The article is devoted to the analysis of the military-political crisis in the Tajik SSR in the early 1930s, caused by the activation of illegal armed groups led by Ibrahim Bek. Based on archival materials (OGPU reports, reports of the Red Army command), the article examines the reasons for the revival of the Basmachi movement after its suppression in the 1920s, the tactics of the gangs’ breakthrough into Soviet territory in the spring of 1931 and the USSR’s strategy to eliminate the threat. Particular attention is paid to the socio-economic factors (famine, excesses of collectivization) used by the Basmachi to mobilize the dissatisfied local population, as well as the comprehensive approach of the Soviet government, which combined military operations, repression and economic measures. The conclusion emphasizes that the victory over the gangs accelerated the integration of Tajikistan into the USSR, but laid the foundation for long-term ethnocultural contradictions.