The war lasted between 28 August and 2 September 1920, ending in the defeat of the Emirate of Bukhara, which was instead replaced by the RSFSR-controlled Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.

During the first two years of the conflict, communist troops failed to make considerable progress in the Central Asian theaters, as the majority of Red Army forces were tied down on other fronts.

The mission was headed by British officer Frederick Marshman Bailey, who subsequently went on to evade Bolshevik capture for several months until he escaped.

[3] The defeat of the White Army troops led by Alexander Kolchak during the second half of 1919 radically changed the situation on the Turkestani theater of the war.

The Red Turkestan Front was formed on 14 August 1919, as the communists began relocating their forces by means of the Central Asian railroad network that had remained intact since the beginning of the war.

A surge in the activities of the leftist Young Bukharans movement in August 1920 prompted Red Army commander Mikhail Frunze to act in their support.