Abstract
Based on the archival documents, the article considers the causes and effects of the famine that had taken place in the Akmolinsk governorate between 1921 and 1923. The Akmolinsk governorate was the region where there had been the major population deaths because of the lean years and under the Civil War. The archival sources show that the food crisis, bread to be constantly taken off and the influx of the starving refugees had worsened the plight of the population in the governorate. Based on the archival data, there shown the total number of starving people in the Akmolinsk governorate. Special attention is paid to the work of the Governmental Commission to Help the Starving People, which provided the famine relief in the governorate. There shown the procedures of the commissions, the key directions and objectives to improve the situation of the starving population in the region including the food services areas, the foreign organizations’ assistance to the starving population and the work of the committees on public resource. The author concludes that despite the famine having been on a large scale, the Soviet regime had never recognized the Akmolinsk governorate as famishing.