Establishment Since 1759, Tuva (then called
Tannu Uriankhai) had been part of
Mongolia, which in turn was a part of the territory of the Manchu
Qing dynasty. As the Qing dynasty fell in the
Xinhai Revolution of 1911,
revolutions in Mongolia were also occurring, leading to the independence of both
Mongolia and the Tuvan
Uryankhay Republic. After a period of political uncertainty, the new republic became a
protectorate of the
Russian Empire in April 1914, known as
Uryankhay Krai. After the
fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and the establishment of the
Russian Republic, both it and Uryankhay Krai reaffirmed its status as a Russian protectorate. During the subsequent
Russian Civil War,
the Whites fought against soldiers sent by the
Beiyang government to
re-occupy Mongolia and Tuva. The successful Whites then lost to the incoming
Bolsheviks and their Mongolian allies. The Bolsheviks had, by December 1920, taken the capital of
Khem-Beldyr and had, by March 1921, seized all of Tuva. On 14 August 1921, the "Tannu Tuvan People's Republic" ("Tannu" refers to the
Tannu-Ola mountains) declared independence and the newly created
Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party (TPRP) became the ruling party. The first chapter of the first constitution of the newborn country stated that "
...in international affairs, the state acts under the auspices of Soviet Russia."
Sovietization Kuular's theocratic, nationalist and
anti-Soviet policies led to a Soviet-backed
coup d'état in 1929. While Kuular was implementing his policies, the Soviet Union had laid foundations for a new leadership – staunchly loyal to
Joseph Stalin – including the creation of the "Tuva Revolutionary Youth Union" where members received military training. Five young Tuvan graduates from the
Communist University of the Toilers of the East were appointed "Extraordinary Commissioners" and overthrew the government in January 1929 during the 2nd Plenary Session of the Central Committee. Following the coup, Kuular was removed from power and executed, and about a third to half the members of the TPRP were also purged. Kuular's policies were reverted and the country's traditionally nomadic cattle-breeders were put in
collectivization programs. Similarly to the
Stalinist repressions in Mongolia, Buddhist lamas,
aristocrats, members of the
intelligentsia and other
political dissidents were purged, and Buddhist temples and monasteries were destroyed. As part of this process, the written language in Tuva was changed from the
Mongolian script to the
Latin-based alphabet in June 1930. Religious symbols, such as the
Khorlo, were also removed from the flag and emblem.
Border dispute with Mongolia In July 1932, with mediation from the Soviet Union, Tuva signed an agreement and received a substantial territorial gain from Mongolia as a fixed border was created between the two countries. Mongolia was forced to sign under Soviet pressure and did not ratify the agreement in the
Mongol Great Khural. The new territory notably included mountain, the only source of
salt mining for Tuva. The border between Tuva and Mongolia remained controversial during the 1930s, with Mongolia referring to Qing dynasty documents to argue their ownership of the mountain. The Soviet Union assisted the Tuvans with significant assistance in materiel and technical development. The middle-ranking and high-ranking commanders of the Tuvan Army were trained in Soviet military academies, including the
Frunze Military Academy and the
General Staff Academy. Despite its relatively small size, Tuva helped the Soviet Union in substantial ways, transferring its entire gold reserve of ~20,000,000
Rbls to the Soviet Union, with additional extracted Tuvan gold worth around 10,000,000 Rbls annually. Between June 1941 and October 1944, Tuva supplied the Soviet
Red Army with 700,000
livestock, of which almost 650,000 were donated. In addition, 50,000
war horses, 52,000 pairs of skis, 10,000 winter coats, 19,000 pairs of gloves, 16,000 boots and 67,000 tons of sheep wool as well as several hundreds tons of meats, grain, carts,
sledges,
horse tacks and other goods totaling 66,500,000 Rbls were sent. Up to 90% were donated. Also during 1943, Tuva mustered 11 volunteer tankers and 208 volunteer cavalrymen. The tankers and 177 of the cavalrymen were assigned to the Red Army and served on the
Eastern Front from early 1944, especially around
Ukraine.
Absorption into the USSR Tuvan orientation towards Moscow intensified during the war. In September 1943, the written language was again changed, this time from the Latin to the
Cyrillic script, the standard alphabet in the Soviet Union. By 1941, the national symbols, such as the flag and emblem, had been changed to the same style as various Soviet regions. On 7 August 1944, the Central Committee of the TPRP decided to subsume Tuva into the Soviet Union. This was supported on 15 August by the 9th Plenary Session. On 17 August, the 7th Extraordinary Session of the Little Khural created a "Declaration of the Accession of the Tuvan People's Republic to the Soviet Union". Finally, on 11 October 1944, at a meeting of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, Khertek Anchimaa-Toka read out the declaration detailing the desire for Tuva to join the USSR, which was accepted. The decision went into effect on 1 November 1944, and the Tuvan People's Republic thus became the
Tuvan Autonomous Oblast, a part of the
Russian SFSR (the largest
constituent republic of the Soviet Union). Salchak Toka's position changed from "General Secretary of the
TPRP" to "
First Secretary of the Oblast Committee of the
CPSU of the
Tuvan Autonomous Oblast" (changed to "Republican Committee" in 1961) and continued his rule of the region until his death in 1973. On 10 October 1961, the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast became the
Tuvan ASSR, still within the Russian SFSR, and remained so until 1992. The area that was the Tuvan People's Republic is now known as the
Tuva Republic within the
Russian Federation. == Population ==