The Russian Conquest Of The Three Khanates Of Central Asia In The 19～(th) Century

With the development of the Russian capitalist economy, thedomestic business circles increased the need for the market of goodssold and raw materials since the 19th century. The same with the otherEuropean nations, Russia exploited the foreign market by launching aseries of colonial wars. But the Russia's expansions were different fromthat of other European nations, it annexed the near nations and regionsand monopolized the local market, and controlled the local economymainly through the land.1. The advantaged conditions of the Russian conquest of CentralAsia.It was made in the Age of Peter the Great that the strategy ofconquering three khanates of Central Asia. Russia neared threekhanates of Central Asia by the lines of forts that constructed in theKazakh steppe in the former period of 19th century. Russianestablished many forts in the Kazakh steppe in order to deal with themarauding attacks of the horde and intensify the control to them. Theylinked with these forts and fenced off the horde's mutual contact for thepurpose of effective governance. The Russian still wanted to near threekhanates of Central Asia by utilizing the forts' expansion southward.Central Asia was in the unstable situation in the 19th century. Thethree khanates of Central Asia not only attacked each other but alsoaggressed the surrounding countries and regions. The domesticsituations of three khanates were not stable, too. For example, theruling group of the khanate of Kokand fell into the faction for theusurper of Khan. The wars not only destroyed the development of thedomestic economy, but also weakened themselves. The favorableconditions were created for the Russian invasion.2. The process of the Russian conquest of the three Central Asiankhanates.With the penetration of Britain in Central Asia, the Russia's tradewith these regions was challenged by Britain in the 19th century.Russia invaded Central Asia more quickly on account of Britishcompetition. The domestic business circles pressed for themonopolization of the surrounding nations' market after the reform ofserfdom in Russia in the late 19th century. Russia needed to preparethe land of Central Asia for her peasants in order to ease the domesticcrisis. Moreover, Russia increased the demand of Central Asia's cottonbecause of the American cotton crisis. The Russian merchants askedthe government to control producing area of the cotton in Central Asiafor the growing Russia textile industry. Conquest of Central Asia wasnot only demand of the development of Russian economy but theconsideration on the strategy. In order to become the overlord inEurope and even on a world scale, Russia needed to threaten thegovernance of British India and increase British diplomatic pressure byconquest of Central Asia. Therefore, all the factors mentioned above,Russia hastened to conquer three khanates of Central Asia. When Russia linked with the line of Western Siberia and the line ofSyr Darya, it conflicted with the khanate of Kokand at first. In 1864,Russia started to aggress the khanate of Kokand. Although the troopsof Kokand fought back to the enemy's offensive bravely, they failed onaccount of their poor weapon. Russian troops had occupied the entireterritory of Kokand in 1876. The khanate of Kokand was annexed. TheRussian established Fergana oblast in Kokand and set up the colonialadministration to rule there. Russia's invasion to Kokand caused thefear of the khanate of Bokhara and the khanate of Khiva. They tookvarious ways to resist the Russian's expansion. But they failed to joinup because the long-term hostile. While the Russian troops invaded thekhanate of Kokand, they also did it in the khanate of Bokhara. TheRussian troops started to aggress the khanate of Bokhara in 1866. TheEmir of Bokhara, Muzaffar-ed-Din, was forced to succumbed to theCzar in 1868. All the territory of the khanate of Bokhara was occupiedby Russia. The Russian also controlled the khanate's sovereignty anddiplomacy. The next goal was the khanate of Khiva after the Russian conquestof the khanate of Bokhara. The khanate of Khiva conflicted with Russialong ago. But for other reasons, Russia couldn't achieve the conquestof the khanate of Khiva all the time. The Russian troops who hadabundant provisions invaded the khanate of Khiva on a large scale inthe spring of 1873. They arrived in the city of Khiva after a hard march.The Khan of Khiva was forced to surrender to Russia. Although theparts of territory were kept, the khanate of Khiva had already becomethe protectorate of Russia in fact. Russia began to invade the region of Turkmenistan and Pamirsafter the conquest of three khanates of Central Asia. The region ofTurkmenistan was near Persia and Afghanistan. Its geographicalposition was very important. The war of conquest to the region ofTurkmenistan lasted ten years from the 1870s. The Russian troopstook advantage of the weapon's advantage and always won in the wars.The Russian cruelly and inhumanly massacred the Turkomans whohad surrendered. The expansion was not ended until the Russiantroops captured the oasis of Pendjdeh in Afghanistan. Moreover,Russia still accroached the most regions of the Chinese Pamirs by themilitary penetration. Russia achieved the occupation of the wholeCentral Asia hereto. The Governor-Generalship of Turkestan ruled themost regions of Central Asia besides the khanate of Khiva and thekhanate of Bokhara. 3. The Russia's early governance in Central Asia. Russia established the colonial administration and ruled this regionafter the conquest of Central Asia. The Russia's governance in CentralAsia mainly adopted the method of the military and politicalmanagement. The Russian military governors served as the mainofficials in Central Asia. The local noble and the rich were given someminor posts such as the officials of the villages and rural districts. TheRussian government launched the activity of emigrant to Central Asia inorder to consolidate its governance in there and resolve the tension ofthe domestic land after the reform of serf. The Russian colonialgovernments delivered the land that robbed from the horde to emigrantfor cultivation. The local stockbreedings were destructed because alarge amount of pasture was changed to the tilth. An important action that Russia developed the economy of CentralAsia was to popularize the planting of the cotton. Russia attempted tochange the Central Asia into its cotton base in order to satisfy thedemand of textile industry. Russia built the railway in Central Asia inorder to strengthen the political and economical contact and the needof strategy. For the sake of robbing the resources of Central Asia,Russia built some minor mills and mining industries in Central Asia inaddition. Russia still imposed the taxes in Central Asia and aggravatedthe exploitation of local people for their rule's demand. The Russia's government forced the local people to learn Russianand attempted to assimilate them during the process of "Russificationof the Border Area". The Russian government kept amity with Islam...