THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE QUESTION OF KAZAKHSTAN’S HISTORY

50
THE SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY AND
When Did the Political Pressure Begin against the Historical
Sciences in Kazakhstan?
J. Stalin’s article called ‘About Some Issues of Bolshevism’s History’,
which appeared in 1931 in the sixth issue of the journal ‘Proletarskaya
Revolyutsiya’, aimed to elevate Bolshevism’s history to its rightful
place, to further teaching and improve studies of the party with
scientific methods, and to compete with the Trotskists and others
who interpreted history incorrectly. There were prohibitions against
the works of some Kazakh intellectuals, such as K. Kemengerulı, M.
Tınışbayev, T. Şonanulı, S. Asferndiyarov, Ş. Kudaybergenov, and A.
Bökeyhanov, whom the regime deemed that they interpreted history
falsely, harmfully, and ignored the appropriate class concepts. There
has been a false perception about Kazakhs’ historical science, that
it was too new and owed any appreciation to Russian scholars and
scientists. This idea was articulated by the Kazakhstan Communist
Party Central Committee, particularly in the area of social science. 63
Stalin’s article mentioned above, noted historical methods that ought
to be considered in 1934 by the Soviet Communist Party and Education
Minister; the warnings of J.Stalin, A. Jdanov, and S. Kirov about Soviet
History course book determined that Stalinist concept on the science
of Soviet History. The 1938 ‘Short History of Communist Party’ determined
the methodological way of all the Soviet Union people’s history.
In just such a period, Ermukhan Bekmakhanov finished secondary
school in 1932 in Bayanavul, after that he completed a one-year preparation
course to university in Semey, and between 1933 and 1937,
with the assistance of a Ministry of Education schlarship, he completed
his education in the history deparment at the university in the city
of Voronej. Having graduated from university, in 1937 Bekmakhanov
started his duty as a teacher at Number 28 secondary school in Alma-Ata.
Here, he participated in studies about the writing of history
methodological works for the people of USSR and helped prepare
the first antique world map for Kazakh language schools. In the Pedagogy
Research Institute in Alma-Ata (currently, Altynsarin Kazakh
Science Academy), the researcher worked as a principal in the same
institute between the years 1939-1940. The young researcher’s first
scientific methodological works were issued in the magazine ‘Public
Teacher’ (current ‘School of Kazakhistan’) in 1938-1939 and aroused
the interest of teachers and the readers. With the principalship in
the Kazakh Pedagogy University, (currently Abay University), he con-
63 Omarov, İ., “O Zadaçah İstoriçeskoy Nauki v Kazakhstane”, Bolşevik Kazahstana, 1950,
No1, p. 28.