The Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic
(russian: Казахская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика; kk, Qazaq Aptonom Sotsijalistik Sovettik Respublikasь), abbreviated as Kazak ASSR (russian: Казакская АССР; kk, Qazaq ASSR) and simply Kazakhstan (russian: Казахстан; kk, Qazaƣьstan), was an autonomous republic of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
within the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
(RSFSR) existing from 1920 until 1936.
History
The Kazakh ASSR was originally created as the Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (russian: Киргизская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика; kk, Қырғыз Автономиялық Социалистік Кеңес Республикасы) (not to be confused with
Kirghiz ASSR of 1926–1936, a
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
n territory which is now the independent state of
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
) on 26 August 1920 and was an
autonomous republic
An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Man ...
within the
Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
.
Before the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
,
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...
in Russia were known as "Kirghiz-Kazaks" or simply "Kirghiz" (and the
Kyrgyzes as "Kara-Kirghiz"). 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. The capital of the former Kirghiz ASSR,
Ak-Mechet, was retained as the seat of the Kazak ASSR but was renamed
Kzyl-Orda
Kyzylorda ( kk, Қызылорда, translit=Qyzylorda, ), formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (russian: Кзыл-Орда), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-cen ...
, from the Kazakh "red centre".
In 1927
or 1929 the city of
Alma-Ata was designated as the new capital of the ASSR. In February 1930, there was an
anti-Soviet insurgency
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...
in the village of
Sozak
Sozak, or Sozaq ( kk, Созақ, ''Sozaq'', سوزاق, also Russified Suzak), is a village in Sozak District, South Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan.
History
Sozaq was the capital of the Kazakh Khanate from c. 1465-1469. In February 1930, there ...
.
On 5 December 1936, the ASSR was detached from the RSFSR and made the
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, a full
union republic
The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were National delimitation in the Soviet Union, national-based administrative units of ...
of the Soviet Union.
Geography
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
Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast was created on February 19, 1925 by separating lands of the ethnic Karakalpaks from the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Khorezm People's Soviet Republic.
Initially located within the Kirghiz Autonom ...
), Turkmenistan (the north shore of
Kara-Bogaz-Gol) and Russia (parts of what would become
Orenburg Oblast
Orenburg Oblast (russian: Оренбургская область, ''Orenburgskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name ''Chkalov 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 ''
raion
A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...
s''. In 1932, the republic was divided into six new larger ''
oblast
An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of ...
s''. These included:
*Aktyubinsk Oblast (capital:
Aktyubinsk
Aktobe ( kz, Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe; russian: Актобе, Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people.
Aktobe is located in the west of Ka ...
);
*Alma-Ata (capital:
Alma-Ata);
*East Kazak Oblast (capital:
Semipalatinsk);
*Karaganda Oblast (capital:
Petropavlovsk);
*South Kazak Oblast (capital:
Chimkent
Shymkent (; Шымкент, Şymkent), known until 1993 as Chimkent ( uz, Çımkent, چىمكېنت; Yañalif: Çimkent ()); russian: Чимкент, translit=Chimkent (), is a city in Kazakhstan. It is near the border with Uzbekistan. It is on ...
);
*West Kazak Oblast (capital:
Uralsk
Uralsk (russian: Уральск) is the name of several rural localities in Russia:
*Uralsk, Republic of Bashkortostan, a '' selo'' in Uralsky Selsoviet of Uchalinsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan
* Uralsk, Orenburg Oblast, a ''selo'' ...
).
On 31 January 1935, yet another territorial division was implemented which included the six ''oblasts'' listed above plus a new
Karkaralinsk
Karkaraly ( kk, Қарқаралы, ''Qarqaraly'') (russian: Каркаралинск, ''Karkaralinsk''), also known as Karkaralinsk, is the capital of the Karkaraly District in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. Permanent settlement in the ar ...
''okrug''.
Notes
References
{{coord missing, Kazakhstan
Autonomous republics of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Kazakh
Kazakh
1936 disestablishments in the Soviet Union
Kazakh
Communism in Kyrgyzstan
Communism in Kazakhstan
Kazakh