Lexington Books
Pages: 294
Trim: 6½ x 9½
978-1-7936-4126-7 • Hardback • December 2020 • $105.00 • (£81.00)
978-1-7936-4127-4 • eBook • December 2020 • $99.50 • (£77.00)
Jamil Hasanli is former professor of history at Baku State University and visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Chapter 1: National Movement in Eastern Turkistan and Moscow’s Growing Influence in
Xinjiang (1930–1934)
Chapter 2: Strengthening of Soviet Control over Eastern Turkistan (1934–1939)
Chapter 3: Deepening of Crisis in Soviet-Xinjiang Relations and Downfall of the Sheng
Government
Chapter 4: Activation of Moscow’s Policy in Xinjiang and Creation of the Eastern Turkistan
Republic (1944–1945)
Chapter 5: The Urumqi Agreement and Establishment of a Coalition Government in Xinjiang
(1946–1947)
Chapter 6: New Wave of Soviet Activities in Xinjiang and Communist Victory in China (1947–
1949)
Moscow’s role in Xinjiang during the two decades from 1930 to 1950 is a source of controversy and debate among historians of the region, but remains poorly known outside that field. Drawing on important findings in the Russian archives, Jamil Hasanli’s book sheds new light on this major Soviet foreign intervention and clarifies Moscow’s policies towards the province’s rulers and rebels. This book will be an essential reference point for all future work on the history of Republican Xinjiang and oppositional politics among its Turkic-speaking peoples, and on the Sino-Soviet relationship in Central Asia more broadly.
— David Brophy, University of Sydney
Jamil Hasanli is one of the most original historians of the Cold War. This book—the latest in a series of path-breaking studies—shows how Joseph Stalin manipulated an ethnic insurgency in Xinjiang to reach his geopolitical goals in Northwest China. This is an essential, eye-opening read for understanding Stalin’s foreign policy.
— Sergey Radchenko, Cardiff University
The depth of Soviet involvement in Xinjiang during the first half of the twentieth century has long been contested and debated by scholars, particularly regarding the Soviet Union’s role in creating and supporting the East Turkestan Republic (1944-1949). Finally, with this book, Jamil Hasanli offers the definitive study of the Soviet Union and Xinjiang. Based on remarkable evidence collected for the first time from former Soviet archives, Hasanli shows how and why Soviet leader Joseph Stalin sought to manipulate developments in Xinjiang to the benefit of the USSR.
— Charles Kraus, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars