This article is devoted to one of the tragic pages of Kazakhstan political history — the period of realization of continuous collectivization in the conditions of totalitarian regime. The author shows on a big actual material what were the results of an administrative arbitrariness, excesses and perversion in the years of collectivization, opens the repressive character and drama essence of the continuous collectivization carried out in Kazakhstan which turned out to be the consequence of the established totalitarian regime over all Soviet country.
Today in the conditions when the domestic historical science got the new qualitative characteristic defined in the form of new approaches to scientific problematics, free creative search, and also strengthening of interest to the problems of general historical heritage, studying of consequences of the tragic past of our people, undoubtedly, is especially become actual. In this sense it should be noted that special significance the history, as well as any science, gets during the so-called periods of changes — radical transformation of social-political models when on the agenda there are questions of reconsideration of historical, political, cultural processes, and also the formation of new historical and political thinking.
Emphasizing the importance of historical researches at the stage of development of already established state the President of our country N.Nazarbayev emphasized: «We need national historical consciousness. Our perception of history should be integral, positive and unite society, but not divide. To lift national spirit on the proper height, it is necessary to realize accurately, what our real history, culture, religion» [1; 8]. On this basis the Head of the state initiated the need of development of special program of historical researches under the name «The People in the stream of history». The main purpose of this program is creation of conditions for a quantum leap of Kazakhstan historical science on the basis of the advanced methodology and technique.
Within the realization of the tasks set by the President of the country for Kazakhstan scientific community, on June 6, 2013 in Astana at the Euroasian national university named after L.N.Gumilev enlarged meeting of the Interdepartmental working group on studying of national history of the Republic of Kazakhstan took place. Speaking at this meeting, the State secretary of Kazakhstan Marat Tazhin absolutely fairly noted:
«The history of Kazakhstan is our general history. We have to understand accurately that the history of Kazakhstan in the XX century is in many respects history of collision national and totalitarian. It is the history of suppression of national consciousness by ruthless political machine for which there was no special value who was in front of it, — the Kazakh or Russian, the Ukrainian or the Uzbek. And we have to accurately and clearly understand real mechanisms of history. The future is impossible without the support on the historical past. In that hidden war of meanings and values which is happened on a planet every day, preservation of historical memory is an only way of self-preservation in general» [2].
In this regard it should be noted that the domestic historical science, undoubtedly, came to new level of understanding and studying of many stages of our country development. At this level of scientific researches reconsideration of genesis of totalitarian system and its consequences for Kazakhstan takes a special place. In studying of these problems the big merit, undoubtedly, belongs to the whole group of well known Kazakhstan historians. It is necessary to refer to them such scientists, as M.Kozybayev, K.Nurpeysov, M.Koygeldiyev, Zh.Abylkhozhin, K.Aldazhumanov, N.Amrekulov, etc.
The importance of their scientific contribution is especially noticeable in the questions of studying and assessment of political events in Kazakhstan in the period of totalitarianism, particularly in the analysis of negative sides of socialism building, problems of industrialization, collectivization, hunger of 1931–1933, political repressions of these years and their consequences. However, despite rather serious readiness of the called problems, the questions connected with implementation and mechanisms of political repressions in scales of Kazakhstan and their harmful consequence for destinies of the people of our country still demands complex and system studying. At the same time, search and involvement in the scientific circle of new historical, political and archival materials, and also their adequate assessment still remains an important and actual task for historians, and other scientists of related sciences.
In life of each nation, state there are events which in any way can't be forgotten because it would be irresponsible before future generation. Careful attitude to these events, to its history is the best guarantor of that today and tomorrow we won't make new tragic mistakes.
Such tragic page in the history of the Soviet people in the past including Kazakhstan, were the years of political repressions which became the main instrument of strengthening of totalitarian system. The President of the Republic N.Nazarbayev repeatedly spoke about it. The Head of our state always had an accurate position on the recent past of the country. Especially interesting in this plan are the reflection of N.Nazarbayev about totalitarian system, about influence of the past on the present which are given in his book «In the stream of the history». In this book the author in all completeness opens negative influence of totalitarianism on national culture, language, Kazakhs’ way of life. «Rigidity of totalitarianism at the solution of the national question doesn't come within miles of all previous historical periods. Kazakh people in their history underwent many shocks, but in days of a totalitarian regime Kazakhs lost as much national identity of culture and language, as it wasn't lost earlier. On number of victims of political repression Kazakhs if to judge in percentage terms, suffered most than other people of the Soviet Union, and «mass collectivization and elimination of rich landowners as social group led to national accident» — N.Nazarbayev claims in his work [3; 245].
Really, tragic pages of history of our country show that in the 20th — the beginning of the 50th years in Kazakhstan took place the politics of unreasonable mass political repressions not only against harmless certain citizens, but also the whole people who occupied various parts of the former Soviet Union.
Now with confidence it is possible to claim that the mass political repressions which have captured these years all Soviet country including Kazakhstan, were a consequence of a number of factors. Among these factors the leading should be recognized the race for power of certain social-political forces, in particular All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In this fight Stalin's orientation to achievement of the individual power became dominating that, finally, brought on the way of physical destruction not only real, but also potential rivals and opponents of the Stalin regime which basis was made by totalitarian ideology. Therefore it is obvious that existence of the totalitarian system which was established in the conditions of one-party membership in the USSR, could be one of the main reasons of terror and repressions.
During domination of the Soviet ideology there was no possibility of truthful studying of the questions connected with political repressions, terror over people as many archival materials weren't available to researchers of this problem. Only in the conditions of democratic development of independent Kazakhstan we had an opportunity to study and estimate critically a true story of that time, to count the general losses, mainly, the human losses. Because still human losses which took place in the years of mass repressions on the territory of Kazakhstan aren't specified up to the end.
All this forces us to address once again to the past, objectively to estimate everything that happened in the period of a Stalin regime in the result of political terror and repressions. In this question huge research work of scientific historians, political scientists in details to specify the facts, figures still is required, to open the reasons and consequences of cruel repression in the conditions of a totalitarian regime and to create an original, true story of events of those years.
The modern historical science proves that realities of today were in many respects put during the drama periods of national history to which the 20th -50th years of last century concern. The history showed that exactly in these years during power modernization century tenor of life of Kazakh people was broken, the large-scale repressions which have led to mass destruction of Kazakhstan population were carried out. As the proof of it the following data which were provided by the academician M.Kozybayev can serve: «Since 20th years and finishing the 50th years in Kazakhstan as a result of political repressions for political reasons 103 thousand people were condemned. From among repressed people over 25 thousand were shot on sentences of the three of Joint State Political Directorate — People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and other extrajudicial and judicial authorities» [4].
Thus, it is necessary to emphasize that as peak of manifestation of cruelty concerning human lives and consequence of a totalitarian regime in our country is recognized to consider political repressions of the 30th years of the XX century.
These years Kazakhstan became the huge ground for carrying out unprecedented social experiment. Here an attempt of realization of an orthodox Marxist postulate «about possibility of transition of the backward people to a socialism, passing capitalism» was made that ended with destruction of traditional systems, life-support of Kazakhstan ethnoses, and, eventually, brought to unprecedented in the history accident.
Scales of the tragedy were so enormous that it is possible to call it genocide manifestation from the center. The beginning of the developed drama is connected with the 20th years when the totalitarian system struck the first blow to traditional structure of the Kazakh ethnos. The idea of expropriation of exploitative farms issued from the nature of the state with its primacy of class interests. Therefore from the very beginning of dictatorship establishment of the proletariat in Kazakhstan motives of class fight were constantly germinated by figures of the new power. Under the guise of continuous collectivization Bolsheviks managed to carry out destruction of Kazakh people as a result of artificially caused hunger and deliberate ethnocide. It, in turn, led to violent change of traditional Kazakhs’ tenor of life that was the scary tragedy for the people on its scales much surpassing the consequence of Junggar invasion. As the sources testify, Kazakhs after this demographic accident restored population of 1926 only forty years later.
Repressive character of collectivization was shown with special force in those measures which were developed at kulaks and bais elimination as a class. The state had widely initiated the dispossession of the kulaks before the resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Bolsheviks from January 5, 1930 «On types of collectivization and helping measures of the state to collective-farm construction».
So in the multivolume edition of domestic scientists «Collectivization of agriculture of Kazakhstan (1926 – June, 1941)» it is said that the beginning to this process was put by the campaign for confiscation of big rich landowners’ farms essence of which was expropriation, i.e. «self-dispossession of the kulaks» (on the terminology of party documents) of country farms in mass scales. The strongest twisting of tax press also took place. In January, 1930 the new Resolution of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR «On measures of fight against the malicious slaughtering of livestock» was accepted, which was directed against the persons who were accused of livestock slaughtering and instigation for the purpose of derogation of agriculture collectivization on which punishment in the form of imprisonment within two years with expulsion from that region was provided [5; 66]. So totalitarian regime continued to untwist the infernal machine of repressions.
On January 15, 1930 by the decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Bolsheviks there was created special commission (Goloschyokin also entered into it) led by Molotov [6]. The commission developed a number of concrete measures for the dispossession of the kulaks. It was planned to wage the campaign within February-May, 1930. Operative providing of this «campaign» was carried out by Joint State Political Directorate. On February 2 Joint State Political Directorate sent to its structures the instruction with the requirement to begin immediate operations on withdrawal and elimination of «a counterrevolutionary agency», «actively operating kulak elements of the first category». Soon according to this instruction 3113 people were arrested in Kazakhstan. After this mass evictions had begun. By the beginning of May, 1930 1341 families or 7535 people were evicted in the republic [6; 54].
The Soviet power didn't consider traditional way of Kazakhs’ life, it started from the very beginning of its existence to undertake purposeful attempts to get rid of national traditions of indigenous people as «contradicting to social progress and having backward character». Economic tasks were solved by especially political methods.
In 1928 the grain crisis had burst in the country. The main reason for crisis was the withdrawal of means from agriculture and transference of their industry. There were reduced prices for bread in domestic market, and the peasantry began to refuse to sell bread. It was understood as attack of small bourgeoisie elements on the proletarian state and working class; it was decided to answer «kulak strikes» with emergency measures. So there was a fight against a kulaks under the slogan «kulaks elimination as a class».
Soon this policy poured out in wide repressive actions against the peasantry. In the dissertation work«Political repressions in Kazakhstan in the conditions of a totalitarian regime (1920–1950 years) «we give many facts which prove antinational repressive character carried out in Kazakhstan agriculture collectivization in the 30th years. So for example, in this work there are data that on August 7, 1932 the law «On protection of property of state enterprises, collective farms and cooperations and strengthening of public (socialist) property» was adopted which assumed punishment in the form of execution, and under «softening circumstances» 10 years of prison with property confiscation. More than 33 thousand people were condemned only for the first year of the action of this anticonstitutional norm in Kazakhstan. The so-called repressible were brought under some other articles of criminal character. Thus there was no similarity of judicial proceedings. Everything was solved by «threes».
In the work it is also said that in five years (from 1929 to 1933) by the three of Joint State Political Directorate according to incomplete data in Kazakhstan 9085 cases were considered and there were accepted decisions concerning 22933 persons. From them 3386 people were sentenced to a capital punishment — execution, committed in concentration camps from 3 to 10 years — 13151 persons. Further in our work events of 1929–1930 when in the most part of Kazakhstan there was a big crop failure and jute are described. Despite it in November, 1929 the Central committee of party made the decision to force the rates of collectivization and transference of nomadic farms to settled lifestyle. The agriculture of Kazakhstan had an objective — since 1931 to hand over 1,6 million tons of grain annually, having turned nomads into settled population. In these conditions campaign of continuous collectivization began in the republic. By February, 1930 in Kazakhstan there were already 6722 collective farms which included 441931 households [7; 49, 50].
However these «successes» were reached by excesses. In the majority of created collective farms by spring, 1930 there were absent not only houses, household constructions and necessary agricultural stock, but also arable lands. There was not enough feed for animals; many of the people driven in collective farms had no cattle, even personal property. In collective farms there were not enough experts of agriculture. All this caused discontent and protests among the peasantry, and led to a resistance movement, accompanied in some areas by peasant revolts.
By data, which are available in materials of «round tables» and seminars which were taking place in our country still in the mid-nineties of the last century in Kazakhstan in 1929–1931 372 revolts in which about 80 thousand people participated were registered. The largest revolts were at that time in Suzakskiy, Bostandykskiy, Irgizskiy, Kazalinskiy, Kurdayskiy, Kastekskiy, Balkhash, Karmakchinskiy, Abralinskiy, Chubartauskiy and other regions. Wide scope was gained by resistance and transition movement in Adayevskiy district. But these revolts were cruelly suppressed. Mass repressions had begun. According to Joint State Political Directorate in 1931 in auls and villages more than 2 thousand «hostile» groups with the number of 10 thousand people «were revealed». Prosecution of party, Soviet workers began — they were arrested for «wrecking». The first, under repressions, were the members of political movement Alash. It was declared that Alash members counteracted to carry out the policy of collectivization, lined the people on sabotage and wrecking acts [8; 145].
In 1931–1932 the hunger burst in Kazakhstan. The leaders of the republic saw the main reason in malicious will of the class enemy, wrecking of kulaks and bais. Actually emergency and administrative measures on places undermined peasant production. Crops, cattle livestock were sharply reduced. So, in 1932 in comparison with 1928 gross collecting grain decreased to 15,1 million, and cattle livestock — from 40,5 million to 5,3 million. Auls, kishlaks, villages starved, hunger came to the city. There are different numbers of hunger victims in the republic. One consider that 1,3 million, others — 1,5 million were died, N.Nazarbayev in his work, «To store memory, to fix consent», which was published in the newspaper «Kazakhstan truth» on January 16, 1997, noted that «victims of hunger and repressions only in 1932–1933 were 1,750 thousand people or 42 percent of all the Kazakh population of the republic» [9].
Such is the price of victims of hunger of 1931–1933, such are the results of administrative arbitrariness, excesses and perversion in days of collectivization in Kazakhstan. It was the tragedy of distressful Kazakh people. But it was the result of the established totalitarian regime in all Soviet country which had its face on suburbs. Scales of the tragedy of those years caused by huge destruction of the republic’s household, were terrible, as we can see. Having lost the cattle, inhabitants of the steppe lost a meat and dairy products which were traditional for them. There was also no bread in aul because of crop failure. It was not always possible to leave a disaster zone. For the infinite Kazakh peasantry the huge steppe from the wet nurse turned into a trap.
The price of the tragedy of those years, directed against the republic’s peasantry, was huge. Hunger and mass transition of people were accompanied those years by arrests and repressions against the population of Kazakhstan. On historical data in 1928–1930 only in three regions of Kazakhstan (Akmolinsk, Petropavlovsk and Semipalatinsk regions) 34120 people were arrested and 32357 people were punished administratively. And in 1932 in Kazakhstan 33345 people were instituted criminal proceedings, 7728 of them were collective farmers, 5315 were individual farmers [7; 54].
The materials given above show, that even the fluent analysis of scales and mechanisms of repressions in the 20th-30th years in Kazakhstan allows us to draw a conclusion that expansion of such large-scale terror in the country needed to be proved. Therefore the created totalitarian regime was a real basis of this process. Besides, it should be noted that scales of the tragedy were so terrible that it grants to us the right to designate such policy of the authorities as an ethnocide as in Kazakhstan there was frankly violent eradication of cultural tradition and ethnosocial institutes that was promoted by mass repressions against the people of Kazakhstan.
In the awful register of the tragedies which shocked the XXth century, along with such crimes against humanity as Bolshevist anti-country repressions in the years of collectivization, Ukrainian «Holodomor», Stalin deportations of the people, Maoist «cultural revolution», Pol Pot regime, destructive actions against the distressful people of Kazakhstan will be also remembered.
The history of political repressions in our country added the tragic page to our memory of million human destinies sacrificed to ephemeral idea «creation of communistic paradise». Therefore, today in the terms of tasks’ realization on studying of the national history, set by the Head of the state in the program «People in the stream of history», domestic historians are faced by huge tasks in respect of serious scientific judgment of such dramatic periods, as the periods of political repressions in the years of carrying out continuous collectivization in Kazakhstan. It is necessary in order that on the basis of the new sources, new theoreticmethodological platforms, using a system method of researches to continue studying of sources, reasons and character of the great Kazakh tragedy which has occurred in the early thirties which fully will open technology of Bolshevist ethnocide and totalitarian nature of modernization processes in the village, carried out by the Soviet power in Kazakhstan.
References
- Kazakhstanskaya pravda, 2012, December,
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- Nazarbayev N.A. In the stream of history, Almaty: Atamura, 1999, 296
- Kozybayev M. Kazakhstanskaya pravda, 1997, February,
- Collectivization of agriculture of Kazakhstan (1926 – June, 1941), Almaty: Gylym,
- The people deported to Kazakhstan: time and destinies, Almaty: Arys, 1998, 412
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