Modern Kazakhstan is the largest in terms of territory after Russia and one of the most economically developed countries of the CIS. Its immediate predecessor was the republic of the Soviet Union - the Kazakh SSR. The history of this state formation is simultaneously connected with our common Soviet past and the modern realities of Kazakhstan. Let's look at it through the prism of past years.
Backstory
But in order to establish what processes led to the emergence of such a state entity as the Kazakh SSR, we need to go back several centuries ago, to the origins of statehood among the Kazakhs.
The origin of Kazakh statehood refers to the period of the collapse of the Golden Horde and the separation of the Kazakh Horde from the Uzbek Khanate based on its ruins. It is customary to date this event to 1465, when the leaders of Kerey and Zhanibek, dissatisfied with the rule of the Uzbek Khan Abulkhair, broke away from his state with their nomads. The tribesmen who followed them began to call themselves Kazakhs, which is translated from Turkic as “free people.”
However, the new state formation was quite unstable, andhas never been fully centralized. In 1718, under the pressure of the raiding Jungars, it finally broke up into three parts: the Junior, Middle and Senior zhuz. Then the bloody period of the Kazakh-Dzungarian wars began. Only the gradual acceptance of Russian citizenship by the Kazakh khans during the 18th century helped to save the Kazakhs from complete extermination. At the beginning, the khanates had considerable autonomy, but during the 19th century this was increasingly abolished, which led to revolts. In 1824, the Khan's power was finally eliminated, and the Kazakh lands became part of the Russian Empire.
The southern part of modern Kazakhstan, formerly part of the Senior Zhuz, but having lost its independence, was annexed to Russia during the Central Asian campaigns in the second half of the 19th century. The territory of the Kazakh settlement was divided between the Turkestan and West Siberian governor-generals, as well as the Orenburg province. During this period, they began to be called Kirghiz-Kaisaks, so as not to be confused with Russian Cossacks.
But in 1917 the collapse of the Russian Empire occurred, the period of the Civil War began, which had a significant impact on the fate of the Kazakhs and played a decisive role in the formation of the Kazakh SSR.
Standoff period
During the Civil War, political and armed struggle was also conducted on the territory of modern Kazakhstan. At this time, national autonomies were formed - in the north - Alash (Alash-Orda) with a center in Semipalatinsk, and in the south - Turkestan with a capital in Kokand. Both state entities were liquidated induring the Civil War by the Bolsheviks: the first - in 1920, and the second - in 1918. On their territory, respectively, the Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic and the Turkestan Soviet Republic were formed.
Kyrgyz ASSR
At the time of its formation on July 16, 1920, the territory of the Kirghiz ASSR included most of modern Kazakhstan. It did not include only the territories in the south of the country, which, as mentioned above, were included in the Turkestan Soviet Republic. But Karakalpakia and the modern Orenburg region were part of the Kirghiz ASSR, and Orenburg was its administrative center. The Kirghiz ASSR, on the rights of autonomy, was included in the RSFSR, as well as Turkestan.
During its existence, the territory of the KASSR has undergone significant changes. So, in 1924-1925, it included in its composition the southern territories of modern Kazakhstan, which until then were an integral part of the Turkestan Soviet Republic.
Kazakh ASSR
Given that the variant "Kirghiz-Kaisaki" was not a self-name of the Kazakhs, in April 1925 the Kirghiz ASSR was renamed into the Kazakh ASSR. The capital was moved from Orenburg to Kyzyl-Orda, previously called Ak-Mechet, and the Orenburg region itself was separated from the territory of the autonomy and transferred to the direct control of the RSFSR. In 1927, another transfer of the capital took place, this time to Alma-Ata, which remained the administrative center of various state entities. Kazakhs until 1997, that is, 70 years.
In 1930, the Karakalpak Autonomous Region was separated from the Kazakh ASSR, which was transferred to the direct subordination of the RSFSR. Thus, the territory of the future Kazakh USSR was formed almost completely, and only minor changes took place in the future.
Establishment of the Kazakh SSR
In 1936, a new Constitution was adopted in the USSR, according to which the Kazakh ASSR acquired the status of a union republic. In this regard, it was withdrawn from the RSFSR, having received equal rights with it, and since then it has become known as the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. This is how the Kazakh SSR was formed.
Governance in the Kazakh SSR
In fact, the management of the Kazakh SSR was completely concentrated in the hands of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, formed in 1937, which was an integral part of the CPSU. The main person of the Republic was the First Secretary of the Party. Although nominally the collective head of the republic was considered the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Kazakhstan. And the Supreme Council itself was the legislative body. It was headed by the Chairman of the Presidium until 1990, and then by the Chairman of the Supreme Council.
Territorial division of the Kazakh SSR
The Kazakh SSR had an administrative structure similar to the territorial division of other Soviet republics. In total, 19 regions were formed at different times. In the early 60s, some regions of the Kazakh SSR were united into territories (Tselinny, West Kazakhstan, South Kazakhstan), however, withmaintaining their administrative functions. But already in the mid-60s, it was decided to abandon such a territorial division.
Symbolics
Like any state formation, the Kazakh SSR had its own symbols - a flag, emblem and anthem.
The first flag of the republic was a red flag with the inscription "Kazakh SSR" in Russian and Kazakh, as well as with a hammer and sickle in the upper left corner. It was this banner that was fixed as a state banner by the Constitution of the Kazakh SSR of 1937. But in 1953 significant changes took place: the inscription was removed, but a five-pointed star and a blue stripe were added at the bottom of the cloth. In this form, the flag of the Kazakh SSR existed until the very withdrawal of the republic from the Union.
Then, in 1937, the coat of arms of the Kazakh SSR was adopted. Unlike the flag, it has undergone minimal changes over the period of its existence. His image is shown below.
The anthem of the Kazakh SSR was approved in 1945. In it, the words of Kayum Mukhamedkhanov, Abdilda Tazhibaev and Gabit Musrepov were set to music by Mukan Tulebaev, Evgeny Brusilovsky and Latif Khamidi.
Development of the national economy
The Kazakh SSR during the years of Soviet power has reached hitherto unseen economic indicators and the level of development of the national economy. At that time, industry was actively developing, factories and factories were being built, virgin lands were rising, the Baikonur cosmodrome was built, the capital of the Kazakh SSR, Alma-Ata, was being rebuilt. Especiallymetallurgy, mechanical engineering, coal mining industry developed intensively.
But do not forget the period of mass famine, forced collectivization, repression of the national intelligentsia, which the people of Kazakhstan experienced in the 20s-30s of the last century.
Liquidation of the Kazakh SSR
Democratic processes that began in the Soviet Union in the second half of the 80s could not but affect the Kazakh SSR, in which centrifugal tendencies intensified. In 1986, the first anti-government rally in the USSR was held in the capital of Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata. It was a protest against the appointment from Moscow as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan of a person who had never even been in the republic before. The movement was brutally suppressed with the use of military units.
In 1989, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had previously been Chairman of the Council of Ministers, became First Secretary. On April 24 of the following year, the Supreme Council elected him president. In October 1990, the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Kazakhstan was adopted. After the August coup, Nazarbayev left the ranks of the CPSU. In December 1991, the full independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan was proclaimed. So the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic ceased to exist.
