- Hubert Walas
Escape from the heart of darkness.
Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, or Syria - these are just a few of the many countries that became independent as a result of the First World War. Independence tendencies were already bubbling in these places, but it took a period of chaos, of rapid change, it took a 'window of opportunity' for these nations - previously subject to other centres of power - to be given the chance of self-determination.
The Kremlin-induced war between Russia and Ukraine is seen in a similar light in some parts of the world. The Ukrainians' fight for independence and their own future also represents hope and opportunity for other oppressed nations to escape their own subjugation. One such place is certainly Bashkortostan. Why do the Bashkirs want to escape from Russian rule?
Between the Volga, Kama, Tobol and up the Yaik river.
We cannot look at the Bashkirs' quest for freedom without first looking at their past. Bashkortostan takes its name from the Bashkir tribe - the indigenous inhabitants of the southern Urals. This ethnonym has been known since the seventh century. The Persian geographers Al-Balkhi and Ibn-Ruste mention the Bashkirs in their studies from the 10th century. The latter described the Bashkirs as "an independent nation occupying territories on both sides of the Ural ridge between the Volga, Kama, Tobol and up to the Yaik rivers". Interestingly, he stated that the Bashkirs split into two groups, with the second group settling along the Danube, close to the borders of Byzantium.
The Bashkirs developed their community and for many centuries were subject to the rule of the once mighty Mongol Empire. Russia only came into the picture in the second half of the 16th century.
Bashkortostan, or what was then its territory, became part of the Russian kingdom in 1557. It is not entirely clear how this happened. There are two main theories. The forcible theory and the voluntary theory.
According to the voluntary theory, as advocated, for example, by Russian historiography, the Bashkirs themselves requested to join Russia. They may have even referred to Ivan the Terrible as the 'White Tsar,' meaning a good king. The willingness to join was supposed to stem from the protection offered by the Kremlin and better conditions of coexistence. The conditions for joining Russia were to include a very large degree of autonomy and non-interference in internal affairs. In return, the Bashkirs would guard the south-eastern border of the empire and support the centre with tribute.
However, according to the violence theory of Ahmet Zaki Validi Togan - the founder of Bashkir autonomy - the Bashkirs were conquered by the Russians and forcibly incorporated into the nascent Russian Empire. The Kurgan Bashkirs, for example, took much longer to fight for their independence and were not conquered until the 18th century.
In fact, both theories may be true. The Bashkirs lived in tribes and, depending on their geographical location, different tribes may have had different attitudes to joining Russia.
The eternal struggle for rights
But even if one accepts the theory of 'voluntary' incorporation into Russia, the Bashkirs were still expected to decide their own internal affairs and to have a large degree of autonomy. Nevertheless, the centuries that followed the incorporation of the Bashkirs into the Russian Empire were a period of struggle for their rights. Moscow attempted to Russify the people, demanding ever-increasing tribute, seizing Bashkir lands for its own settlers, and erasing Bashkir identity. This included forced Christianisation. It should not be forgotten that the Bashkirs are a Turkic people and follow Sunni Islam.
The 17th and 18th centuries were therefore a period of Russian-Bashkir wars (uprisings, according to the Russians). The most important were those of 1662-1664 and 1704-1711. The first took place during the Polish-Russian war, which occupied the Kremlin's attention.
More important, however, was the second war. The Russians, tied up in the Great Northern War with the Swedes, did not have the resources to respond to rebellions in the south. The Bashkirs even managed to regain their independence for a few years, but in the 1720s, as Russia recovered from the war with Sweden, Russian control returned.
The following decades saw further attempts to fight for their rights, including the Peasant War of 1773-1775, also known as the Pugachev Rebellion, in which the Bashkirs took part. But after each period of chaos, Russian rule returned and even increased.
The hope for change came with the aforementioned First World War. On 15 November 1917, the Bashkirs, led by Ahmet Zaki Validi Togan, who was to the Bashkirs what Atatürk was to the Turks, announced the establishment of an autonomous republic within the Russian Republic. The Bashkirs initially sided with the "white" Russians, that is, the Tsar's side. However, when the "Whites" announced to abolish all the Autonomous Republics, including Bashkortostan, the Bashkirs switched to the side of Bolsheviks. And so the Bashkir Soviet Republic was established in March 1919. Once again, hopes were pinned on a large autonomy within the future USSR, but these illusions were quickly and brutally shattered. So brutal, in fact, that just two years later the Bolsheviks led the region's inhabitants into a mass famine - known as the Bashkir Holodomor - by, among other things, confiscating food. The Bolsheviks' seizure of more than 70% of the food led to the deaths of up to half a million Bashkirs. The tragic consequences of the Bolsheviks' orders were then mitigated by the American Relief Administration mission. The Americans set up canteens in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, while parcels were sent from the States to Bashkortostan by ordinary residents.
The Bashkirs' hopes for independence had to be postponed for another 100 years.
In theory, the opportunity had presented itself earlier. With the advent of Gorbachev's policy of openness and perestroika, the national movement in Bashkortostan and other republics began to reawaken. In 1990, the Union of Bashkir Youth was formed, calling for the secession of Bashkortostan. Moscow, however, was able to quell these tendencies by ... further promises of greater autonomy.
And indeed, between 1991 and 2002, the functioning of the Federation Agreement was at an acceptable level for the Bashkirs, but with the beginning of the new Kremlin policy pushed by Vladimir Putin, there was a gradual centralisation and a gradual abolition of autonomous rights.
By early 2010, for example, Bashkortostan was running a steady budget surplus thanks to the region's well-developed oil production and refining industry. And the leading player in this sector was Bashneft. Bashneft was owned by the Republic of Bashkortostan until it was taken over by Rosneft in 2010. In the process, Bashkortostan lost many other companies that were artificially destroyed or taken over by the Russian government. In this way, Moscow reversed this dependency and made the region dependent on a financial drip from the centre.
Bashkortostan also lost the position of 'President of the Republic of Bashkortostan', which was important for its sense of independence. According to the Federation Agreement, Bashkortostan is a state within Russia, meaning it was legally entitled to its own 'president'. In 2014-2015, however, the title of president was replaced by 'Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan'.
In addition, as 400 years ago, attempts at gradual Russification continue. In 2017, a law on the optional study of national languages was passed, effectively abolishing the study of Bashkir languague (and other languages in other republics). In practice, there was one compulsory lesson of Bashkir per week, compared to 5-6 or more lessons of Russian. Exams are also held in Russian, so most students, with their future on the labour market in mind, are forced to choose Russian.
A concrete symbol of oppression and the uprooting of culture and religion is for the Bashkirs, the construction of a new Orthodox church in the regional capital, Ufa, on the site of the historic town of Bashkort. During the Soviet era, this archaeological site was discovered in Ufa, and later named 'Ufa-2'. It was a medieval and, according to some, ancient city, the centre of Bashkir social life. Indeed, many artefacts have been found there, including Byzantine coins. And now the new Orthodox church is currently being built on the site, although the authorities are aware that it is a historical settlement. If the church is built, it will be impossible to investigate the archaeological past of the settlement in the future. Not far from the Orthodox church, the Ar-Rahim mosque is also being built. However, while the construction of the mosque has been frozen due to lack of funds, the construction of the Orthodox church continues.
The Liberation of Bashkortostan. Part 1?
All these manifestations of harassment do not escape into the void. The Bashkirs feel more and more resentment towards the Kremlin with each new stage of Russian repression. And they are resisting.
On the basis of the latest wave of Russification, the organisation 'Bashkort', an opposition formation fighting for the rights of the Bashkirs, was founded in Ufa in 2014. It was banned by Moscow in 2020. But this does not mean that its members have stopped their activities.
It is from the structures of 'Bashkort' that emerged Ruslan Gabbasov, who became the first leader of the Bashkir National Political Centre, founded three months before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. This is perhaps the most important opposition organisation in Bashkortostan. The aim of the group is to establish an independent Republic of Bashkortostan.
The National Political Centre of Bashkortostan has openly declared disobedience to the Russian Federation and announced the start of an armed struggle against Russia. Its goal is the liberation of Bashkortostan.
Gabbasov advocates the creation of a state that includes not only Bashkirs but also other ethnic groups living in Bashkortostan. The Bashkir leader, against whom the Kremlin has initiated criminal proceedings, is currently in Lithuania, where he has been granted political asylum.
In other words, leaders change, circumstances change, but the struggle between the centre and periphery continues. Russia has one task - to assimilate the Bashkirs. There are periods of unfreezing, when the centre is weaker and has to make concessions, as in 1711, 1917 or 1991, then the province - including Bashkortostan - gets assurances of great autonomy. But when the centre becomes stronger, it tries again to subjugate the individual nations. This cycle is now repeating itself.
After years of tightening the noose around Bashkortostan's neck in the first two decades of the 21st century, the war in Ukraine - similar to the Swedish-Russian war of the early 18th century - has severely weakened Moscow. The condition of the centre is being closely scrutinised by all groups and peoples who find the current arrangement unfavourable. They remember the years of indoctrination, Russification and economic exploitation. Bashkortostan is a prime example.
But the Bashkir struggle for independence is a high-stakes game for both sides. The loss of control over one region could have a cascade effect on the disintegration of Russia, this once a superpower. Moscow cannot allow Bashkortostan or any other region to secede. So what are the chances and prospects of a Bashkortostan push for independence, given what we have said so far? In this section, we will quote some of the views of our anonymous source in Bashkortostan. We'll call him Timur.
“The most important thing is Ukraine" Timur believes. "The war in Ukraine is a catalyst that we must use now, it's a window of opportunity. The perspective is very simple: Russia loses, the actions of the Bashkir saboteurs are activated, the Bashkir national movement takes power in Bashkortostan. I don't know how the seizure of power will happen, but there are people in the Bashkir government who support the ideas of the Bashkir national movement - we are counting on their support.
and further:
"After Ukraine's victory, when Ukrainian forces enter Crimea, the end of the regime will begin. It will be felt by all the people, it will be a signal to the elites. If Ukraine returns to the 1991 borders, it will be the biggest defeat for Russia in recent history. It is hoped that the process of establishing independence in the national republics will then begin".
But what would a seizure of power in Ufa look like in practice? Much depends on the state of organisation in Moscow at the time of the attempted takeover. During one of the last great moments of the Solstice, i.e. the Prigozhin rebelion, the Bashkir Resistance Committee - another Bashkir independence organisation - issued an enigmatic communiqué: "We recommend that all residents of the big cities of the Republic of Bashkortostan send their relatives and friends far away from the city, preferably to villages. We will start soon".
In the end, as the Prigozhin's column suddenly returned, nothing happened, but the message asking people to leave the cities suggests a desire for a coup with the use of force.
The Bashkir independence organisations are the most likely to have access to weapons. In Ukraine, the "Bashkort" unit fights on the Kyiv side. On the Russian side, in line with the idea of sending national minorities to the front to spare the people of Moscow, there are 10 different Bashkir military units. These were formed in Bashkortostan. At the moment of the truth, their loyalty to Moscow will be put to the ultimate test. "The surrealism of this situation is that they have created a military company named after Salavat Yulaev, while Salavat Yulaev himself fought against Russia.” - says our source in Ufa.
In a word, all the indications are that the Bashkirs are capable of trying to seize power in the region by force if the situation demands it and conditions become favourable. And let us not forget that power in Bashkortostan is currently held by pro-Russian forces.
But the question remains - what do the 'people' say? A small group of insurgents will achieve nothing if they do not have the masses behind them. What is the general attitude of the Bashkir people towards independence?
Timur admits that "the majority of Bashkirs are passive, like many other inhabitants of the Russian Federation". Nevertheless, he continues, "a lot of people came to the marches in support of the Republic of Bashkortostan in 1991, which cannot be said of the marches in support of the preservation of the USSR that were organised at the same time. I am sure that the majority of the inhabitants of the Bashkir Trans-Ural region (Zauralye) will be ready to support the creation of an independent Bashkortostan. This is one of the reasons why the Russians sent most of their people from the Bashkir Trans-Ural to the war. To destroy their enthusiasm".
At the same time, the authorities of the Bashkir National Political Centre are seeking legitimacy abroad - especially in the West. Gabbasov has political asylum in Lithuania and has already managed to address the European Parliament. He is asking for help in setting up new state structures - including ministries of administration, energy or media - to be ready when the time comes.
So far, apart from providing a venue for the speech, the Union's response has been rather passive. The situation is different in Ukraine, where a bill recognising Bashkortostan's independence is being drafted. Kyiv is interested in supporting all national liberation movements in Russia. A collapse of Russia from within would, of course, end the war and, most importantly, make further attempts at conquest much less likely.
Nevertheless, there is a possibility that Ukraine will not win this war, or that Russia won't lose it. What does this mean for Bashkortostan's independence? Timur believes that "if Ukraine does not win the war or a peace treaty is signed, the prospect of independence will be closed for us, at least for the foreseeable future".
A Turkish future?
Hypothetically, however, if an optimistic scenario from Ufa's point of view were to come to pass, let's ask ourselves: how do the Bashkirs see their future state?
The Bashkirs believe they can afford to create a parliamentary democracy that does not resemble the autocratic republics of Central Asia. Its economic base would be a developed oil and refining industry. By contrast, the Bashkirs would be most likely to seek avenues of cooperation with the European Union and Turkey within the Organisation of Turkic States.
Ethnic ties and Ankara's quasi-imperial aspirations are an important reason why Bashkortostan is another potential motive for Turkish-Russian rivalry. Ankara, after Kyiv, is one of the first places where Gabbasov or other representatives of the Bashkir national movement will seek international recognition.
But what about the geography, which is certainly not conducive to escaping from the heart of darkness? Not only does Bashkortostan have no access to the world ocean, it is also landlocked within the Russian Federation. Therefore, as a landlocked state, Bashkortostan's way out to the world would be to seek it through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan or Turkey - the core of the Organisation of Turkic States. The problem is that the state does not even border Kazakhstan. For this reason, the Kuvandyk corridor - the narrow piece of land that separates the two states - would be crucial for the Bashkirs. This area, which is the size of Cyprus, is, according to the Bashkirs, a legacy of the artificial borders created by the Soviets. In the event of a new state, the Bashkirs would like to see it in their own country, so as to have a permanent border with Kazakhstan.
All the more so because, in Timur's opinion, no one in the opposition authorities in Bashkortostan is considering the possibility of a confederation with for example the neighbouring Tatars, as one of the possible scenarios for the development of the country. There is not enough trust on either side. Internal divisions are one of the main weapons Moscow will use to crush independence aspirations if secessionist tendencies grow. In accordance with the doctrine of divide and rule.
The story goes round in circles, recreating scenarios from the past almost to the point of illusion. But while the gameplay resembles that of the past, the finale is not predetermined. The dice are thrown once more.
Finally, let's give the floor to Timur and how he and other Bashkirs see their current situation. "Russia is not a federation, like Belgium for example, it is an empire. We are a colony, not a subject of the federation, as it is written in the constitution. We do not trust the Russians because they betrayed us three times (1557, 1917 and 1991) when they guaranteed us political rights. We will have to create a strong army so that the Russian boot will no longer trample on our land. We will take into account all the mistakes and we will not let their flag fly over our land. What do we want now? The victory of Ukraine, the fall of the regime, the return of our power.
"Russia is now a sick, imperialist country with fascist tendencies. We see the country sliding into the abyss day by day, inappropriate laws are being passed, inappropriate statements are being made. Russia is rapidly trying to cut itself off from the whole world and create a fascist state. The Russian government is supporting and financing Russian imperialist movements that are trying to destroy any expression of national interests in our country. This is the end of empire. As the saying goes "The closer the collapse of the Empire, the crazier its laws are". It is well known that at the state level they hate everyone: Ukrainians, national minorities, Europeans, Americans, Asians and even Jews.”
"We just want to be left in peace". And this is what we can wish the Bashkir people on the 106th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Bashkortostan, established on 15 November 1917.
