• The Russians conquered Central Asia in the mid-1800s. • Built railroads • Expanded cotton and oil production • Rule came to be resented • After the Russian Revolution in 1917 the new Soviet leaders weakened resistance to their rule by dividing Central Asia into republics. • They encouraged ethnic Russians to move to these areas and made other people settle on government-owned farms. • The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The Central Asian republics finally became independent countries.