THE MAIN CONCEPTS OF THE HISTORICAL PAST OF THE KAZAKH PEOPLE IN SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY

Naziya Tasilova, М. Д. Байдавлетова

2025

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DOI 10.47649/vau.25.v77.i2.05
Data confidence 70 medium
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Abstract

This article comprehensively examines the influence of Soviet historiography on the study of Kazakh history. Historical research conducted during the Soviet period is analysed within four main stages: the mid-1930s to 1950s, the 1950s to 1960s, the 1960s to 1980s, and the post-1980s Perestroika period. The study explores the unique characteristics of each stage, the ideological constraints, and the censorship imposed on scholarly works. It has been established that Soviet historiographical policies resulted in distortions in studies related to Kazakh history. The article places special emphasis on the impact of Soviet rule on historical research. During the Soviet era, historical science was based on communist ideology, which imposed limitations on the objective study of historical data. The colonisation policies of the Russian Empire in the Kazakh Steppe, as well as Kazakh national liberation movements, were misrepresented in Soviet historiography. Ideological restrictions that undermined the national identity of the Kazakh people were institutionalised, leading to a biased official historical narrative. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the impact of Soviet historiography on the study of Kazakh history and to identify the censorship and ideological constraints imposed on historical works. The study explores how research on Kazakh history was conducted in different periods and what changes took place in historiography. Additionally, the role of J.Stalin and L.Brezhnev’s political policies in shaping historical discourse is examined. The study demonstrates that Soviet historiography was dominated by socialist ideology, which hindered the objective study of Kazakh history. Soviet authorities justified processes of cultural assimilation and Russification, pushing national history into the background. Contemporary research emphasises the need to reevaluate these issues, critically analyze the influence of Soviet historiography, and implement new methodological approaches and comprehensive research methods.