republic · Central Asia and the Steppe

Kazakh ASSR

1920 CE – 1936 CE · capital Orenburg

The autonomous Soviet republic of the Kazakhs within Russia, whose collectivisation brought a famine that killed over a third of the Kazakh people.

Origins

In August 1920 the Soviet government created the Kirghiz ASSR, as Kazakhs were then called by Russians, within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, with Orenburg as capital, absorbing the territory of the Alash Autonomy. In 1925 it was renamed the Kazakh ASSR, the capital moved to Kyzylorda, and in 1929 to Alma-Ata.

Rule and society

The republic's leaders, such as First Secretary Filipp Goloshchekin from 1925, imposed Soviet rule on a mainly nomadic population. Collectivisation and forced settlement of nomads from 1929, combined with grain and livestock requisitioning, caused the famine of 1930 to 1933, the Asharshylyk, in which about 1.5 million people died and many fled to China and Central Asia.

Decline and legacy

Under the 1936 Soviet constitution the republic was raised to the status of a union republic, becoming the Kazakh SSR.

Lineage

Alash Autonomy 1917 CE – 1920 CEKazakh ASSRKazakh SSR 1936 CE – 1991 CE

Connections (2)

Kazakh ASSR was part of Russian SFSR1920 CE – 1936 CE
Karakalpakstan was part of Kazakh ASSR1925 CE – 1930 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kazakh ASSR. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kazakh-assr
MLA: “Kazakh ASSR.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kazakh-assr. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Kazakh ASSR.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kazakh-assr.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kazakh ASSR’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kazakh-assr (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻