At the same time, there were less prominent, local problems that had to be dealt with in the vast Soviet Empire. In Central Asia, for instance, the Basmachi movement pitted the Soviets against the Muslims who were defending their property, faith, and honor. The fall of the Basmachi movement coincided with the era of the implementation of the national-administrative divisions, and with hujum (assault) on traditional ways. These seemingly constructive efforts changed the face of Central Asia while paving the way for future difficulties.

Academic Rahim Masov's History of a National Catastrophe deals with the delicate issue of the national-administrative divisions of the region. The book is in two parts. Part one analyzes the dynamics of change and examines the various levels at which decisions were made for the allocation of resources and political power. Part two reproduces the archival documents on which the analyses and assessments are based. Altogether, the book presents a clear view of the Center's manipulation of the stronger ethnic groups in the Union to eliminate any opposition from the lesser groups whose resources were being harnessed. Uzbekistan's oppressive treatment of the Tajiks during the 1920's is a case in point. Masov provides detailed discussion of the linguistic, economic, and educational means employed by the Uzbeks to force the Tajiks out of their cultural centers of Samarqand and Bukhara in the north to take refuge in the Pamirs. This, Masov says, could not have happened without the assistance of the European Soviets who served on the successive committees that studied the issue and made recommendations. The minutes of the meetings provided in the comprehensive Appendix to the work support Masov's statement.

The European Soviets' allowance of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia to participate in political affairs at a high level resulted in the consolidation of a strong Turkish national feeling and the emergence of Pan-Turkism under the guise of the already existing Pan-Islamism led by the Ottoman Turks. Confronted with this situation, the European Soviets, especially the Russians, changed their strategy in Central Asia from one of cooperation to one of "divide and conquer." The introduction of the national-administrative divisions whereby the different ethnic groups were recognized as separate entities led by their own leaders broke up the power of the Turks and Muslims of the region for a long time to come. Masov analyzes the confrontation between Russia and Central Asia in detail and attributes much of the problems of present-day Central Asia to this political move by the Soviet leaders in the very early stages of the development of Soviet power.

While Russification was at the heart of the major plan of the Soviets for the Empire, at lower levels and with the tacit approval of the European Soviets, two other processes were taking place in Central Asia: Turkification and Uzbekization. Put into motion one after the other by the Turks to assimilate the Tajiks and other non-Turkic elements in the region, these processes were intended to expand the Turkish domains and, in the long run, do away with the Russian yoke. Once the process of Turkification, on which the rise of Pan-Turkism rested, failed, the Uzbeks forced the Tajiks to register themselves as Uzbeks. This process, Masov says, confused the ethnographic picture of Central Asia, increased the number of Uzbeks at the expense of the Tajiks, and created tension among otherwise friendly peoples.

The national-administrative divisions were completed in 1924 and, theoretically, should have had a positive impact on the subsequent life of the Soviets who built their empire through hard work, collectivization, and industrialization. Masov argues that this is an erroneous conclusion; he believes that the divisions dislocated the ethnic population putting the contending cultures on a collision course. For decades Soviet rulers pushed back the impending doom resulting from these early moves with the promise of a Communist Heaven. Eventually, however, the promise lost its luster. At that moment, Masov says, the mistakes of the 1924 national-administrative divisions returned to haunt Russia and Central Asia. These mistakes must be studied. More importantly, he says, future Tajik and Uzbek generations must learn the hard lesson that has emerged from this experiment.

The History of a National Catastrophewas originally written in Russian. Its publication in 1991 in Dushanbe created a stir. The allegation of forced Uzbekization of the Tajiks prompted the government to remove it from circulation. The present translation, based on Nurali Davlatov's Tajik translation, is comprehensive in the sense that it includes data excluded by the Soviet editors of the original version as well as additional materials released by the archives since that publication.

The materials in this volume also appear on the World Wide Web Central Asian home page at http://www.ilasll.umn.edu/bashiri/iraj.html. The author holds full responsibility for the contents of the book.

I would like to thank Academic Rahim Masov for allowing the translation of his work, Nurali Davlatov for his Tajik translation, and the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) for providing both the time and the opportunity to complete the translation. I would also like to thank Zulfiya Rahimova for her contribution to the editorial notes, Indira Salieva for clarification of ethnic problems, and Carol Bashiri, Denise Williams, and Sarah Withee for technical assistance. I also would like to thank Askarali Rajabov, Nu'man Tashmatov, and Gary Jahn for their contribution to this work.