During the summer of 1916, approximately 270,000 Central Asians--Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Turkmen, and Uzbeks--perished at the hands of the Russian army in a revolt that began with resistance to the Tsar's World War I draft. In addition to those killed outright, tens of thousands of men, women, and children died while trying to escape over treacherous mountain passes into China. Experts calculate that the Kyrgyz, who suffered most heavily, lost 40% of their total population.
This horrific incident was nearly lost to history. During the Soviet era, the massacre of 1916 became a taboo...
During the summer of 1916, approximately 270,000 Central Asians--Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Turkmen, and Uzbeks--perished at the hands of the Russian...
