Islamic rebellion in Xinjiang (1937)
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Islamic rebellion in Xinjiang (1937) | |||||||||
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Part of the Xinjiang Wars | |||||||||
Abdul Niyaz with his soldiers in Kashgar | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Muslim Turkic rebels |
Xinjiang clique Soviet Union | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Chiang Kai-shek Kichik Akhund Abdul Niyaz † |
Sheng Shicai Ma Sheng-kuei Joseph Stalin | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
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Red Army White Army Xinjiang Army | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
~10,000 Chinese Muslim cavalry and infantry 1,500 Turkic rebels |
5,000 Soviet Red Army troops Several thousand White Russian soldiers and provincial Chinese troops | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
~2,000 casualties |
Provincial government: ~500 Soviet and White Russian forces: ~300 |
In 1937 an Islamic rebellion began in southern
Start
Sheng Shicai had moved against Divisional General
Muhiti fled Kashgar on April 2, 1937, with a small number of his subordinates and some amount of gold to
Liu Pin, a provincial commander in Kashgar Region with 700 troops at his command, responded to the rebellion by launching a squadron of nine Soviet planes to bomb Yangi Hissar and Yarkand.[3] After Muhiti reached Srinagar in India, the following year, he went on pilgrimage to Mecca.[4] A buildup of Soviet military assets occurred in Xinjiang before the outbreak of war. Around Kashgar, the Soviets sent AA guns, fighter planes, and soldiers of Russian and Kyrgyz origin in great numbers.[5]
The start of the rebellion in southern Xinjiang had an immediate and tragic impact on the fate of about 400 Uyghur students, who had been sent by the Xinjiang government to the Soviet Union (1935–1937) to study in the university of
A conquest of the Kremlin, Russian Turkistan, and Siberia was planned in an anti-Soviet "jihad" formulated by Ma.[7] He promised a devastation of Europe and the conquest of the Soviet Union and India.[8] The anti-Soviet uprising by Ma was reported by United Press International (UPI) and read by Ahmad Kamal on 3 June 1937.[9]
New 36th Division invasion of Kashgar
Meanwhile, Ma Hushan and his
Having received the order, the Tungans attacked Kashgar airfield on 20 May but were defeated. Ten days later, 1,500 Islamic irregulars under Kichik Akund attacked and seized Kashgar Old City. His troops wore armbands with the words "
Ma Hushan remained at Khotan watching the situation. His chief of staff,
Ma Hushan surrounded Kashgar New City and explained to the British Consulate-General that the Chinese Muslim forces, which were still officially the Kuomintang 36th Division, were acting in covenant with the Turkics (Uighurs) to overthrow the pro-Soviet provincial government and to replace it with an Islamic government loyal to the Republic of China Kuomintang government at Nanjing.[10]
Ma Hushan was paranoid about a Soviet attack and controlled the Kashgar-Khotan area because it offered him a safe escape to
In August 1937, 5,000 Soviet
Chinese General Ma Zhanshan, a Muslim, was allegedly one of the Soviet Army commanders during the invasion. It was reported that he had led Soviet troops disguised in Chinese uniforms along with bombers during the attack, which had been requested by Sheng Shicai.[12]
General Chiang Yu-fen, a provincial commander, dispatched his men after Ma Hushan's 1st Brigade, and other provincial forces drove Abdu Niyaz and Kichik Akhund towards Yarkand. Red Army aircraft assisted the provincial forces by dropping bombs, including some containing mustard gas. These airplanes first flew from an airbase in Karakol, Soviet Union, and then from captured airfields in Uchturpan and Kucha.[13] On 9 September, Yarkand fell to Sheng, and on 15 September, Abdul Niyaz was executed. On October 15 the Soviets bombed the city of Khotan, which resulted in 2,000 casualties.[14] The remnants of the 36th division melted away through Kunlun Mountains in Qinghai and northern Tibet.[3]
Aftermath
Before the war, Ma Hushan had exchanged messages with the Nanjing government and expected it to send aid, as he said in conversations with Peter Fleming. However, in 1937, during the Soviet attack, China was invaded by Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The pro-Soviet provincial forces of Sheng Shicai established their control over the whole of Xinjiang. All rivals were eliminated, and the defeat of the new 36th Division caused the control of the Chinese government in Xinjiang to cease.
Sheng Shicai set up a memorial to the Soviets killed in combat by Ma Hushan that included Russian Orthodox crosses.[15][16]
The Chinese government was fully aware of the Soviet invasion of Xinjiang and of the Soviet troops moving around Xinjiang and Gansu, but it was forced to conceal them to the public as "Japanese propaganda" to avoid an international incident and to continue to receive military supplies from the Soviets.[17]
In August 1937, a month into the full-scale war in China against the Japanese forces after the
See also
- Amur Military Flotilla
- Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)
- Kumul Rebellion
- Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang
- Ili Rebellion
References
- ^ "Moslems in Chinese Turkestan in Revolt Against Pro-Soviet Provincial Authorities". The New York Times. 26 June 1937.
- ISBN 978-0-521-25514-1.
- ^ ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ISBN 0-19-577423-X. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
- ISBN 83-7188-877-5. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- Allen Whitingand General Sheng Shicai. Sinkiang: Pawn or Pivot?, Michigan State University Press, 1958.
- ISBN 978-0-595-01005-9.
- ISBN 978-0-595-01005-9.
- ISBN 978-0-595-01005-9.
- ISBN 978-0-415-58264-3. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
- ISBN 1-55655-674-8. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ Alfred Crofts, Percy Buchanan (1958). A history of the Far East. Longmans, Green. p. 371. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ "Uses of CW since the First World War". fas.org. Archived from the original on 2010-08-22. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
- ^ Xiang, Ah. "Changing Alliances In International Arena" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-06-28.
Xiang, Ah. "Changing Alliances In International Arena". Retrieved 2010-06-28. - ^ "Memorial to men who died in battle against Ma Hushan, includes Russian Orthodox crosses". Archived from the original on 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
- ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
- ISBN 978-0-415-58264-3. Retrieved 2010-06-28.