<P> In the 19th century, the Russian Empire began to expand and spread into Central Asia . There were 210,306 Russians living in Uzbekistan in 1912 . The "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the Anglo - Russian Convention of 1907 . A second, less intensive phase followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 . At the start of the 19th century, there were some 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) separating British India and the outlying regions of Tsarist Russia . Much of the land between was unmapped . </P> <P> By the beginning of 1920, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early resistance to the Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan and the rest of the Central Asia became a part of the Soviet Union . On 27 October 1924 the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created . From 1941 to 1945, during World War II, 1,433,230 people from Uzbekistan fought in the Red Army against Nazi Germany . A number also fought on the German side . As many as 263,005 Uzbek soldiers died in the battlefields of the Eastern Front, and 32,670 went missing in action . </P> <P> On 20 June 1990, Uzbekistan declared its state sovereignty . On 31 August 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence after the failed coup attempt in Moscow . 1 September was proclaimed the National Independence Day . The Soviet Union was dissolved on 26 December of that year . </P> <P> Islam Karimov, ruler of Uzbekistan since independence, died on 2 September 2016 . </P>

When did uzbekistan gain independence from the soviet union