What life was like in Soviet Central Asia (PHOTOS)

Children

One of the main tasks facing the USSR was the elimination of illiteracy, and so, new schools, including those for adults, were set up all over the country. Tuition was in Russian and in local languages. Children were taught to love the Communist Party and Lenin from an early age. Many pioneers from Central Asia were awarded with visits to both the capitals of their republics and Moscow.

Collective farmers

Collectivization, i.e. the process of merging individual peasant farms into collective farms, was carried out in the Central Asian republics. People from all over the USSR poured into the region. They ploughed virgin lands and developed agriculture.

Workers

Central Asia was also the scene of major industrialization projects: building railways, factories, hydroelectric power stations and canals. Incidentally, local Stakhanovites invariably received recognition from Moscow – in the form of bonuses or feature stories about them in national papers and magazines.

Local flavor

The authorities in Moscow supported the development of local crafts and encouraged the production of ‘exotic’ items. Thanks to the Central Asian republics, residents of the central part of the USSR had the opportunity to buy carpets, which they loved hanging on walls, and to try delicious fruits. At the same time, the inhabitants of Central Asia enjoyed inventions by metropolitan designers, and listened to radio even in the steppe.

Architecture

Foreign travel was out of reach for most Soviet people, but many could still travel to other Soviet republics. For example, Muscovites could go on a trip to Alma-Aty or Tashkent. Many Central Asian cities had numerous preserved historical buildings, as well as new buildings erected in the Soviet modernist or constructivist style.

Agitprop

Many Central Asian place names were changed to Soviet ones. For example, the Kazakh city of Akmolinsk (present-day Nur-Sultan) in Soviet times was renamed Tselinograd (tselina means a virgin land). Meanwhile, Dushanbe, the capital of the Tajik Republic, was named Stalinabad. Every major city in Central Asia had a monument to Lenin, and many buildings were decorated with agitprop mosaics. Street names had the words Revolution, Gorky, and Peace in them – same as in many cities across the USSR.

Life

Soviet Asia was predominantly Muslim. As in the rest of the USSR, religion was suppressed and atheism promoted. Mosques were closed or even destroyed. However, the religious system was not dismantled completely. Official Muslim bodies, albeit fully controlled by the state. Praying was not forbidden, but, for example, workers were officially freed from the obligation to observe Ramadan fasting. Also, collecting money for the poor was banned because in the Soviet state there was no need for it.

The Pamir Mountains became very popular with Soviet mountaineers and hikers.

The Kazakh Republic had numerous settlements for exiles: the Volga Germans and Crimean Tatars were resettled there by force. In addition, the republic had several Gulag camps on its territory, the most infamous of which was the so-called AZhIR, the Akmolinsk Camp for Wives of Traitors to the Motherland, where women were sent because their husbands had been convicted as “enemies of the people”.

The first Soviet spaceport was built in the Kazakh steppes: Russia leases and uses it to this day. From there Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, and Alexei Leonov made their first flights.