Abstract
The article examines the informational potential of a collection of documents on the history of the 1931 uprising movement in Mangystau, drawn from Fund No. 9 of the Special State Archive of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan (SSA NSC RK). The documents were generated as a result of the activities of the Plenipotentiary Representation of the OGPU in Kazakhstan and its subordinate structures, including the Special Department, the Border Guard and Troops Administration, operational sectors, district offices, and detachment commanders. In terms of their date of creation, the documents belong to the period from June to September 1931 and relate directly to the events that took place in Mangystau — the uprising movement of Kazakh peasants against the policies of the «Little October» and forced collectivization. A detailed characterization of the composition and content of the group of documentary sources is provided, and their representativeness, nature, and specificity are identified. The objectives and tasks of the study include determining the source-study significance of the identified documents for an objective investigation of the history of the Mangystau insurgent movement in 1931, as well as reconstructing the circumstances of their creation, which reveal the cause-and-effect relationships underlying the emergence and development of the armed uprisings. The content of these documents reflects the degree of awareness of their authors regarding the background and direction of the events and makes it possible to comprehensively assess and determine the nature of the activities, as well as the place and role, of the regional structures of the Plenipotentiary Representation of the OGPU in Kazakhstan, Red Army units, OGPU divisions, and communist detachments in suppressing armed uprisings in the Mangystau region. Among the 52 documents and materials examined are excerpts from combat operations logs, operational reports, radiograms, orders, operation plans, telegraphic and written instructions and schemes, memoranda, and directives. Although differing in volume, nature, content, and focus, these sources are united by a common purpose — to provide direct and indirect information on a wide range of issues concerning the history of the 1931 uprising movement in Mangystau. Memoranda and directives contain summarized information on the history of the uprising movement and on the organization of operational security and chekist activities conducted to suppress and monitor the insurgency. Operation plans and the accompanying orders document the strategy and tactics employed to suppress the uprising movement. Excerpts, reports, and radiograms provide information on the circumstances and developments of each specific episode of operational and combat activities. Telegraphic instructions provide information on the operational situation as it evolved at a given moment and were intended to adjust and coordinate the actions of subordinate forces engaged in suppression operations. The content of the written instructions and diagrams is related to the organization and preparation of units and subunits involved in combat operations for the implementation of marching and battle formation measures. The key characteristics of the examined sources are their broad scope, substantial volume, and genre diversity. The presented characteristics of the source-study potential of the examined documents and materials demonstrate their high representativeness, multidimensional nature, and significant informational richness.