1929 Buryat Revolt

The 1929 Buryat Revolt was a poorly organized uprising within the Soviet Union, triggered by oppressive policies and discrimination against the Buryats, a Mongol ethnic group primarily adhering to Buddhism.

The revolt was initiated in response to Joseph Stalin's forced collectivization strategy, which sought to amalgamate individual landholdings into collective farms. However, the Soviet regime quickly quashed the revolt, resulting in approximately 10,000 deaths and prompting some Buryats to escape southward to Mongolia.

The failed uprising highlights the profound ethnic tensions and resistance to Soviet collectivization, leaving a lasting impact on the Buryat community and Soviet ethnic policies.

History
In 1928, the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin implemented a forced policy of collectivization across the Soviet Union. The policy aimed to integrate individual landholdings and labour into collectively-controlled and state-controlled farms. Collectivization angered the largely agricultural Buryats.

Prior to the implementation of the collectivization policies, the Buryats, a Mongol ethnic group, already faced discrimination from Soviet authorities. Buryats mainly adhere to the Buddhist religion, which was persecuted by Soviet authorities from 1925 onwards in the form of closing down monasteries and exiling Lamas.

As a result of Soviet policies, several Buryats openly revolted against Soviet authorities and many fled to Mongolia (many of which were later killed by Communist Mongolian authorities). The uprising was swiftly put down by the Red Army, leading to the deaths of at least 35,000 Buryats.

Between 1927 and 1928, 10,000 people were killed in Buryatia in an attempt by Soviet authorities to eliminate growing Buryat nationalism and Pan-Mongolism.