The first GMD official to be appointed to the position of Chairman of the Xinjiang provincial government was Wu Zhongxin, (79) a follower of the "Great Han" school of thought, "which holds that all the inhabitants of China belong to one (Chinese) family, and that incidental differences of culture, religion and language are unfortunate aberrations, destined to be subsumed in a 'Greater Han' Chinese whole." (80) This attitude resulted in the encouragement of large numbers of Han Chinese to settle in the province. Such an approach was hardly appropriate in the ethnically volatile situation in Xinjiang. Wu's efforts to govern the province were not helped any by the dismal economic situation either. Following the Soviet withdrawal, trade had virtually ground to a halt and inflation, shortages, and corruption had become rampant. Furthermore, the much-hated secret police continued to operate, only now under GMD sponsorship. As a popular saying of the time stated, "One Sheng Shih-ts'ai went out, but two came in." (81)

Once again, revolt broke out in Xinjiang. This time, however, it was centered in the north and involved the Kazakhs, a nomadic Turkic group who live with their flocks and herds in the nebulous border region where Xinjiang, the USSR, and Mongolia meet. (82) From the very beginning of Sheng's rule in Xinjiang, there had been unrest in Jungaria, the Kazakh homeland in the province, and a number of small uprisings had occurred. Towards the end of his regime, this unrest had increased as the Soviets had once again entered into the Xinjiang political arena, this time on the side of Sheng's enemies. Representatives from the Kazakh SSR and the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR), (83) a Soviet satellite state, (84) had met with Osman Batur, a Kazakh chieftain, in 1943. With the provision of arms and a safe base of operations in the MPR which had come from this meeting, Osman had "formulated a policy that called for Kazakh-Mongol co-operation within an autonomous Altai region, and for the barring of all Han Chinese military and civilian officials from that region." (85)

When Sheng's troops had advanced into the area, they had reportedly been
met not only by Kazakh horsemen, but also by Soviet aircraft and troops from the MPR. Whether this report is true or not, the result of the clash was that Osman gained complete control of Jungaria.

Shortly after the departure of Sheng, a full-scale revolt broke out in the Ili Valley, in Kazakh territory. This area, with its historical ties to Russia, had suffered more than others as a result of the cessation of Soviet trade. The break with the USSR had also resulted in a number of "pro-Soviet" Muslims having to flee over the border to escape Sheng's anti-Soviet purges, where they formed the "Sinkiang Turkic People's National Liberation Committee" (STPNLC) in 1943. In the fall of 1944, the unrest in Jungaria spread to the Ili Valley as Turkic rebels captured a GMD garrison at Nilka. The Soviets were quick to take advantage of this new situation; although it seems that the Ili Rebellion was initially merely a spontaneous uprising bred in the
general disillusionment amongst the local population, the STPNLC soon maneuvered itself into a position of control. Once again, a local figure emerged as a charismatic leader. This time it was an Uighur who had received most of his education in the Soviet Union, Ahmadjan Qasimi. With the capture of the GMD positions in Kulja, the main city in the Ili Valley, in November 1944, the "Eastern Turkestan Republic" (ETR) was proclaimed. Although the official president was the Uzbek 86 Ali Khan Toere, real power lay in the hands of Qasimi. Although the precise nature of the role that the Soviets played in this rebellion remains unclear, "it is now possible to state with certainty that the Soviet Union was deeply involved in the establishment of the ETR." (87)

The ETR was of necessity based on a coalition of "conservatives" (those favouring a more openly "Turkic-Islamic" government) and "progressives" (the pro-Soviet STPNLC faction). However, the latter group soon came to dominate the leadership and included Russians, 88 Soviet agents and Saifuddin Azizov, an Uighur who had studied in Tashkent and had joined the CPSU. The fledgling government quickly set out to control the whole of the Ili Valley, a feat which they accomplished by January 1945 by capturing GMD garrisons in the area. Although contemporary reports are inconclusive, it seems that Red Army troops played a key role in this expansion of the ETR sphere of influence. 89 In the process, atrocities were committed on both sides. At this time, Osman Batur sided with the ETR, thus bringing his Kazakh troops into the conflict; soon, most of Jungaria was at least nominally joined to the territory of the new republic.

In January 1945, the ETR issued the "Kulja Declaration," in which the
following aims of the republic were set out:

The 'annihilation' of the Kuomintang.
The creation of a 'Democratic Base' founded on the equality of all nationalities inhabiting the territory of the ETR.
The formation of a competent, multi-national People's Army.
Nationalisation of banks; postal, telegraphic and telephone communications; forestry; and mineral resources.
The development of industry, agriculture, stock-breeding and private trade.
The establishment and preservation of religious freedom.
The development of educational and public health services.
The establishment of friendly relations with 'all democratic countries of the world' and, in particular, with Sinkiang's 'next-door neighbour', the Soviet Union. (90)

Initially, the program of the ETR was decidedly anti-Han, and the "conservatives" sought to implement an Islamic style of government, thus excluding non-Muslims in the region (91) from involvement in the republic, but this aspect was diminished as the "progressives" gained more power in the leadership of the republic. In the words of a Soviet source, "The progressive representatives of the national minorities became convinced that only the victory of the Chinese people [led by the CCP]... could bring freedom to the nationalities of the country." (92) Progress was indeed made in the areas of education, agriculture, and public health. As the TIRET had done before it, the ETR established a tax system, produced its own currency and formed an army. This latter institution, the "Ili National Army" (INA), was headed up by members of the STPNLC faction. At the same time, propaganda leaflets produced in the republic "emphasised the close ethnic and cultural ties existing between the ETR and the Soviet Central Asian Republics, and... stressed the 'freedom' enjoyed by the various national minorities within the Soviet Union when contrasted with the opression suffered by the peoples of Sinkiang living in the region still under KMT control." (93)

Beginning in July 1945, the ETR began to expand its territory, as the INA went on the offensive. Although the GMD troops had superior numbers and modern American weaponry, they suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of the rebels. Again, contemporary accounts vary in their attempts to explain how this happened, but it is almost certain that the INA was greatly assisted by the Soviets at this time. The army possessed heavy artillery and armoured vehicles, and the battalions were accompanied by Soviet military advisors. By the fall of 1945, the rebels had advanced to within seventy miles of Urumchi and the provincial government was contemplating evacuation to Kumul. Simultaneously, both Kazakh and Kirghiz rebels had spilled over into the Tarim Basin, capturing a number of significant towns, including Aksu and Tashkurghan.

In September, when GMD rule in Xinjiang seemed doomed to complete defeat, the Nationalist General Zhang Zhizhong (94) was dispatched by Chongqing to Xinjiang and approached the Soviets with the ultimatum that "unless a cease-fire were effected immediately, China would make an international affair of the matter." (95) Zhang's delegation to Xinjiang included a number of prominent Uighurs, including the former Khotan Amir Muhammad Amin Bughra and two other anti-Soviet Turkic nationalists, Masud Sabri and Isa Yusuf Alptekin. The Soviets intervened and a ceasefire was called. Negotiations began in October and the peace treaty was finalized in June 1946. In the end, the rebels agreed to disband the ETR, in exchange for Nationalist concessions which granted the local population much more autonomy in Xinjiang. The INA was permitted to continue to exist as a "Peace Preservation Corps," theoretically answerable to Zhang.

Why did the Soviets agree to negotiate this treaty when their puppet regime was so close to taking over the entire provincial government? One Western scholar suggests a number of possible reasons: "The Soviet Union had attained its primary aims in Sinkiang and had no good reason for encouraging further INA advances on Urumchi. By extending its 'all-out support' to the Ili rebels,... the Kremlin had effectively re-established its primacy in the traditionally Soviet-influenced border districts of Ili, Chuguchak and Shara Sume." (96) This had given the USSR access to the valuable natural resources found in the area, including oil, tungsten, copper, gold, and uranium. In addition, control of the "Three Regions," as the border districts were called, "provided the Soviet Union with an important political card which could be played both in the international theatre... and on the regional stage, where Stalin remained uncertain as to the eventual outcome of the Nationalist-Communist power struggle in China and therefore as to which side to back." (97) Finally, "the further the rebel forces pushed from Ili, the weaker Soviet control became over the movement.... beyond the narrow confines of the Ili Valley anti-Soviet sentiment was rife amongst the independent Kazakhs of the Altai region, and still more so amongst the traditionally conservative Muslim population of the Tarim Basin." (98)

With the conclusion of the armistice between the ETR and the GMD, a new coalition government was formed in Xinjiang, with Zhang replacing Wu as Provincial Chairman and Ahmadjan Qasimi as Provincial Vice-Chairman. A number of other members of the STPNLC faction, as well as Muhammad Amin Bughra, Isa Yusuf Alptekin, Masud Sabri, and the Tatar Burhan Shahidi were represented in the cabinet. Zhang proceeded to institute economic, tax, legal, and penal reforms and admitted that "in many respects, the policies adopted by the Sinkiang government in the past were entirely wrong - no different, in fact, than the policies of imperialist nations
towards their colonies." (99) However, Zhang's apparently sincere desire to reform the system was not shared by his GMD colleagues and the political reality in Xinjiang changed little at this time, with the STPNLC (and hence the Soviets) continuing to control the "Three Regions" and the GMD Han appointees holding the reins of power in the rest of the province.

In the area under STPNLC control, Soviet influence had scarcely diminished with the end of the ETR. Signs in Russian, the exclusive trade with the USSR, the presence of Soviet doctors and technicians, and the continued export of natural resources over the border all testified to this fact. However, not all who lived in this region were satisfied with the existing state of affairs. Shortly after the signing of the GMD-ETR agreement, the Kazakh leader Osman Batur, a true nomad who was reluctant to give allegiance to anyone, broke away from the rest of the STPNLC leadership. His departure was the catalyst for large-scale defections of Kazakh horsemen to GMD-controlled territory. Eventually, Osman allied himself with right-wing elements within the GMD.

The establishment of the coalition government also enabled the GMD to put down a revolt in the south which had been brewing since the summer of 1945, when, as noted above, Kirghiz rebels from the Tien Shan had moved into the Tarim Basin. In the tradition of most rebellions in the south, this uprising seems to have been largely Islamic in nature, although there were reports of troops from the Soviet Central Asian Republics being engaged in the fighting. (100)

Zhang's well-meaning attempts at reform met with little success, and his attempts to conciliate all of the different political factions in the province ended up in a situation where no-one was satisfied. Widespread riots broke out in Urumchi in early 1947, as the Uighur population demanded a greater role in the government of the province. The result was that Zhang was replaced by Masud Sabri as the first non-Han governor of Xinjiang in May of that year. However, Sabri seems to have been little more than a puppet figure through whom the GMD continued to exert control over the government and his appointment was met by a further series of demonstrations throughout the province. These riots soon led to the collapse of the coalition government, as many of the members of the Provincial Assembly, including those from the "Three Regions," left the capital for Kulja. "Sinkiang was once again split into two mutually hostile zones with no direct communication possible between Urumchi and Kulja." (101)

Once again, the Soviet Union, perhaps nervous about Masud's anti-Soviet stance, intervened militarily in Xinjiang affairs. This time, the area of conflict was far to the north, in the disputed region of Pei-ta-shan, a small mountain range in the still undefined Sino-Mongolian border region. This was where the Kazakhs under Osman Batur had withdrawn to after his break with the STPNLC faction in Kulja. During the summer of 1946, there had been clashes between the Kazakh nomads and MPR troops.

Shortly after Masud's appointment as Governor, in June 1947, the latter, reportedly backed by Soviet planes, attacked the former. In response, Urumchi dispatched a Dungan cavalry regiment to the area. Clashes between the two sides continued until July 1948. "By maintaining indirect pressure on China in the Pei-ta-shan sector of Sinkiang... Moscow undoubtedly sought to hasten the demise of the Masud Sabri regime in Sinkiang without, however, openly breaking with the Nationalist authorities in Nanking." (102) Meanwhile, the two Xinjiangs grew further and further apart; the GMD government was increasingly controlled by Han Chinese, while the Kulja regime, dominated by Turkic Muslims and Russians, actively excluded the Han from political power.

As these developments unfolded in Xinjiang, other significant events were taking place in the rest of China. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) was steadily winning the Civil War with the GMD government. Rather than viewing this as a welcome end to the ongoing conflict in China, Stalin saw this as a threat to Soviet interests in Xinjiang. As long as the two were fighting each other, the USSR could continue to exercise her influence in the province. Once either one emerged as the sole victor, that control would become much more difficult. The CCP shared the basic ideology of the Soviet Union, but this was not the only concern of Stalin, who "must long have suspected that Mao Zedong was a Chinese nationalist first, a communist second, and a loyal disciple of the Comintern scarcely at all." (103) In October 1947, Zhang and Burhan Shahidi had held secret talks with the Soviets in Nanjing. Subsequent talks had continued throughout the rest of the year and into the next.

In December 1948, Shahidi, who had grown up in Russia prior to the 1917 Revolution and had served as Sheng's consul in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, replaced Masud Sabri as Chairman of the province. However, although negotiations continued from January to May 1949, the GMD and the USSR failed to come to an agreement over the future of Xinjiang. By this time, it was too late for either party to prevent the CCP from gaining control of the province. On September 24, 1949, GMD troops in Xinjiang surrendered to the PLA and the next day, Burhan Shahidi officially transferred his allegiance from the GMD to the CCP. On October 1, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was proclaimed in Beijing.