Surprisingly little is known in the West about the role of Central Asia in World War II. This scholarly but thoroughly readable work plugs that gap.
Even though Central Asia was far from the main battlefields of World War II, it was still tightly bound up in the Soviet war effort. In Central Asia in World War Two: The Impact and Legacy of Fighting for the Soviet Union, Vicky Davis, a historian and researcher specialising in Soviet Central Asia, shows how the region provided man and horsepower, and became a home for evacuees and deportees from the European part of the Soviet Union, causing population spikes and stretching local resources thin.
This sudden diversity didn’t just strain the system—it sped up Sovietisation efforts, with Russian language and culture becoming an everyday part of life.
What makes Davis’s work stand out is her focus on the human element. She brings together the voices of hundreds of individuals, painting a vivid picture of daily struggles during wartime. Central Asian conscripts often dealt with poor training and language barriers in the Red Army, while back home, women and children tackled factory and farm work to keep society afloat.
Nor does Davis gloss over the prejudices that Central Asian conscripts faced. She tackles the reality of racism in the military, where some Central Asian soldiers were labeled as ‘backwards’.
And not only men were conscripted into the army. Central Asia was key in providing horses for the front—animals which were transported by train to the battlefield and then used in cavalry and artillery divisions.
Nevertheless, the war didn’t just bring hardship to the region—it also kickstarted big changes in Central Asian life. Davis argues that the conflict sped up integration into Soviet culture, thanks to increased exposure to Russian language and customs, shifts in gender roles, and advancements in education and industry.
These changes left a legacy of broader horizons and more cosmopolitan attitudes among Central Asians in the post-war years.
This book fills a critical gap in our understanding of how the Soviet Union’s massive struggle affected all of its people—not just those at the front lines.
Davis’s balanced mix of careful scholarship and heartfelt personal accounts adds a valuable new angle to World War II history, showing how global conflict can reshape entire regions, societies, and identities.
It’s a must-read for anyone who wants a fuller picture of the war’s impact beyond Europe’s borders.
Main photo by Victor Loh on Unsplash. Central Asia in World War Two: The Impact and Legacy of Fighting for the Soviet Union is published by Bloomsbury Publishing.
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