THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY

THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY 147
THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNIST PARTY ON WRITING
HISTORY AND HISTORICAL EDUCATION IN KAZAKHSTAN
IN THE SOVIET PERIOD
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emin ÖZDEMİR*
Kazakhs, having the origins from Turkic people and living between
Central Asia’s wide steppes and the Turkish homeland Altay, came to
the stage of history in XV century with establishing of Kazak Khanate.
They were independent until the beginning Russian occupation
of Kazakhs steppes in the middle of XVIII century. Destroying Kazan
and Astrahan Khanates Russian became neighbor to Kazakh steppes
and the first relation between Kazakhs and Russians started. Russian
merchants started coming to Kazakh steppes, which accelerated the
Kazakh-Russian relations. With Tsar Petro I Russian interest raised
over Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. 245 From the middle of XVIII century
Russians started invasion of Kazakhs steppes. In that period separated
political structure of Kazakh Khanate and Kalmuk attacks from
East facilitate Russian occupation. In the middle of XIX century after
separating Kazakhstan into three parts, Little Zhuz, Middle Zhuz and
Grand Zhus, lost its political unity and Russia completed the occupation
of Kazakhstan. To consolidate the authority of the occupied
regions Russia organized the administration, and on the other side
they were started the policy of assimilation. 246
After organizing the administration in Kazakhstan ensuring Kazakhs,
which lived on a large geography, adaptation to Russia formed a big
problems to Russian leaders. The struggles of independence from
occupation were occurred and people in a large amount gave the
support them in Kazakhstan, in spite of the fact that the occupation
was completed. In order to make a permanent administration in the
occupied regions Russian leaders believed in compulsory cultural
assimilation, just like it was done with cultural politics in occupied
Tatar and Baskurt regions which was used as a model. Russia’s main
goal with applying culturel politics in Kazakhstan and Turkestan was
to provide conformation of Turkic people to Russian adminstration in
occupied regions. And it could be done only by russification of Turkic
* Hacı Bektaş Veli University in Nevşehir
245 Sabol, S. Russian Colonization and The Genesis of Kazak National Consciousnes,
Newyork, 2003, p. 27.
246 Özdemir, E. “Rusya’nın Kazakistan’da Uyguladığı Kültür Siyasetine Örnek olarak ‘Dala-
Vilayeti Gazetesi’”, Turkish Studies, Vol.4/3, 2009, p. 1698.