American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 288 | P a g e ESTABLISHMENT OF COTTON MONOPOLY IN TURKESTAN (1918-1921) Ergashali Makhsudovich Erkaev Associate Professor of the Department of “History of Uzbekistan” of Andizhan State University, Candidate of historical sciences (PhD), Republic of Uzbekistan Abstract: The article is devoted to the history of the introduction of a cotton monopoly in Turkestan and its supply of cotton raw materials to textile factories in the center of Russia from the first days of the October overturning. Keywords: Peasant farms, Turkestan Central Executive Committee, Turkestan Economic Council, Turkhlopsoyuz, Centrokhlopok, Central textile industry, cotton monopoly, raw materials, agricultural products. Introduction The Soviet power established in Turkestan continued the colonial policy of the Russian Empire in almost all spheres in a different form and form. From the first days of the October coup, he paid special attention to the issue of providing textile factories in the center of Russia with cheap cotton raw materials. In the winter and spring of 1917-1918, the number of peasant farms and the working population decreased significantly due to the famine in the Ferghana Valley, the Red Army and the wars of independence, which caused negative consequences for the country's economy, agriculture collapsed as a result of a 36% reduction in the number of able-bodied men working in them, irrigation networks failed. RESEARCH METHODS From the first period when the Soviets came to power, they began confiscating the national economy of Turkestan and the enterprises serving the needs of the Russian industrial centers. None of the 180 large and small cotton gins in the Ferghana Valley did not work during this period (For example, more than 50% of cotton factories in the Fergana region were left in ruins due to lack of ownership) [1.242]. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS In 1905, 209,730 decimeters of cotton were planted in Turkestan, and in 1016, the largest number of planted cotton was 533,771 decimeters, in 1918 it fell to 80,000 decimeters, and in 1919 it reached 103,172 decimeters. However, in 1922, the cotton area decreased sharply and amounted to 51,428 acres. First of all, the irrigated cropland American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 289 | P a g e decreased sharply, from 3,266,000 acres in 1915 to 1,673,000 acres in 1920, i.e. by 50% [2.160]. It led to its devaluation, and as a result, cotton farming faced a crisis. For example, in 1915, in Turkestan, cotton was planted on 669,000 acres of land, and 831,000 tons of it was harvested. By 1920, cotton was planted on 87,700 acres, and the total harvest was only 15,000 tons, while cotton productivity decreased 4 times in 1916- 1920 [3.79]. The shutdown of thousands of farmers who make a living in the cotton sector, the factories and enterprises related to the cotton industry caused many unemployment, tens of thousands of people who were deprived of their means of livelihood became increasingly dissatisfied with the Soviet government. The management of the cotton sector is entrusted to the Supreme National Economic Council of the RSFSR. First of all, the OXXC considered it necessary to make it known to everyone that cotton is a state monopoly. On January 12, 1918, the RSFSR OXXC adopted a decision "On turning cotton production into a monopoly" [4.147]. According to the decision, all matters related to cotton cultivation and cotton trade were considered a state monopoly. It was also announced that all the cotton stocks in the country at that time were turned into state property. The decision "On the conversion of cotton production into a monopoly" states, among other things: "3. The right to bills of cotton (a document on cotton bales or weight) available in banks is transferred to the state, and the bills themselves are given to the organization "Tsentrokhlopok" for immediate collection from warehouses, railways, wharves (place where ships stop) and other places and distribution to factories... 4. All the cotton received by "Tsentrokhlopok" with the specified invoices is considered state property, and "Tsentrokhlopok" sells it to the factories for cash or on credit for the gazmol made from this cotton. A representative of "Tsentrokhlopok" will be introduced to the offices of the cotton lending factories. 5. "Tsentrokhlopok", which was reformed to prepare the state monopoly and cotton trade, should send its representatives to Turkestan to establish an office for sending, buying and cleaning cotton to Russia. Based on this goal, on February 26, 1918, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Turkestan F. Kolesov approved the decree "On the confiscation of cotton in the country" based on the decision of the RSFSR "On turning cotton production into a monopoly." According to the decree, "All cotton currently available in Turkestan, regardless of its appearance and location, will be confiscated and declared state property. All soviets and railway committees allocate their representatives to implement this decree, to bring all the cotton to the railway stations and immediately send it to the Tashkent station. It was noted that if the owners of the show resistance, shooting measures should be taken on the spot" [5. 2]. To implement the decree on confiscation of cotton, a cotton department was established under the Council of People's American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 290 | P a g e Commissars of Turkestan [6.99]. Schmidt was appointed cotton commissar, and for this purpose he was included in the Council of People's Commissars. On March 24, 1918, a special official "cotton program" was approved at a commission meeting chaired by the chairman of the Soviet government, V.I. V. S. Smirnov, N. I. Sundatov, A. I. Latsis, V. G. Hofmeister, I. A. Sevastyanov from the Bolsheviks were included in it [7, 220]. In the second half of 1918, representatives of the center, whom Lenin trusted, who could lead the cotton monopoly in Turkestan, arrived in Tashkent. They considered fulfilling Lenin's mission, protecting the interests of the Soviet state, identifying the cotton stocks declared as "state property" and sending them to Russia as the first priority. The Soviet government paid special attention to the issue of transporting Turkestan cotton to the center. On April 9, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a decree on the allocation of working capital for the supply of cotton to the textile industry. The decree states that "250,500 rubles should be allocated from the state treasury to the Cotton Supply Committee under the Supreme Council of National Economy for the organizational costs of buying cotton from Central Asia and sending it by rail, and it should be given immediately in cash." It was decided to allocate 5,024,245,000 rubles from the state treasury to the Cotton Supply Committee for the issues of transportation and purchase of cotton to the European part of Russia [8.526]. On April 11, 1918, a branch of the "Tsentrokhlopok" organization was opened in Tashkent. This department dealt with the issues of maintaining the cotton monopoly in Turkestan, buying cotton, cleaning it, sending it to the Center in transport and, most importantly, fighting against the reduction of cotton cultivation areas. During the cotton planting campaign of 1918, it was planned to give flour, wheat and gasmol to growers. Of course, these instructions had a declarative nature, and the economic condition of the working masses was of no real interest to the Soviet state. A large amount of raw cotton seized in Turkestan was constantly sent to the Russian textile industry. In 1918, 1,310 wagons of cotton fibers were sent to the Center via the Orenburg and Krasnovodsk railways. In January-May 1919, 443 wagons of cotton fibers were sent to Orenburg. In June, 131 wagons of cotton fibers were sent to Krasnovodsk and 549 wagons to Orenburg. Accordingly, in July 389 wagons and 1149 wagons, in August 405 wagons and 814 wagons, in September 197 wagons and 795 wagons, in October 389 wagons and 189 wagons, in total in 1919 1504 wagons on the Krasnovodsk route, 3939 wagons on the Orenburg route transported to the central regions with [9.99]. In 1920, compared to 1919, more than twice as much cotton fiber was transported. In 1920, 4 million 283 thousand pounds of cotton fiber, consisting of 8565 wagons, were sent from Turkestan to the textile factories of the central regions of Russia. In addition, in 1919, 3 million 150 thousand poods and 2 million in 1920. 728 thousand pounds of raw cotton were also transported [10.123]. The Soviet government paid special attention American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 291 | P a g e to the supply of consumer goods to the cotton farmers of Turkestan in order to improve the supply of cotton to the center and to increase cotton cultivation in the country. On February 24, 1920, the Soviet of People's Commissars of the RSFSR made a decision to urgently send a train loaded with gazmol to the growers of Turkestan. In order to expand the cotton cultivation areas in Turkestan, the decision envisages to quickly build and send a special train to load 3 million arshin and 1 thousand gross yarn. The construction of this train was entrusted to the Tver spinning mills department. The train consisted of 25 freight cars, 3 oil tankers, 1 class car and 2 heated cars, for a total of 31 cars. In the decision, it was noted that not only civil authorities, but also military authorities are prohibited from detaining the train, confiscating gas and oil loaded on it. It is also noted in the decision that "the train should load cotton on the way back from Turkestan and deliver it to the Tver spinning mills department" [11. 520-527]. A similar train was sent to Turkestan on January 18, 1920. As mentioned above, the main purpose of sending these trains was to transport cotton from Turkestan to Russian textile factories. The Soviet government sought to become independent from the capitalist world in satisfying the textile industry's need for cotton, and tried to increase cotton production by increasing the material interest of the growers of the Turkestan region. On August 31, 1920, the Soviet of People's Commissars of the RSFSR decided to pay growers in cash or in kind for the cotton handed over to the state. In the decision, the price of 1 pound of cotton grown outside America is set at 1,260 rubles per Soviet currency. In addition to payment of money, the following natural products were provided free of charge to growers who handed over 50 pounds of cotton from one tenth of land to the state: a) 7 pounds of seeds per tenth of land; b) 24 pounds of cottonseed oil, 2 pounds of 16 pounds of cotton and shelukha; c) 30 arshin ip-gazmol; d) 9 spools of sewing thread; e) 30 pounds of kerosene; f) 40 pounds of iron (nails, ironwork materials); j) 60 pounds of salt; h) 50 boxes of matches. In order to fulfill this decision, to provide cotton farmers with the above items, 450,000 pounds of cottonseed oil, 1.4 million pounds of gas, 1,000 gross sewing thread, 7,000 pounds of kerosene, 100,000 pounds of iron, and 150,000 pounds of salt were ordered to be allocated [12.286- 287]. However, there is no relevant information about their arrival at the appropriate place. The transportation of raw materials from Turkestan to the central provinces of Russia deepened the economic crisis in the country. This situation is clearly visible in the reports of the Turkestan Economic Council (TES): "All cotton, wool, leather, fur products were sent to the Center. Moreover, if we take into account the provision of the military sector from the material reserves of Turkestan, all the shortages in the country are clearly visible and the shortage of products in Turkestan becomes understandable"[13.251], who was elected chairman of the Central Committee of the Turkestan Soviets at the 8th session of the Soviets of Turkestan (September 26-October American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 292 | P a g e 4, 1919). Schwartz was an authorized representative of the Center's textile industry (Tsentrotekistil) and came to Turkestan. In a conversation with the reporter of the "Turkistan National Economy" magazine, he spoke about the mutual relations between the Center and Turkestan, justifying Russia's chauvinist and economic policy, saying that "... in economic matters, Turkestan is an integral part of Russia must be understood. Turkestan must immediately obey all the orders of the Center and carry them out without question. The center has the right to manage all the wealth of Turkestan" claimed that [9.87]. CONCLUSION In conclusion, by the spring of 1921, the need to make drastic changes in the economic spheres began to appear in the Bolshevik government. The central commissariats and departments established to manage the national economy of Turkestan began to implement Russian disasters and Bolshevik policies under the guise of the interests of the State and the All-Union throughout the country. REFERENCES 1. National Archive of Uzbekistan, fund 17. List 1, collective volume 336, p. 2422. 2. Юферьев В.И. Хлопководство в Туркистане.Л.,1925.с.160. 3. Раззақов А. Ўзбекистон пахтачилиги тарихи. Т.,1994. 79 б. 4 National Archive of Uzbekistan, fund 473. List 1, collective volume 194, p.147. 5.Наша газета. 28 февраля 1918 г. 6. 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