Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic

(Redirected from Kazak ASSR)

The Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic[1] (Russian: Казахская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика; Kazakh: Qazaq Aptanom Sotsijalijstik Soвettik Respuvвlijkasь), abbreviated as Kazak ASSR (Russian: Казакская АССР; Kazakh: Qazaq ASSR) and simply Kazakhstan (Russian: Казахстан; Kazakh: Qazaƣьstan), was an autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) within the Soviet Union (from 1922) which existed from 1920 until 1936.[2]

1920–1925:
Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic
Киргизская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика (Russian)
Қырғыз Автономиялы Социалистік Кеңестік Республикасы (Kazakh)
1925–1936:
Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic
Казахская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика (Russian)
Қазақ Автономиялы Социалистік Кеңестік Республикасы (Kazakh)
ASSR of the Russian SFSR
1920–1936
Flag of Kazakh ASSR
Flag
Coat of arms of Kazakh ASSR
Coat of arms

Capital
 • TypeUnitary Soviet Republic
History 
• Established
1920
• Disestablished
1936
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Alash Autonomy
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
Today part ofKazakhstan
Russia
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

History

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The Kazakh ASSR was originally created as the Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (Russian: Киргизская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика; Kazakh: Қырғыз Автономиялық Социалистік Кеңес Республикасы) (not to be confused with Kirghiz ASSR of 1926–1936, a Central Asian territory which is now the independent state of Kyrgyzstan) on 26 August 1920 and was an autonomous republic within the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.

Before the Russian Revolution, Kazakhs in Russia were known as "Kirghiz-Kazaks" or simply "Kirghiz" (and the Kyrgyzes as "Kara-Kirghiz").[3] This practice continued into the early Soviet period, and thus the Kirghiz ASSR was a national republic for Kazakhs. However, on 15–19 June 1925 the Fifth Kazakh Council of Soviets decided to rename the republic the Kazak Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic.[4] The capital of the former Kirghiz ASSR, Ak-Mechet, was retained as the seat of the Kazak ASSR but was renamed Kzyl-Orda, from the Kazakh "red centre".[1] In 1927[1] or 1929[5][a] the city of Alma-Ata was designated as the new capital of the ASSR. In February 1930, there was an anti-Soviet insurgency in the village of Sozak.[6] On 5 December 1936, the ASSR was detached from the RSFSR and made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, a full union republic of the Soviet Union.[1]

Geography

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The Kazak ASSR that succeeded the recently expanded Kirghiz ASSR included all of the territory making up the present-day Republic of Kazakhstan plus parts of Uzbekistan (the Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast), Turkmenistan (the north shore of Kara-Bogaz-Gol) and Russia (parts of what would become Orenburg Oblast). These territories were transferred from the Kazak ASSR over the following decade.

The administrative subdivisions of the ASSR changed several times in its history. In 1928 the guberniyas, administrative districts inherited from the Kirghiz ASSR were eliminated and replaced with 13 okrugs and raions. In 1932, the republic was divided into six new larger oblasts. These included:

On 31 January 1935, yet another territorial division was implemented which included the six oblasts listed above plus a new Karkaralinsk okrug.

Notes

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  1. ^ Sources differ on the year.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Grigol Ubiria. Soviet Nation-Building in Central Asia: The Making of the Kazakh and Uzbek Nations. Routledge, 2015. p. 124. ISBN 9781317504351
  2. ^ SOVIET PERIOD IN KAZAKHSTAN
  3. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kirghiz" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 827–829.
  4. ^ The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's who. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1991. p. 607.
  5. ^ Vladimir Babak, et al., eds. Political Organization in Central Asia and Azerbaijan: Sources and Documents. Routledge, 2004. p. 90. ISBN 9781135776817
  6. ^ Niccolò Pianciola; Paolo Sartori (2013). "Interpreting an insurgency in Soviet Kazakhstan: The OGPU, Islam and Qazaq 'Clans' in Suzak, 1930". Islam, Society and States Across the Qazaq Steppe: 297–340.