REPRESSIVE SOVIET CULTURAL POLICY IN THE UZBEK SSR

This article analyzes the repressive cultural policy implemented by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR) on the basis of historical sources and contemporary scholarly research. The study examines the main directions of the Soviet regime’s repressive policies toward education, science, literature, the arts, religious institutions, and the national intelligentsia. In particular, it explores the establishment of the censorship system to ensure the dominance of communist ideology during the 1920s–1950s, the persecution of Jadid intellectuals as "bourgeois nationalists" and "enemies of the people," the closure of religious institutions, and the ideological control imposed over cultural heritage. The article also discusses the long-term negative consequences of these repressive policies for the cultural life of Uzbekistan and the development of national identity. The findings demonstrate that Soviet repression constituted a serious obstacle to cultural development.