The Struggle of the Bolsheviks Against the SRs and Mensheviks for the Establishment of Soviet Power in Kyrgyzstan
The Soviets became local authorities that primarily influenced representatives of the European diaspora.
Muslims sought their protection in national organizations such as "Bukhara," Muslim committees, "Ittifaq," "Alash," etc.
Therefore, the dominance of representatives from various parties in the Soviets meant little, as it did not reflect the entire spectrum of public sentiment. The only real power in these conditions became the soldiers and armed workers, who, from time to time, disregarding all civilized norms, based on their mood and as food tensions grew, displaced, arrested, killed, and replaced old and new officials.
For example, on December 3, 1917, 45 soldiers from the guard company of the Osh garrison "decided" to re-elect the Osh Socialist Revolutionary-Menchevik Soviet. However, the Soviet was re-elected almost in its previous composition and led by the same chairman. Then, a month later, on January 17, 1918, "at the initiative of the Bolsheviks," it was re-elected again and from then on was considered Bolshevik.
On October 7, 1917, in Auliye-Ata, soldiers and workers organized a "mass rally due to the lack of bread in the city" and established Soviet power, which "abolished the feudal-bay 'Muslim Committee.'"
In the Pishpek district, where food was particularly scarce, soldiers disrupted elections to the Constituent Assembly in Tokmak and Belovodsk in November 1917. In December, soldiers in the Chui irrigation network organized a "hunger march" on Pishpek, during which an uncontrollable crowd killed the local police chief, Kiryakov.
On December 31, 1917, a mass rally took place in Pishpek, the central issue of which was food supply. The rally, as stated in the "History of the Kyrgyz SSR," was held under the leadership of the Bolsheviks and became a "turning point in the development of revolutionary events in Pishpek," especially in terms of bringing the masses closer to the Bolsheviks and "isolating the Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, and bourgeois nationalists." The day ended with the enlistment in the revolutionary detachment and the release from the local prison of "33 criminals," as they were referred to in the newspapers of that time. However, in this book, they were called "political prisoners." But in such numbers, they had no origin in the remote Pishpek.
And on January 1 (12), 1918, "the Bolsheviks achieved a new victory in the struggle for establishing Soviet power in the Pishpek district." This meant that at the meeting of the Pishpek Soviet, the Menshevik-SR candidate for chairman was "defeated," and the Bolshevik candidate G. I. Shvets-Bazarny was elected. There is not a word in this book about how the Bolsheviks conducted the nomination of their comrade for chairman. The truth about this was accidentally but proudly recounted by a participant in this event, K. Derbishev—formerly an active supporter of A. Sydykov, and at the time of writing his memoirs, a veteran of the CPSU and a personal union pensioner. From his recollections, it follows that at that "historic" meeting, where about 300 people were present, the left SR Agafontsev initially won the election for chairman of the Pishpek Soviet. But the Bolsheviks, led by A. I. Ivanitsyn, did not like this, and with the help of soldiers and armed workers, they forced the assembly to conduct a re-vote and elect Shvets-Bazarny as chairman. An appeal to the street, to the "man with a rifle," when the goal was not achieved democratically, became common practice for Bolshevism. At that time, with the participation of soldiers and armed workers, the Pishpek Soviet adopted a resolution: "to join the central authority of Petrograd and Tashkent." However, just two days later, on January 3, with the presence of armed soldiers, "taking advantage of their numerical superiority in the Soviet, the SRs and Mensheviks defeated the proposal of the Bolshevik deputies to transfer all power in the city and district to the Soviet." After this, the Bolsheviks began to "strengthen the Soviets," introducing their representatives into them. By mid-January 1918, the Bolsheviks already predominated in them. Unable to withstand the measures to strengthen the Soviet in a Bolshevik manner, "the SR-Menshevik members of the Soviet... stopped attending meetings, and some submitted resignation letters."
In February 1918, the Pishpek district Soviet congress took full power in the district and city. Its decision liquidated the SR Peasant Council, and then its chairman Khokhulya and the district commissioner of the Provisional Government Sokolovsky were arrested.
In March 1918, the power of the commissioners of the Provisional Government was overthrown by armed force in Verny.
Until April 1918, the Soviet in the Przhevalsk district and its Naryn section remained SR-Menshevik. At the congress of the Naryn section Soviets, all those who agitated for the autonomous "Kokand government" were identified and arrested, although it had long been disbanded. The power of the Soviets in Naryn was established thanks to the active intervention of a Red Army detachment from Tokmak, commanded by the Bolshevik F. Dubovitsky.
The Whirlwind of Revolutionary Events in Kyrgyzstan
