The establishment of Soviet power and statehood in Kyrgyzstan began after the October Revolution of 1917. This process was quite lengthy. The first to establish Soviet power in the territory of Kyrgyzstan were the miners from Suluktu, followed by the miners of the city of Kyzyl-Kiya. In the city of Osh, the power was transferred to the Soviets only in January 1918 amidst fierce opposition. In Pishpek, the establishment of Soviet power was delayed until mid-January 1918, as a powerful center of opposition operated in Semirechye. There was an idea to detach Semirechye from Soviet power. In Naryn and Przhevalsk, victories were achieved in April-May 1918. Soviet power was established throughout Kyrgyzstan only at the end of May 1918.
During the civil war that broke out in Russia in 1918, Turkestan was one of the strongest centers of resistance. The political and economic measures of the Soviet power met with fierce opposition from the overthrown beys and manaps, who, with the support of the Muslim clergy in the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan, organized bands of basmachi in the summer of 1918, established connections with representatives of foreign empires, and, relying on their assistance, began an armed struggle against Soviet power. The fight against them was constant, and only in 1919, after M. V. Frunze was appointed commander of the Turkestan Front, did a broad offensive against the basmachi movement begin. The situation worsened in November 1920 when a White Guard uprising broke out in At-Bashi district of Naryn. By the end of November, the rebels were defeated, and their remnants fled to Xinjiang. The struggle against individual basmachi groups continued until 1923, when basmachism was completely destroyed.
Even during the Civil War, the question of the self-determination of the peoples of Central Asia within the RSFSR arose. At the V Congress of Soviets of Turkestan on April 30, 1918, a decision was made to form the Turkestan ASSR of the Russian Federation. In 1922, an attempt was made to create the Kyrgyz Mountain Region in the northern part of Kyrgyzstan, but it was only on October 14, 1924, that the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region was established within the RSFSR.
On May 25, 1925, the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region was renamed the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region. From this moment, for the first time, the ancestral territories of the Kyrgyz, divided by administrative barriers during the Tsarist regime, were reunited within a single autonomous region. This contributed to the formation of a stable territorial community of the Kyrgyz people and their consolidation into an independent nation. On February 1, 1926, the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region was transformed into the Kyrgyz ASSR. The further development of national statehood was associated with the adoption of a new Constitution of the USSR in 1936, which made Kyrgyzstan a union republic. This decision was legislatively enshrined in the Constitution of the Kyrgyz SSR on March 23, 1937.
On June 24, 1938, elections were held for the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR — the highest organ of state power of the union republic. The Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR was elected for a term of four years at the rate of one deputy per 8,000 residents. Between sessions of the Supreme Soviet, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet operated. The Supreme Soviet approved the government of the republic — the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz SSR, and adopted laws of the Kyrgyz SSR. The local authorities in regions, districts, cities, towns, auls, and villages were the corresponding Councils of Deputies, which were elected for a term of two years. In the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Kyrgyzstan was represented by 32 deputies. All this was done under the guidance of party organs.
In the Kyrgyz SSR of that time, as in many republics that were part of the USSR, the government consisted of ministers of two ranks: union-republican and simply republican. Ministers of the second rank, with rare exceptions, were not part of the government; their role and influence on the socio-political life of the republic were generally insignificant.
The highest judicial authority in Kyrgyzstan — the Supreme Court of the republic — was elected by the Supreme Soviet of the Republic for a term of five years and operated in two chambers for civil and criminal cases and a Plenary Session. In addition, the Presidium of the Supreme Court operated. The Prosecutor of the Kyrgyz SSR was appointed by the General Prosecutor of the USSR for a term of five years.
