Kazakhstan Under Soviet Rule
Russia ruled Kazakhstan through "puppets" from 1822 to 1847, after which they ruled over Kazakhstan directly. Between 1836 and 1838, the Kazakhs rose up under Russian leadership, but were unable to throw off Russian domination. A serious attempt led by Eset Kotibaruli turned into an anti-colonial war that lasted from 1847 (when the Russians imposed direct control) through to 1858. The war cost hundreds of Kazakh lives, civilians and warriors, but Russia did make some concessions to Kazakh demands in the 1858 peace settlement.
The Russian government began to settle thousands of Russian farmers onto Kazakh land in the 1890s, breaking up the pasture and interfering with traditional nomadic patters of life. More than 500,000 Russian farms were on Kazakh land by 1912, displacing the nomads and causing mass starvation. In 1916, Tsar Nicholas II ordered the conscription of all Kazakh and other Central Asian men to fight in World War I. This order sparked the Central Asian Revolt, in which thousands of Central Asians (including Kazakhs) were killed, and tens of thousands fled to Western China or Mongolia.
The Kazakhs asserted their independence in the chaos following the Communist takeover of Russia in 1917. They established the short-lived Alash Orda, an independent government. In 1920, however, the Soviets were able to retake control of Kazakhstan. In 1925, they set up the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Kazakh SSR), with its capital at Almaty. It became a non-autonomous Soviet republic in 1936.
Under Joseph Stalin's rule, the remaining nomads in 1936 were forced to join villages, and agriculture was collectivised. As a result, more than one million Kazakhs died of starvation, and 80% of their livestock perished. Those who were able tried to escape into civil-war ravaged China.
During WWII, the Soviets dumped minorities who could potentially be harmful to Russia (such as Germans from the western edge of Soviet Russia, Crimean Tatars, Muslims from the Caucasus and Poles) in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan already had little food, and this was stretched even more as they tried to feed all of the newcomers. Approximately half of the deportees died of starvation or disease.
After WWII, Kazakhstan became the least neglected of the Central Asian Soviet Republics - ethnic Russians flooded into Kazakhstan to work in industry, and Kazakhstan's coal mines helped to supply energy to all of the USSR. One of Russia's major space program sites, the Baikonur Cosmodrome, was also built in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan was also the site for about 70% of the Soviet Union's nuclear tests, which has caused some serious environmental issues for Kazakhstan.
The Russian government began to settle thousands of Russian farmers onto Kazakh land in the 1890s, breaking up the pasture and interfering with traditional nomadic patters of life. More than 500,000 Russian farms were on Kazakh land by 1912, displacing the nomads and causing mass starvation. In 1916, Tsar Nicholas II ordered the conscription of all Kazakh and other Central Asian men to fight in World War I. This order sparked the Central Asian Revolt, in which thousands of Central Asians (including Kazakhs) were killed, and tens of thousands fled to Western China or Mongolia.
The Kazakhs asserted their independence in the chaos following the Communist takeover of Russia in 1917. They established the short-lived Alash Orda, an independent government. In 1920, however, the Soviets were able to retake control of Kazakhstan. In 1925, they set up the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Kazakh SSR), with its capital at Almaty. It became a non-autonomous Soviet republic in 1936.
Under Joseph Stalin's rule, the remaining nomads in 1936 were forced to join villages, and agriculture was collectivised. As a result, more than one million Kazakhs died of starvation, and 80% of their livestock perished. Those who were able tried to escape into civil-war ravaged China.
During WWII, the Soviets dumped minorities who could potentially be harmful to Russia (such as Germans from the western edge of Soviet Russia, Crimean Tatars, Muslims from the Caucasus and Poles) in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan already had little food, and this was stretched even more as they tried to feed all of the newcomers. Approximately half of the deportees died of starvation or disease.
After WWII, Kazakhstan became the least neglected of the Central Asian Soviet Republics - ethnic Russians flooded into Kazakhstan to work in industry, and Kazakhstan's coal mines helped to supply energy to all of the USSR. One of Russia's major space program sites, the Baikonur Cosmodrome, was also built in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan was also the site for about 70% of the Soviet Union's nuclear tests, which has caused some serious environmental issues for Kazakhstan.