CAUGHT BETWEEN NATIONALISM AND SOCIALISM: THE KAZAK ALASH ORDA MOVEMENT IN CONTINUITY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY YUNUS EMRE GÜRBÜZ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY October 2007 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Seçil Karal Akgün Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. İsenbike Togan Assist. Prof. Dr. Ferdan Ergut Co-Supervisor Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Bü şra Ersanlı Marmara U., Int. Rel. Assist. Prof. Dr. Ferdan Ergut METU, History Prof. Dr. İsenbike Togan METU, History Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur METU, History Assist. Prof. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever METU, Int. Rel. I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Signature : iii ABSTRACT CAUGHT BETWEEN NATIONALISM AND SOCIALISM: THE KAZAK ALASH ORDA MOVEMENT IN CONTINUITY Gürbüz, Yunus Emre Ph.D., Department of History Supervisor : Assist. Prof. Dr. Ferdan Ergut Co- Supervisor: Prof. Dr. İsenbike Togan October 2007, 303 pages This dissertation aims to discuss the incorporation of the “nationalist” Kazak intellectuals of Alash Orda to the Soviet Socialist Republics and their role in the establishment of the Kazak ASSR. In the course of events they acted first together with Russian liberal democrats, then they sought to establish a national government and fought against the Bolsheviks, but after 1920 they chose to stay in the USSR and join the modernization process of their homeland alongside the Bolsheviks. In the mainstream academic discourse the local leaders in the republics of the USSR are generally considered as passive victims of the Soviet policies. The members of the Kazak national movement of Alash Orda are also neglected as iv weak political figures after they had accepted the Soviet rule. But they continued their struggle for enlightening the Kazak people in 1920s. Their collaboration with the Bolsheviks was concomitant to their motives of modernizing the Kazaks. Their role in the Soviet Kazakstan did not come to an end after their acceptance of the Soviet sovereignty but it continued. My argument is that the struggle of the members of Alash Orda was in continuity with their program before the revolution, and their cooperation with the Bolsheviks was a way to realize their objectives, and it opened a sphere for them to have a role in the formation of the Kazak ASSR. Keywords: Kazak, Kazakh, Kazakstan, Kazakhstan, Alash Orda, Intelligentsia, USSR, Soviets, Nationalism, Modernization, Land Question. v ÖZ MİLL İYETÇ İLİK VE SOSYAL İZM ARASINDA: KAZAK ALA Ş ORDA HAREKET İNDE SÜREKL İLİK Gürbüz, Yunus Emre Doktora Tezi, Tarih Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Ferdan Ergut Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. İsenbike Togan Ekim 2007, 303 sayfa Bu tez “milliyetçi” Kazak aydınlarından olu şan Ala ş Orda ’nın Sovyetler Birli ğine katılı şının nedenlerini ve Kazak ÖSSC’nin kurulu şundaki rollerini tartı şmayı amaçlamaktadır. Ala ş Orda cılar süreç içinde önce liberal demokrat Ruslarla birlikte hareket etmi ş, sonra bir ulusal hükümet kurup Bol şeviklere kar şı sava şmı ş, ancak 1920’den sonra SSCB’de kalıp Bol şeviklerle birlikte memleketlerinin modernle şmesine katılmayı seçmi şlerdir. Akademik alanda SSCB cumhuriyetlerindeki yerel önderler genelde Sovyet siyasetinin edilgen unsurları olarak görüldüklerinden yok sayılırlar. Kazak ulusal hareketi Ala ş Orda cılar da 1920’de Sovyet egemenli ğini kabul ettikten sonraki dönemde zayıf siyasi figürler olarak görüldüklerinden ihmal edilmi şlerdir. Ancak Ala şçılar Kazak halkını modernle ştirme mücadelelerine 1920’lerde de devam vi etmi ştir. Bol şeviklerle i şbirli ği yapmaları Kazakları modernle ştirme hedefleriyle uyumluydu. Sovyet egemenli ğini kabul ettikten sonra rolleri Sovyet Kazakistanında sona ermemi ş devam etmi ştir. Ala ş Orda üyelerinin mücadelesi devrimden önce açıkladıkları programlarıyla uyum içindeydi ve Bol şeviklerle i şbirlikleri de amaçladıklarını gerçekle ştirebilmenin bir yoluydu ve bu i şbirli ği onlara Kazak ÖSSC’nin kurulu şunda bir rol sahibi olmalarını sa ğlayacak bir alan açtı. Anahtar Sözcükler: Kazak, Kazakistan, Ala ş Orda, aydınlar, SSCB, sovyetler, milliyetçilik, modernle şme, toprak sorunu. vii To My Grandfather, Dr. Kemal Ataç (1917-2006) viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank my supervisor Assist. Prof. Ferdan Ergut for his guidance, encouragement and support which exceeded the limits of this dissertation. The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to his co-supervisor Prof. Dr. İsenbike Togan, who was always by his side since his first year as a graduate student. During the last seven years, she was a guide to him in his studies and his mentor. Her contribution is not limited with this dissertation and will continue guiding him in studying historical sources. The author also would like to express gratitude to the members of examining committee Prof. Dr. Bü şra Ersanlı for her encouragement, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur and Assist. Prof. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever for their support and valuable friendship. Their criticism encouraged him to continue developing his own arguments. Special thanks are also due to Prof. Dr. Touraj Atabaki, whose comments were useful for the author in shaping the first pages of this dissertation and to Prof. Dr. Erich Jan Zürcher, whose courses on methodology and Turkish history helped him to look at the problems related with the intelligentsia of Central Asia from a different perspective and test their validity in a rather new field of study. ix The author is grateful to Prof. Dr. Ay şe Güne ş-Ayata, who gave him the opportunity to study at the Leiden University in the Netherlands, and then work at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University in Kyrgyzstan, which enabled him to meet a variety of scholars from different parts of Eurasia and study the long neglected sources on Central Asian history. He is also grateful to Prof. Dr. Belma Ak şit and Bahattin Ak şit for guiding him to work in Kyrgyzstan and enabling his visits to Kazakstan. Their presence and his friends in Bishkek - especially Dr. Murat İri and Dr. Habibe Öngören - were worthwhile for him in dealing with the general problems of writing a dissertation in a remote country. He also thanks to his officemate Deniz Yalçın, who had to work more in the office, when he was away. The author is indebted to his father, Osman Gürbüz, and his brother, Burak Gürbüz, who were always there, when he needed their support. The author must acknowledge his debts to Özlem Barın. Without her valuable support it would not be possible to venture an academic career and live away from home studying and working in Central Asia. This dissertation is dedicated to the author’s grandfather, Dr. Kemal Ataç, who had always encouraged him as a “professor” since his childhood, and whose support has been invaluable in the author’s change of career and entrance in the “carrière académique”. x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM………………………………………………………………… iii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………… iv ÖZ………………………………………………………….………………….. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………… ix TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………… xi LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………..…………… xiv LIST OF ABBREVATIONS……………………………………..…………… xv CHAPTER 1. Introduction……………………………………………………...………… 1 2. 2. The Kazak Intellectuals as Liberal, Nationalist Politicians……..……… 16 2.1. The February Revolution and the Foundation of an Independent Kazak Political Party, Alash …………..………………. 18 2.2. First All-Kazak Congress……………………………..…..……........ 25 2.3 The Bolshevik Revolution and the Formation of the Alash Orda Government……………………………………….…...…………… 37 2.4 Joining the Bolsheviks…………………………………...………… 65 3. The Formation of the Soviet Nationality Policies and the Kazaks ……… 74 3.1. Nationality Policies of the US SR………………………………..…. 75 3.1.1 The Foundations of Bolshevik Nationality policies: Before xi the Revolution……………………………………..……….. 81 3.1.2 The Evolution of the Nationality Policies after the Revolution……………………………………..……….. 85 3.1.3 Central Asian Leaders’ Reaction to Soviet Policies……….. 93 3.1.4 The War with Poland and its Effect on Nationality Policies. 94 3.1.5 The Georgian Case and the Establishment of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics………………………..…….. 101 3.1.6 Nation ality Policies under Stalin………………….……….. 106 3.2. The Consequences of Changing Soviet Policies to the Kazak Political Sphere…………………………………………………...... 116 3.3. An Outcome of the Nationality Policies Debate: the of Establishment the Kazak SSR …………………............................... 125 4. Sovietization as a Modernization Project and its Implications in the Kazak ASSR ………………………………………………….…………... 132 4.1. Alash Orda and Modernization: The Possible Reasons of their Collaboration with the Bolsheviks and its Results ………..………... 132 4.2. Kazak Intellectuals in Socialist Kazakstan…………….……………. 144 4.3. Modernization of the Culture and Education in the Kazak ASSR … 169 4.3.1 Education