After the overthrow of Nicholas II, the Bolsheviks began to establish Soviet power throughout Russia. This process took place in different areas in different and far from always peaceful ways . The establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan began in 1918.
On November 26, 1917, at the IV Extraordinary Regional Muslim Congress, the further fate of the region was decided. The delegates declared autonomy, not being guided by the actions of the Bolsheviks.
Let us further consider how the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan went .
Briefly about the Congress
The IV Extraordinary Congress was attended by more than 300 delegates. Among the active participants can be called Bukeikhanova, Shokay, Tynyshpayev. On November 27, a resolution was adopted within the framework of the Congress, proclaiming the formation of Turkestan autonomy.
At the same time, an interim government was formed. It was supposed to include 12 people. Of these, 8 were supposed to be representatives of the indigenous population, and 4 - of the remaining peoples inhabiting the territory.
Tnyshpayev was elected as Prime Minister, and Shokai as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In addition, the Congress delegates decided on the composition of the National Assembly. It was supposed to include 54 people, 1/3 of whom are representatives of non-indigenous peoples.
An official appeal from the autonomy government was published on December 1. It said that the territory is part of the Russian Federal Democratic Republic. Due to the fact that the venue of the Congress and the location of the governing structures of the autonomy was Kokand, it became known as Kokand.
The beginning of the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan: photo, description
Already in January 1918, the leadership of the Kokand Autonomy was under pressure from the Bolsheviks who put forward an ultimatum to Shokai. He was required to recognize the power of the Soviets and make a corresponding statement to the population, surrender weapons and dissolve the police. However, the Bolsheviks were denied.
In response to this, on the night of February 6, trains with infantry, artillery and cavalry units arrived in the autonomy. On February 6-7, the Bolsheviks defeated Kokand and liquidated autonomy.
In short, the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan was a military seizure of territory.
The spread of Bolshevik power in the region
For the Bolsheviks, there were only two ways to establish Soviet power in Kazakhstan : military and peaceful. However, in general, the process was rather complicated.
Features of the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan were associated with the specificity of the socio-economic development of the territories. In some areas, the process was bloody and protracted, in others it was relatively peaceful. Among the latter, for example, Chimkent, Bukeevskaya Horde, Kokchetav, Kazalinsk, Akmolinsk.
During the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan, military pressure was exerted on the regions of the Ural, Turgai, and Semirechensk regions. Since October 1917, the Bolsheviks were able to gain a foothold in almost the entire territory of the region. The main centers of resistance remained the Semirechensky, Ural and Orenburg regions.
Convocation of a new congress
The Bolsheviks took into account the specifics of the geographical position of the region, its identity. The establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan was carried out in strict accordance with directives sent from the center.
In 1917, on December 5-13, the II All-Kazakh Congress was held in Orenburg. It was attended by delegates from all over the region: the Bukeev horde, Semipalatinsk, Turgai, Ural, Akmola, Samarkand, Semirechensk regions and Altai province. The organizers were Bukeikhanov, Omarov, Baitursynov, Dulatov, Doshchanov. The chairman of the congress was Kulmanov.
The main issue on the agenda was the formation of Kazakh autonomy. The corresponding report was made by Bukeikhanov. A special commission was created to resolve this issue. On behalf of her, he spoke at a congress of Gabbasov. The congress delegates as a whole were in favor of establishing Soviet power in Kazakhstan. The summary of Gabbasov’s speech can be reduced to the fact that the creation of a solid government in the region will avoid a civil war. As a result, congress delegates unanimously voted for the formation of the autonomy of the regions of Kazakhstan. She was called Alash.
Delegates also discussed the formation of an interim Alash Orda People’s Council. The congress decided that it should consist of 25 members. Of these, 10 people were supposed to represent Russians and other peoples of the region. The council was supposed to be in Semipalatinsk. Bukeikhanov was elected to the post of chairman.
Interaction with the Bolsheviks
If we talk briefly about the features of the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan , as, incidentally, in other regions of Russia, it can be noted that the Bolsheviks did not want to recognize autonomy in any territory.
Alash-Horde leaders worked closely with representatives of the Soviet government. Some of them met with Lenin himself. Gabbasov often negotiated with Stalin, who at that time held the post of People's Commissar for Nationalities. The leaders of Alash-Horde were not opposed to the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan , however, this should have happened simultaneously with the recognition of the autonomy of the region. However, their expectations were not met.
Resistance stage
Realizing that the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan excludes any independence of the region, the leaders of Alash-Horde began to actively contact the chieftain Dutov, who managed to overthrow the Bolsheviks in Orenburg, as well as Komuch in Samara, the Provisional Government in Omsk. As a result, the leaders of the All-Kazakh People’s Council gradually began to ally with the opponents of Bolshevism.
In June 1918, leaders of the Alash-Horde adopted a decree according to which all decrees issued by the Soviets were invalidated on the territory of the autonomy. In August, the first horse regiment was created in Semipalatinsk.
Council Responses
The Bolsheviks understood that in order to establish Soviet power in Kazakhstan, they needed to attract a wide mass of the population. And for this, in turn, they will have to contact the leaders of the Alash-Horde. At the beginning of November 1919, a decree was approved, according to which the Alashordians were amnestied. The All-Kazakh People’s Council in December of the same year sided with the Bolsheviks.
Civil War
The establishment of the power of the Bolsheviks provoked fierce resistance from the political forces overthrown by them. This led to a civil confrontation, and then to a full-scale Civil War.
During it, on the territory of Kazakhstan, military operations were conducted on the large East, Ural, Turkestan and local Semirechensky and Aktobe fronts.
By the summer of 1918 the situation was complicated in the Orenburg region. This territory was captured by Dutov. Ataman managed to cut off the path to the Bolsheviks along the Orenburg-Tashkent railway. The Red Army was forced to retreat. In order to stop the further advance of the White Guards towards Tashkent, the Aktobe front was formed. Zinoviev, an active participant in the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan, was appointed to the post of commander.
In the same period, a special expedition was organized, led by the Extraordinary Commissioner in the steppe region Dzhangildin. She left Moscow in mid-July 1918 with uniforms and weapons for several thousand people. By November 11, the expedition reached Chelkar.
The fighting on the Aktobe front was of particular importance during the Civil War. In October 1918, the White Guards launched an attack on Aktyubinsk for a subsequent breakthrough into Central Asia and southern Kazakhstan. However, they were stopped. After the liberation in 1919 of Orenburg, Orsk, Uralsk and the combined forces of the Aktobe and Eastern fronts, the first was abolished.
Events in the Semirechensk region
In this area, in the summer and autumn of 1918, active hostilities were conducted. The task of the White Guards was to capture the Ili Territory. After that, they planned to head to the southern part of Kazakhstan and to Central Asia. The White Guards managed to capture Urjar, Sergiopol, Sarkand and other settlements.
To stop the further advance of opponents of the Soviet regime, the Bolsheviks formed the Semirechensky Front. Its main parts were located in with. Gavrilovsky. The front commander was Emelev.
By the fall of 1918, the White Guards occupied the Northern Semirechye. However, on a fairly vast territory of Lepsin County, Soviet power was still preserved. Its center was with. Cherkasy. From June 1918 to October 1919 the defense of this area lasted. To finally break the resistance, a division was sent from Semipalatinsk under the command of Ataman Annenkov.
In the summer of 1919, the main forces of Admiral Kolchak were defeated on the Eastern Front. This greatly facilitated the Bolshevik offensive in the Western, Northern, Eastern parts of Kazakhstan and Semirechye. By the end of the year, most of the territories were cleared of the White Guards. In the summer of 1920, the Northern Semirechensky Front was liquidated.
Nationalization
First of all, she touched factories, transport network, banks. More than 300 large industrial facilities were nationalized.
During the Civil War, emergency measures were introduced by the Bolsheviks to mobilize all material resources. A regime of war communism was established throughout the country. The measures primarily concerned food. Special programs included the removal of surpluses from peasants and the establishment of a centralized and standardized supply.
In early January 1919, the Bolsheviks introduced the surplus appraisal. In addition, labor service was established. In general terms, the policy of the Bolsheviks at this stage included:
- The abolition of commodity-money, market relations.
- Replacing economic incentives with directives.
- The spread of strict state control in all spheres of public life.
- Equalization of conditions for all.
Administrative reform
It began before the Civil War. Immediately after the Bolsheviks came to power, the old governing bodies began to dissolve and new ones formed.
In Kazakhstan, the Kazakh department under the People’s Commissariat for National Affairs became the first power structure under the Bolsheviks. It was created on May 11, 1918. On July 10 of the following year, the Decree on the establishment of the Kirrevkom (Kazrevkom), a committee for managing the territory, was approved. Pestkovsky (as chairman), Karataev, Baitursynov, Dzhangildin and others were present in its composition. According to the provisions of the Decree, Kirrevkom was recognized as the highest civil military administrative authority of the region.
Transition to NEP
The new government policy in the economic sphere provided for a number of concessions for the population. In particular, it was allowed to rent and lease land, to use wage labor. The Bolsheviks encouraged the development of agricultural consumer and credit cooperation. The Soviets abolished labor conscription and mobilization, which were introduced under war communism.
In the spring of 1921, the surplus appraisal was replaced by the tax deductible.
Effects
The transition to new economic conditions was accompanied by great difficulties. In the summer of 1921, a drought began. She struck vast territories. A jute (mass death of cattle) passed in front of her, as a result of which about 80% of farm animals died. All this led to hunger.
In April 1921, land reform took place in Semirechye. As a result of the transformations, the territories returned to the suppression of the 1916 uprising were returned to the local population. The agrarian reform made it possible to create conditions for the return and strengthening of the socio-economic situation of the refugees who left Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.