The Karakorum Government or Confederated Republic of Altai was a republic created as an attempt to create an independent Altai. It lasted from 1918 to 1922, when it was annexed by the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

Background

The areas of southern Siberia (today's Altai,

Tuva Tuva (; ) or Tyva (; ), officially the Republic of Tyva,; , is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. Tuva lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the Federal subjects of Russia, federal sub ...

, Khakassia an neighboring areas) which were conquered by the Russian Tsardom in the 18th century (except Tuva, which was part of Mongolia under Qing rule until it became a protectorate of Russia in 1914), comprised diverse Siberian-

Turkic people Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

s, which, by the 1910s were approximately 50% of the population of the area. They rejected Russian rule and (in general but not fully) opposed Orthodox Christianity. By the 1900s, a new religious movement rose up, Burkhanism, emerged in response to the needs of a new people—the ''Altai-kizhi'', or Altaians, who sought to distinguish themselves from the neighboring and related tribes and for whom Burkhanism became a religious form of their ethnic identity. Thousands of Altaians gathered for prayer meetings, initially in the Tereng Valley. These were violently suppressed by mobs of Russians, instigated by the Altaian Spiritual Mission, who were afraid of the potential of the competing religion to decrease the Orthodox Christian flock in Altai. The prime motivating factor for the adoption of this new faith was Altaians' fear of displacement by Russian colonists,

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

, and subjection to

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and

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

on the same basis as Russian peasants.See Chapter 2 of Sherstova, Burhanism, Tomsk (1986, 2010) This movement and the opposition to Russification created a common sense of nationality and desire for self determination, which was to be fulfilled in the chaos of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

History

The second Congress of the high Altai was called in March 1918 and officially created the Confederated Republic of Altai. The pro- Burkhanist government was founded by Altai painter Grigoriy Gurkin and by Russian writer and publicist Vasily Anuchin. The republic was not a fully independent entity but rather an administrative entity with some autonomy, although it was relatively independent in reality due to the chaos of the

. This was intended to include not only Altai but also neighboring republics of Tuva and Khakassia, and declared as the first step to rebuilding the 17th century Oirat state (at least including the Turkic-speaking peoples that had been its subjects). The republic was eventually invaded by white forces in the civil war, then by the Soviet 5th Army and destroyed in April 1920, although resistance continued well into 1922.

References

Altai Republic Post–Russian Empire states Provisional governments of the Russian Civil War Subdivisions of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic History of Siberia Altai people {{Russia-hist-stub