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http://www.mironov.ru/images/uploaded_imag...mikskiy_Uni.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KalmykiaEarly Modern History
What sets Kalmykia apart from its neighbors is the fact that it is the only Buddhist territory in Europe. Russians adopted the name Kalmyk from the Tatars in the 16th century. The Russians later learned about the name Oirat, which had come from the Mongols. There is a very common misunderstanding that the Kalmyks are "western Mongols". This is analogous to calling the English Germans just because both languages (English and German) belong to the Germanic language group. Kalmyks, in fact, are not Mongols. The two cultures have their own histories. At one time, the Kalmyks controlled a vast area known as Grand Tartary or the Kalmyk Empire to Westerners, which stretched from the Great Wall of China to the River Don, and from the Himalayas to Siberia.
The European steppes have always been much more productive than the Asian steppes as a result of greater moisture from the Atlantic. This is why all powerful nomads from Central Asia were always trying to conquer European plains: Hungarians (Kalmyks call them Uugr) in the 8th century, Tatars (Kalmyks call them Mangyd) in the 13th century, and Kalmyks (Kalmyks call themself Dörvn Öörd—The Allied Four) in the 17th century—all of them were driven to Europe because of its rich pastureland.
So, the Torghuud chief Khoo Örlög decided to move westward at the beginning of 17th century. This was not because of a mythical internal struggle created by the Khoshuud tribe. Khoo Örlög was not a refugee, but rather sought greener pastures to the West. Initially, he led the Torghuuds and part of another tribe, the Dörvuuds. The Khoshuuds and Ölööds joined them almost a century later. The Kalmyks reached as far as the steppes of southeast Europe in 1630. That land, however, was not empty. It was homeland of the very powerful Nogay Hordes. Under pressure of Kalmyk warriors, the Nogays fled to the Crimea and the Kuban river. Subsequently, all other nomadic groups in the European steppes became vassals of Kalmyk Khan.
The Kalmyks settled not only around Astrakhan on the Volga delta, territories recently annexed by the Russian Czars, but also occupied territories spreading from the Ural to Terek rivers. They still kept a close bond with the Kalmyks remaining in their Central Asian homeland. Allied with Russia (Czar Alexey I allowed them to settle in his realm in exchange for Kalmyk pledge to defend Russian border), the Torghuud flourished there during the reign of Ayuki Khan, who was given the title of Khan by the 6th Dalai Lama.
Imposition of Russian Rule
In the late 18th century, they were disillusioned with increasing Russian interference. In 1763, Catherine the Great invited almost 30,000 Germans to settle in the Volga region, north of the Kalmyks. She offered them the fertile land to farm so securing it against the “Tartars.” The Kalmyks enjoyed a high degree of autonomy in Russia until 1771, when Catherine the Great abolished their self-government. She tried to make them accept Christianity and agriculture. The Kalmyk Khan and Ayuki's great-grandson Ubashi decided to return to Dzungaria. Under Khan's order about 200,000 Kalmyks started their unprecedented march to Central Asia. After almost seven months Kalmyks reached Manchu Empire's western outposts Xinjiang near the Balkhash Lake. Those who remained in Russian territory were accepted by the authorities, especially since they provided excellent soldiers for the Imperial Russian Army. A Kalmyk regiment served during the Napoleonic Wars (1812 - 1815)and the war with Ottoman Empire, and over the next century, Kalmyk soldiers were prominent in divisions throughout the Czarist Army. The remaining Kalmyk gradually created fixed settlements with houses and temples, instead of their transportable round felt yurts. This process lasted until well after the Russian Revolution.
The Volga Germans developed friendly relations with the Kalmyks. In 1804, Benjamin Bergmann published a four volume work on their language and religion, entitled Nomadische Streifereien unter der Kalmüken in den Jahre 1802 und 1804 (Nomadic Migrations among the Kalmyks in the Year 1802 and 1804). In 1865, Elista, the future capital of Kalmykia was built.
Russian Revolution and Collectivisation
After the Communist October Revolution in 1917, many Kalmyks joined the White Russian army during the Russian Civil War, especially under Generals Wrangel and Denikin. Before the Red Army broke through to the Crimean Peninsula towards the end of 1920, about 20 Kalmyk families fled with Wrangel to Warsaw, Poland and Prague, Czechoslovakia. A much larger group went with Denikin, most of them settling in Belgrade, Serbia with smaller numbers in Sofia, Bulgaria and Paris and Lyon, France. The Kalmyk refugees in Belgrade built a Buddhist temple there in 1929. The Soviet authorities severely punished the Kalmyks who remained, beheading 10,000.
On November 4, 1920 Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast was created. The Bolshevik regime executed about 10,000 Kalmyks at this time. In 1931, Stalin ordered the collectivization, closed the Buddhist monasteries, and burned the Kalmyks' religious texts. He deported all monks and all herdsmen owning more than 500 sheep to Siberia. The forced collectivization was unsuited to the Kalmyk temperament and the dry, treeless landscape and was a social, economic and cultural disaster. About 60,000 Kalmyks died during the great famine of 1932 to 1933. On October 22, 1935 the region was elevated to republic status Kalmyk Autonomous Republic within the RSFSR.
Second World War
Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in September 1941, Goebbels invited several prominent Kalmyks from Belgrade, Paris, and Prague to Berlin. He wanted them to help with a propaganda campaign. The Nazis wished to win the Kalmyks to the German side against the Russians. No Kalmyks were sent to concentration camps. Goebbels turned this nucleus into a committee to free the Kalmyks from the Communist regime helping them print a Kalmyk language newspaper and broadcast radio news in Kalmyk directly toward Kalmykia.
When the Nazi 16th Motorized Infantry Division under Field Marshal Manstein took Kalmykia early in 1942, three members of this committee were with them. Some of the Belgrade Kalmyks also participated in this invasion. They had joined the German army after the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in April 1941. The German army was greeted with butter and milk, the traditional Kalmykian offering to welcome guests. They were seen as liberators from Stalin’s oppressive rule. The Germans offered to dismantle the collectives and divide and privatize the land. They allowed the Kalmyks to practice Buddhism again. In response, the Kalmyks dug up the religious texts they had buried for safekeeping and built a makeshift temporary temple. In November and December 1942, however, the Red Army retook Kalmykia and destroyed everything the people had rebuilt. In 1943 was put directly under control of the central government followed by the deportation of the whole Kalmyk nation without notice to Siberia in cattle trucks in midwinter. Half of their number perished during the journey and in the following years of exile, effectively an ethnic cleansing.
Meanwhile about 5,000 men accepted an offer to join the Nazi military, forming the Kalmykian Voluntary Cavalry Corps. Only a few woman and children accompanied them. The Kalmyk troops fought with the Nazi army behind the lines, especially around the Azov Sea.
Post War Kalmykia
Due to their widespread dispersal in Siberia their language and culture suffered possibly irreversible decline. Khrushchev finally allowed their return in 1957, when they found their homes, jobs and land occupied by imported Russians and Ukrainians, who remained. On January 9, 1957, Kalmykia again became an autonomous oblast, and on July 29, 1958—an autonomous republic within RSFSR.
In the following years bad planning of agricultural and irrigation projects resulted in widespead desertification, and economically unviable industrial plants were constructed. With the collapse of the Soviet regime the economy also disintegrated, causing widespread social hardship and increasing depopulation of rural areas lacking in resources and facilities.
After dissolution of the USSR, Kalmykia kept the status of an autonomous republic within the newly formed Russian Federation (March 31, 1992).
