The Tashkent Rebellion () was a 1917 conflict between revolutionary forces and loyalists of the Russian Provisional Government, which occurred in Tashkent, in what is now Uzbekistan. The events leading to the conflict began on , when local leader Aleksey Kuropatkin received word of the February Revolution. Rule shifted to various political parties in the city, and the Tashkent Soviet was created. As time progressed, Imperial officials were replaced, the soviet gained more power, and a regional soviet was created in addition to the existing council. The Russian Provisional Government began attempting to regain control in April, but the soviets tightly restricted its efforts. Many locals rallied in support of soviet power, and in September and October, conflict began between the parties, ending on .
In , the Provisional Government fell, and loyalists attempted to disarm and imprison rebels, with partial success. The loyalists opened artillery fire on , however a group under a white flag convinced them to cease fighting. Rebels captured the fortress that night, arresting all loyalist leaders and cadets residing there. In the aftermath, the soviet was represented entirely by Bolsheviks, in spite of their limited role in the rebellion itself. Some Muslims and Turkic peoples in the surrounding areas resisted soviet control, but the region would nonetheless become the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
Background
Tashkent—in present-day Uzbekistan—was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1865, during a period of Russian expansion throughout Central Asia. It was officially annexed the following year, by Tsar Alexander II, planned as the administrative centre of Russia's recently conquered lands. Russian settlers began arriving soon after, creating their own quarter of the city in which to reside.
Prelude
The Russian Empire ceased control of Tashkent on , when Governor-General Aleksey Kuropatkin learned of the February Revolution via telegram, and there was no official opposition, as tsarist officials were permitted to cede their authority to the new government without breaking their oaths. Kuropatkin did not want to immediately announce these developments, however employees of the telegraph service spread the news to the general population. The existing political parties included the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Socialist Revolutionaries, and in much smaller numbers, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, although none were able to immediately take control. While later Soviet historians often emphasise the role of the Bolsheviks, most members of the Social Democratic Labour Party belonged to the Menshevik faction, and even combined, there were so few Social Democrats in total that they had to collaborate with the Socialist Revolutionaries, anarchists, Bundists, and other groups.
These factions formed a local soviet of workers' deputies, which elected delegates on and held its first meeting on March, appointing a Menshevik, an I. I. Bel'kov, as its chairman. The next day, another Menshevik, a G. I. Broido, created a soviet of soldiers' deputies. The former body, which held moderate views, included officers, government officials, and merchants, while the latter, with 120 members in total, included almost 60 army officers. Both were headquartered at a public meeting hall. The two merged on into a single Tashkent Soviet, with Bel'kov as their chairman.
More moderate groups formed a local provisional government, in the building that had previously held the city's local duma. Their first meeting occurred on 4 March, attended by 250 people, mostly Constitutional Democrats, although all twenty attending railroad employees were Social Democrats. On , Kuropatkin read Nicholas II's manifesto of abdication at a town meeting in Cathedral Square, as well as Grand Duke Michael's renunciation of the throne and a message from Georgy Lvov. Kuropatkin asked them to pledge their loyalty to the State Duma, work toward a military victory, and maintain public order. This dissatisfied local socialists, and on , his own guards arrested him, and from there he was sent to Petrograd. A new commander was elected for the Turkestan Military District, Colonel Leonty Nikolaevich Cherkes, who would later attain the rank of Major General. This marked the beginning of a leftward political shift.