek, so it was ruled by the Persians who were also Muslims, and did not provoke strong resistance from the locals.
Map of the Sassanid Empire of the Persian Empire (controversial)
At this time, Uzbekistan even had a considerable number of commercial towns and developed farming, but history always liked to joke, and just when it was booming, the invaders came again unexpectedly.
Uzbeks
In the 13th century, the Mongol iron horse swept the world, in the process of conquering Central Asia, the Mongols burned and plundered, wanton slaughter of the city barbaric behavior, so that the population of Central Asia was sharply reduced, a large number of cities were burned, a large number of fertile land was abandoned into a racecourse, Uzbekistan is particularly serious.
The four great Khanates of Mongolia
After the 15th century, the Mongols gradually declined, but still had strong control in Central Asia. In the long period of national integration, a people of Turkic, Sogdian, Mongol, and Persian origins rose. In 1370, the Uzbek nobleman Timur established a powerful empire, the Timurid Empire, in the midst of a four-way scuffle.
The Timurid Empire (1370-1507), a feudal empire founded by the Uzbeks
This empire conquered vast areas including Central Asia and Iran, and since then the Uzbeks have officially entered the stage of history and ushered in their own glorious period. Don't look at the fact that the Uzbeks now have no sense of existence, but they were also the masters of Central Asia, and their ancestors were also wide. But the blame is that there are too many ethnic groups and too mixed in this place, and neither the Mongols nor the Turks obey anyone. Start playing.
Shaybani Khan, a descendant of Genghis Khan, a TurkicIzed Mongol nobleman in the Region of Uzbekistan, and the founder of modern Uzbekistan
In the 15th century, the Timurid Empire fell into a warlord melee, and in 1428 the Uzbek Khanate was established, and from here, the name "Uzbekistan" officially appeared. In 1500, Thebani Khan, a descendant of Genghis Khan, led a large number of nomadic tribes from Uzbekistan to occupy the Tashkent region, further consolidating the dominant position of the Uzbeks.
Uzbek women
Since then, Uzbeks have really gained a foothold in Central Asia.
To have your own country is to have confidence. More and more nomadic tribes in Uzbekistan, after hearing the news of the establishment of the Uzbek Khanate, began to move in with their families. With the rapid decline of population and the rapid scarcity of natural resources, in order to survive, the Uzbeks began to transform into an agrarian and commercial people, the most important crop of which was cotton.
Cotton farmers in Uzbekistan
By the end of the 17th century, the vast majority of Uzbeks had become peasants who worked at sunrise and sunset, as conscientious craftsmen or merchants, and the history of nomadism was far away. Relying on trade with the Qing government and under the construction of the Uzbeks, Tashkent gradually became the largest and most prosperous city in Central Asia.
It is a miracle that a nomadic people who were born to perfectly complete the transformation to an agricultural nation of "one acre and three parts of land" can be perfectly completed.
Tashkent, meaning "Stone City", is one of the oldest and most prosperous cities in Central Asia
Uzbeks have a tradition of doing business since ancient times, in the 17th and 19th centuries, Central Asia restored order, a large number of Uzbek merchants began to trade between Xinjiang and Iran in China, and many people settled in China, which is the origin of the Uzbek ethnic group in China (about 18,000 people).
Uzbek aristocrats at the end of the 19th century
The Uzbeks once ruled the entire southern region of Central Asia, and established the three khanates of Khiva, Bukhara and Kokand, where peaceful social order, prosperous economy and good agricultural development led to a rapid increase in the Uzbek population, and finally in the 19th century it became the most populous ethnic group in Central Asia.
Catherine II in the Russian drama Catherine the Great. She was one of the greatest monarchs in Russian history, and Russia flourished under her rule
However, the mention of "a place where soldiers must fight" is mentioned earlier, and any powerful empire that wants to take Central Asia and advance into the Indian Ocean needs to pass through this, which dooms Uzbekistan to be unable to live its own small life. In the 19th century, when the powerful Tsarist Russia occupied Siberia, the Russians were very eager for land, so they moved south from the north to Central Asia, and history has changed since then.
Russian painter's "Russian army attacks Kazakhstan"
Uzbekistan – the land of cotton, the pearl of Central Asia
In 1822, the Russian army invaded Kazakhstan and soon penetrated deep into the hinterland of Central Asia, facing the modernized Russian spears and artillery, the swords and spears of the Central Asian nobles had no chance of victory, although they were somewhat restrained by Chinese intervention, but the Qing government, which was soon in turmoil, was powerless. In 1864, it invaded northwest China and signed a treaty with the Qing government, cutting off 440,000 square kilometers of land and dividing the Ili River in two.
Schematic of the Qing government being cut off by Tsarist Russia
By the 1860s, Tsarist Russia had almost all of Central Asia, and began to support local warlords trying to control the whole of Xinjiang, the Uzbek nobleman Agubai is a typical example, in 1867 with the support of Britain and Russia, Agubai invaded Xinjiang and occupied a large area of land, but was immediately repelled by Zuo Zongtang's troops, and was eventually swept into the "garbage heap of history".
Agupa, known as the "Butcher of Central Asia", the founder of the so-called "Hongfu Khanate", was originally a general of the Kokand Khanate in uzbekistan
In 1873, Tsarist Russia invaded and destroyed the Bukhara Khanate, directly incorporating Uzbekistan into the territory. Like the conquest of Kazakhstan, the Russians pursued a policy of "Russification" in Uzbekistan – the popularization of the Russian language, the promotion of the Russian language, the establishment of the Russian system, and the migration of the population.
The old people of Uzbekistan
After the reform of serfdom in Tsarist Russia in 1861, a large number of serfs were freed, and under the organization of the government, by 1917, about 1.63 million Russians had moved into Central Asia, and Uzbekistan was a fertile land, which naturally would not be ignored. In 1884, Tsarist Russia promoted cotton in Uzbekistan according to local conditions, and soon Uzbekistan became the main cotton producing area in Russia.
Tashkent
In addition, the Russians also carried out social reforms and education in Uzbekistan, and at the same time accelerated the construction of cities, modernization was almost overnight, and roads, factories, railways, and hospitals mushroomed.
Lenin, leader of Soviet Russia and the October Revolution, great international proletarian teacher
In 1917, decadent Tsarist Russia was destroyed, and the nascent Soviet power took over. At this time, the feudal nobility of the Uzbekistan region resurrected and established a short-lived Khanate of Khiva. Under Lenin's leadership, the Soviet Union abolished the policy of national oppression and gave all peoples the right to self-determination, and the Uzbeks were granted autonomy and began to be treated equally.
In 1928, Russian teachers were teaching peasants in the Uzbekistan region
In 1920, the Russian Red Army liberated Uzbekistan. In 1922, the Soviet Union was founded.
In the Factories of Uzbekistan during the Soviet Period, all were ethnic Russian workers
From 1925 to 1936, at the strong demands of the peoples of Central Asia (even at the threat of war), Stalin allowed Central Asia to divide administrative regions according to ethnic groups, among which the Uzbekistan Soviet Socialist Republic was formally established in 1924 and became a formal member of the Soviet Union.
Two Uzbek old men
The Soviet Union continued the cotton strategy of Tsarist Russia, committed to building Uzbekistan into a "world-class cotton base", opened a large number of collective farms, and introduced advanced technology, calling on talents from all over the world to rush to construction.
In 1960, a Uzbek girl was reading a book in Russian
At that time, 2/3 of Uzbekistan's funds were provided by the Soviet Central Committee, giving money to people to give technology, almost reborn.
In 1950, she went to Uzbekistan as a Soviet female college student
With the help of such sparing efforts, Uzbekistan discovered oil and established a sound industrial system based on it, and the metallurgical, oil, gas and machinery manufacturing industries developed rapidly. At the same time, the cotton industry has also developed by leaps and bounds, and by 1980, Uzbekistan produced 70% of the Soviet Union's cotton, and its exports accounted for 80% of its GDP.
Image from the Earth Knowledge Bureau
How good was the Soviet Union towards Uzbekistan? In 1966, uzbekistan struck a huge earthquake, the capital Tashkent was destroyed, the Soviet Central Committee did not say a word, directly allocated billions of rubles, rebuild Tashkent, make it a new look.
Tashkent TV Tower, built during the Soviet period
Uzbekistan's population, a socially stable and economically prosperous country, rose from more than 4.1 million in 1939 to more than 14.5 million in 1990.
The streets of Tashkent in 1970
Without the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan could not have developed so rapidly, so to this day, the people of Uzbekistan are grateful to the Soviet Union, but also resentful. Uzbekistan was a strategic window for the Soviet Union to open South Asia and the Indian Ocean, and has long served as a base for exchanges between the Soviet Union and Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other places.
Uzbekistan was the window of the Soviet Union's Indian Ocean strategy
In 1979, the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, a decade-long war that killed 1.3 million Afghans, displaced more than 5 million people, and 1.5 million Soviet soldiers participated in the war, killing and wounding more than 50,000 people, and spending up to 45 billion rubles, crushing the Soviet Union and destroying Afghanistan, and finally losing both. Uzbekistan, on the other hand, bore the brunt of the attack, with its mountains exhausted and depressed.
From 1979 to 1989, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan for ten years, which caused the Soviet Union to consume a sharp decline in national strength and accelerate the disintegration of the body
In 1985, Gorbachev came to power and introduced "liberal social reforms," which left the Soviet Union in turmoil overnight. The soviet union, which was about to collapse, also completely lost its authority in Uzbekistan, and a large number of confrontations broke out at the same time.
Officer of ethnic Uzbek
Economic poverty has intensified the national sentiment of the Uzbek people, who regard Russians as "public enemies of the state", but unfortunately, these Russians who have sprinkled their youth in Central Asia have eventually become "street rats that everyone shouts and beats".
The Grand Hotel of Uzbekistan, built during the Soviet period
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Cold War ended, and Uzbekistan became independent. The nascent country was plunged into chaos overnight, and like all former Soviet states, Uzbekistan was inexorably leading to social unrest, economic collapse, and bureaucratic corruption, when inflation was even higher than in Russia.
Waitress in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, which had lost the Soviet Union, could not stand on its own, everything remained unchanged, the KDP transformed into a vest, became the ruling party again, and the former leader Karimov was elected president. This dude practised authoritarian politics and was accused of fraud and corruption, and in this case Uzbekistan did not even have a good life as in the Soviet Union.
Karimov, the first President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Since 2000, Uzbekistan has been mired in a long period of chaos and social unrest under the influence of color revolutions in the West. Uzbekistan, which currently has cotton exports and oil development as its main economic pillars, has fallen behind to the point where it can only rely on cotton
But it was fortunate again, because there was no Soviet Union, and we. China is one of Uzbekistan's largest economic partners and investors, with a cumulative investment of tens of billions of dollars in Uzbekistan, and the Belt and Road Strategy in recent years has also benefited Uzbekistan a lot, and Uzbeks have enthusiastically said: "China will always be our good friend."
The flags of China and Ukraine
But we also can't help them with social change, and as for what the future holds, that's their own historical task.
Soldiers of Uzbekistan