* The Republic of Turkey, established only in 1922, was a latecomer in formal terms, but various Turkish militants had been active in the Muslim parts of the Caucasus since the beginning of the Warlord Era. Turkish rifles and mountain guns 'somehow' found their way into the hands of the armies of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, and the South West Caucasian Government in Kars was a Turkish creature from its formation in 1918 to its annexation in 1924. Farther afield, Turkish agents moved among the Basmachi and other Muslim rebels in Central Asia. Enver Pasha's quixotic adventures in and around Tashkent are only the most famous example of Pan-Turkish schemes, schemes that did play a small part in the independence of Altai, Bashkiria, Buryatia, Kazakhstan, Khakasiya, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tuva and Uzbekistan.
The ex-Soviet "-stans" of Central Asia and their titular nationalities were all drawn up by Moscow bureacrats with rulers, straightedges, and little knowledge of the countries they were dividing up-pre-Soviet borders were quite different. In the 18th century, Kazakhstan was occupied by the Kazakh Khanate (a loose collection of nomadic tribes). South of it were three Khanates, all named after their capitals-Khiva (western Uzbekistan and the Caspian coasts of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan), Bukhara (central Uzbekistan, extending down into Turkmenistan a little), and Kokand (centered on the Ferghana Valley, which is today divided between Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyztan. Its control also extended into much of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and in the 19th century it ruled Tashkent). Much of Turkmenistan was occupied by nomadic tribes, virtually all of the modern cities in it date from the Russian era.
During the 19th century, Russia occupied Kazakhstan and sent expeditions to crush the three Khanates to its south. Kokand was annexed, and Khiva and Bukhara were stripped of most of their territory and forced to become Russian protectorates. After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks replaced the Khivan and Bukharan Khans with "People's Soviet Republics", which were annexed into the USSR in the 1920's.
In this TL, the two likely outcomes are, IMO, the restablishment in some form (either as republics or monarchies) of Khiva, Bukhara, and Kokand within their pre-Russian borders, or some sort of pan-Turkic movement uniting the whole area. I don't know which is more likely-Turkey would support the latter, and Afghanistan (don't discount them, they just won the Anglo-Afghan war and are right next to the area) would likely aid the Khivan and Bukharan Khans in an attempt to assert themselves against the White and Red warlords running around.
Again, I'm not quite sure what the outcome of this would be, but the evolution of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc. within their OTL borders is ASB, as they have no reason to exist in this TL.
Last edited: