Second East Turkestan Republic

East Turkestan Republic
شەرقىي تۈركىستان جۇمھۇرىيىتى (Uyghur)
1944–1946
Flag of East Turkistan
Territorial extent of the Second East Turkestan Republic (red), encompassing the three districts of Ili, Tarbagatay and Altay
Territorial extent of the Second East Turkestan Republic (red), encompassing the three districts of Ili, Tarbagatay and Altay
StatusSatellite state of the Soviet Union[1][2][3][4]
CapitalGhulja[5]
Common languagesUyghur (official, 1944–1945)[6]
Religion
Islam (majority; official, 1945–1946)[6]
GovernmentUnitary republic under an interim government[7]
President 
• 1944–1946
Elihan Tore
Vice President 
• 1944–1946
Hakim Beg Khoja
Independence 
Historical eraWorld War II · Cold War
• Start of the Ili Rebellion
7 November 1944
• Independence declared
12 November 1944
27 June 1946
• Collapse of the Coalition Government
12 August 1947
Population
• 1944 estimate
705,168[8]
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Xinjiang Province, Republic of China
Xinjiang Province, Republic of China
Today part ofChina
East Turkestan Republic
Uyghur name
Uyghurشەرقىي تۈركىستان جۇمھۇرىيىتى
Russian name
RussianВосточно-Туркестанская Республика
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese東突厥斯坦共和國
Simplified Chinese东突厥斯坦共和国

The East Turkestan Republic (ETR) was a short-lived satellite state of the Soviet Union in northern Xinjiang (East Turkestan), which existed from 1944 to 1946. It is often described as the Second East Turkestan Republic to differentiate it from the First East Turkestan Republic (1933–1934), but "second" was never a part of its official name.

It emerged from the Ili Rebellion in three districts of Xinjiang Province: Ili, Tarbagatay and Altay. It was initially backed by the Soviet Union, but the Soviets' wartime alliance with the Republic of China's (ROC) led to the cessation of aid. In June 1946, following peace negotiations between the leaders of the ETR and representatives from the Republic of China (ROC), the Coalition Government of Xinjiang Province was established in Dihua (Ürümqi) and the ETR government was reformed as the Ili District Council, although the region retained its political independence. The appointment of a pro-Chinese Uyghur official as head of the Coalition Government led to its collapse in August 1947, when the former ETR leaders withdrew in protest and established the Three Districts Economic Commission to continue governing the three districts independently from the rest of Xinjiang.

In late 1949, most of the ETR's former leaders died in a plane crash in the Soviet Union, while en route to attend talks in Beijing. Before the end of 1950, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) had captured most of the area of the former ETR, which ceased to function. The entire region became part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Most of the area controlled by the ETR later fell under the jurisdiction of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture.

  1. ^ David D. Wang. Under the Soviet Shadow: The Yining Incident; Ethnic Conflicts and International Rivalry in Xinjiang, 1944–1949. p. 406.
  2. ^ "The Soviets in Xinjiang (1911–1949)". Archived from the original on 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  3. ^ David Wang. The Xinjiang question of the 1940s: the story behind the Sino-Soviet treaty of August 1945
  4. ^ Into Tibet: Thomas Laird. The CIA's First Atomic Spy and His Secret Expedition to Lhasa p. 25.
  5. ^ Forbes 1986, p. 176.
  6. ^ a b Wang 2020, pp. 145–146: "... the 1944 Precepts stipulated that the Uyghur language would serve as the republic's official language; in the 1945 Precepts this provision is again stricken from the text, and replaced with a proposal that the Interim Government of the East Turkestan Republic would grant "special support" to Islam, while also guaranteeing the "freedom to follow other religions".
  7. ^ Wang 2020, pp. 143–144.
  8. ^ Wang 2020, p. 265.

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