Uzbek cotton: the turn of uzbekistan into the cotton raw materials base of the soviet state

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Journal of History Culture and Art Research 
1 
 

 
Dou: 11.8607/taksad.v23i3.4349 
UZBEK COTTON: THE TURN OF UZBEKISTAN INTO THE COTTON RAW MATERIALS 
BASE OF THE SOVIET STATE 
Yusupov Muhriddin Khamdam ugli 
Fergana State University 
4th-year student of the Faculty of History
Email: [e-mail]
Abstract: This article discusses the 
occupation of Central Asia by Tsarist Russia 
and the transformation of the country into a 
cotton raw material base during the Soviet 
rule. 
Key words: Cotton, civil war, Central Asia, 
Turkestan, RSFSR, Cotton work, reconstruction, 
collective farm. 
When artillery shots were fired at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, they not 
only marked the beginning of the American Civil War, but also changed the 
world's cotton industry. Up to 80% of US cotton supplied to England was blocked, 
prices soared, and everywhere from Australia to India, producers immediately 
began to fill the fields with cotton, and the production of wheat and other crops 
fell sharply. 
Cotton became one of the reasons for the colonial expansion of the Russian 
Empire to Central Asia. In addition to geopolitical reasons, the Russian 
government was motivated by economic pressures to find its own sources of raw 
cotton for the consumption needs of the Russian textile industry, which saw a 
strong need for cotton after the 1860s. 
At the end of the 19th century, the increase in the price of American cotton 
and the difficulties in its supply led the Russian government to begin the process 
of conquering Turkestan. The Russian government decided to turn Turkestan into 
the cotton base of the Russian Empire: 
"The north and northeast (Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), where the climatic 
conditions did not allow cotton cultivation, and whose inhabitants led a nomadic 
lifestyle, were designated as reserve lands for migrant farmers from the eastern 
regions of Russia and Ukraine. The southern regions, where the population led a 
sedentary lifestyle and gathered in several oases with a climate favorable for the 
development of cotton cultivation, were approved as the basis for growing cotton 
for the needs of the Russian textile industry. 
But since Khiva and Bukhara were not yet completely subjugated by the 
Russian Empire, Central Asia could not satisfy all the needs of the Russian 
Journal of History Culture and Art Research (ISSN: 2147-0626) 
Vol. 12, 4, June 2023

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