64
and Mir Yakup Devlet. For instance, Ahmed Baytursunov, leader of the party, was a
moderate nationalist and was against the Bolshevik regime. Moreover, Alash Orda
and Kazakh intellectuals did not openly favor pan-Islamism or pan-Turkism, because
they were opposed to Tatar cultural hegemony.
157
It is well known that pan-Turkism
was an ideology doctrine by Tatar intellectuals. There was a disagreement between
Tatar and Kazakh echoless at that era. They
were disagreed over some
methodological issues regarding the context of autonomy. There were differences
and distributions about their programs in the new era between Tatar leaders and
Kazakh leaders. For example, in the all-Russian Muslim Congress
158
which was
sponsored by Tatar leaders in Moscow on May 1, 1917; the future political program
was discussed and a common resolution was decided on. “It was agreed that the
form of government most capable of protecting the interests of the Muslim peoples
was a democratic
republic based on national, territorial and federal principles, with
national-cultural autonomy for the nationalities which lacked a distinct territory”.
159
On the other hand, Kazakh leaders and Alash Orda Party sponsored another
Congress, the all Kirghiz (Kazakh) Congress in Orenburg in April 1917, one month
later after the all Muslim Russians Congress and firstly declared to support territorial
autonomy.
The Third all-Kirgiz (Kazakh) Congress, convened in Orenburg in December 1917, proclaimed an autonomous
Kazakh region under the Alash Orda. This autonomous region had two centers, one at Semipalatinsk and the other at
Dzhambeyty in the Ural oblast. The declared purpose of this autonomy was not apparently to create a Kazakh state, but merely
to prevent the spread of Communism into the Kazakh steppe
.
160
157
Wheeler, Geoffrey,
The Modern History of Soviet Central Asia
, (New York: Greenword Press,
1964), 101.
158
The first all-Russian Muslim Congress was held in Moscow on May 1, 1917. The Congress
envisaged a national-cultural autonomy based on national, territorial and federal principles for Russian
Muslims.
159
Wheeler, Geoffrey,
The Modern History of Soviet Central Asia
, (New York: Greenword Press,
1964), 100.
160
Ibid, 101-102.
65
The Kazakh Steppe hosted harsh skirmishes between Bolshevik and Ataman
Dutov’s forces. Although Kazakhs firstly supported anti-Bolshevik forces at first and
took a position against the Bolsheviks, the situation changed in November 1918,
because the anti-Bolshevik government of Admiral Kolchak,
established in Omsk,
declared that it would not support territorial autonomy of Kazakhs anymore. After
Kolchak rejected to assist Kazakhs, Alash Orda leaders planned to join Zeki Velidi
Togan’s Bashkir State and to construct a union by cooperating Turkestan
autonomists and Jadids. Bu it failed. After Kolchak began suppressing Kazakhs
because of being antagonist towards the indigenous that would create a separation in
Russia, Kazakhs got into cooperation with the Bolsheviks.
161
Finally, the
Bolsheviks forces took all the control of the Steppe till March 1920 after Admiral
Kolchak’s forces were defeated totally in May 1919 in Siberia. After that,
Alash
Orda government left its place to Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
According to Sir Olaf Caroe,
The Alash Orda or Kazakh State was never much more than a committee which held congresses and issued
manifestos. Its capital was intended to be in the east at Semipalatinsk, but in fact its activities took place at Orenburg, where
was also the seat of the Bashkurd government. Alash Orda was unable to organize any real executive power, or to obtain any
working agreement with the many thousands of Russian colonists, who were determined not to yield control of Russian
immigration or colonies to any Turkish authority
.
162
The Steppe, of course, sensed more the influence
of the Revolution and the
Civil War rather than Turkestan. The penetration of revolutions was more sensible in
the Steppe because there were 1, 5 million Russian and Ukrainian settlers and 40,000
European war prisoners inside the borders of the Steppe. The principal participants in
Russian revolutions and civil war were these Russians and Central European subjects
rather than natives. However, Turkestan contained less Russian element, over
161
Allworth, Edward et al.,
Central Asia: A Century of Russian Rule
, ed. Edward Allworth, (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1967), 237-238.
162
Caroe, Olaf,
Soviet Empire
:
The Turks of Central Asia and Stalinism,
(New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1967), 104.
66
400,000 settlers. Therefore the effects of revolutions were felt less in Turkestan than
the Steppe. The reasons were severe influence of Islamic culture, and limited
intelligentsia who owned political comprehension to
enforce a government like
Alash Orda did. The Russian settlers of Turkestan, industrial and railway workers
played main role in the era of Revolutions.
163
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