Kirghiz ASSR, 1917-1926 History of Kazakhstan 1945-1953






Kazakhstan 1926-1945


Administration . In 1925 the Kirghiz ASSR was renamed Kazakh ASSR; in 1926, Kyrgyzstan was split off as the Kirghiz ASSR. In 1936 the Kazakh ASSR became Kazakh SSR. In 1925 the capital was moved from Kzyl-Orda to Alma-Ata (Almaty). An administrative reform in 1936 changed the organization of the country from 7 to 16 oblasts.

Political History . The Alash-Orda Party (since 1912) was dissolved, ethnic Kazakhs ousted from the administration.

Economic History . Stalin's economic policy in Kazakhstan includes the confiscation of animal herds and the forced settlement of hitherto nomadic Kazakhs. The Turksib was completed in 1929-1930, linking Alma Ata with Russian Siberia. Coal mining, in the Karaganda basin, was begun in 1930. Akmola Airfield (present Astana Airport) was constructed in 1931, Shymkent Airport in 1932, Sary-Arka Airport near Karaganda in 1934, Almaty Airport in 1935. In 1936 a pipeline connecting the Emba Oil Fields in western Kazakhstan with the Ural region was constructed.
When, during World War II, major Soviet industrial centers in the west were occupied by German forces, makeshift industrial factories were established in the cities of Kazakhstan.

Demographic History . The policy of forcing the hitherto nomadic Kazakhs to settle down caused a famine; an estimated one to one and a half million of ethnic Kazakhs died from starvation; some Kazakhs crossed the border into China.
In 1932 the USSR began implementing the policy of mass deportation of ethnic groups, ethnic Poles and Germans from Ukraine being the first (1932-1936), followed by Koreans from the Maritime Province (1937), by Poles (from West Ukraine and West Belarus), Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians in 1940, Germans (most notably Volga Germans), Finns, Ingrian Finns, Romanians in 1941, Karachay and Kalmyks in 1943, Crimean Tatars, Meshketians, Azeris, Chechen-Ingush, Balkars, Crimean Greeks, Kurds in 1944, Romanians from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1946-1953, Black Sea Greeks in 1949 and 1950. A significant percentage of those who survived the transport (in cattle waggons; the transport could take one and a half months) were settled in Kazakhstan. Once there, the deportees found themselves under pressure to assimilate into the Russian culture.
The relocation of industrial factories into cities in Kazakhstan was accompanied by the entire workforce, consisting mainly of Russians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, being brought into the country as well.
The census of 1926 counted 6.074 million, the census of 1939 6.139 million; J. Lahmeyer gives an estimated 6.444 million for 1945.
In 1933 the population of Kazakhstan numbered 6,796,400; 58,8 % were ethnic Kazakhs, 20.6 % Russians, 14 % Ukrainians. The largest cities were Almaty (197,400), Semipalatinsk (136,400), Karaganda (118,900).

Cultural History . In 1927, for the Kazakh language, the Arabic script was replaced by the Latin script; in 1940 the Latin script was replaced by Cyrillic script.
The first football team representing the Kazakh ASSR (mainly consisting of ethnic Russians, from the urban centers) played in 1928.






STUDENTS' PAPER Choi Eunsol, The History of Kazakhstan as Reflected in the New York Times, 1920-1969
EXTERNAL
FILES 		Timetable History of Kazakhstan, from BBC News
Major Events Relevant to Central Asian History since 1600, timeline from oxuscom
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Kazakhstan
Deportation, from The German Colonies on the Volga River
Articles Polish Minority in the Soviet Union, Koryo Saram, Population Transfer in the Soviet Union, Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Alphabet, Almaty International Airport, Sary-Arka Airport, Shymkent Airport, Astana International Airport, TurkSib from Wikipedia
Kazakhstan's forgotten Poles long to return, from J. Otto Pohl; has reference to Kazakhstan
Exile to Kazakhstan. Stalin's Repression of 1937, from Azerbaijan International
Kazakhstan : Chechens Mark 60th Anniversary of Deportation, from Radio Free Europe
Meshketians : Social Challenges, Prospects and Opportunities during and after the Repatriation, by Nino Edilshvili
Bibliography on Stalinist Deportations, from J. Otto Pohl
Pilgrimage from Exile. Polish-Kazakhstani Visit, from Warsaw Voice
Deportation of the Crimean Tatars (J.O. Pohl), posted by SOTA
A Comparative Study on the Forced Deportation of Two Ethnic Groups : Soviet Koreans and Volga Germans, by Lee, Chaimun
Kazakhstan Coal, from About Kazakhstan
History Russian Pipeline Transport 1917-1945, from Transneft
Regions of Kazakhstan, from www.statoids.com
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Kazakhstan by Ben Cahoon
Historical Population Statistics : Kazakhstan, from Population Statistics
Memories from Deportation to Kazakhstan, by Stefania Borstowa
Soviet Deportations, from Electronic Museum Poland, Foto Album
On the Scope of Political Repression in the USSR under Stalin's Rule, 1921-1953, by N.G. Okhotin, A.B. Roginsky
REFERENCE Hübner's Weltstatistik, 73rd edition, edited by Ernst Rösner, Wien 1939
Article USSR : Soviet Central Asia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1937 p.1299 (data of 1935-1937) [G]
Article : Kazakh SSR, in : Americana Annual 1940 p.414, 1943 p.409, 1944 p.375 [G]
Article : Kazakh SSR, in : New International Year Book 1938 p.374, 1939 pp.401-402 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on June 3rd 2002, last revised on October 13th 2007

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