FROM THE HISTORY OF THE ALASH MOVEMENT’S SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTIVITIES DURING THE CIVIL WAR

DE LA HISTORIA DE LAS ACTIVIDADES SOCIOPOLÍTICAS DEL MOVIMIENTO ALASH DURANTE LA GUERRA CIVIL

Recibido el 28 de noviembre del 2023 Aceptado el 12 de febrero del 2024

Páginas 112-128

Financiamiento: Research was prepared as part of targeted program financing with the financial support of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Evolution of political institutions and structures in the history of Kazakhstan (XIX-XXI centuries)” (IIN No. BR21882308).

Conflictos de interés: Los autores declaran no presentar conflicto de interés.

Abstract. The relevance of the study is conditioned by the need to expand the amount of available information on the history of socio-political movements during the Civil War in the Russian Empire. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to reveal the essence of the Alash movement in Kazakhstan, its socio-political activities, and the consequences of the Civil War. The method of critical analysis was chosen as the primary approach, which facilitated the effective processing of archival and scientific sources of information, based on which further research was conducted. The following methods of scientific cognition were also used: historical and genetic, historical and system, diachronic analysis, heuristic, synthesis, deduction, and comparison. This study examines the establishment and activities of Alash Autonomy, analyzing archival facts and papers by Kazakh and foreign researchers. It cites eyewitness accounts, explores the political structure, evaluates leaders' actions, and explains intelligence work's consequences. It justifies changes in allies, details Alash-Soviet Russia cooperation, and describes outcomes. The materials of this research paper are of practical value for historical science due to the presented assessment of data on the Alash movement, analysis of scientific literature, observation and discussion presented in this study.

Keywords: history of Kazakhstan; autonomy; Alash intelligence; repression; cooperation with the Bolsheviks; establishment of the Soviet Union.

Resumen. La pertinencia del estudio está condicionada por la necesidad de ampliar la cantidad de información disponible sobre la historia de los movimientos sociopolíticos durante la Guerra Civil en el Imperio Ruso. En este sentido, el propósito de este estudio es revelar la esencia del movimiento Alash en Kazajstán, sus actividades sociopolíticas y las consecuencias de la Guerra Civil. Como enfoque principal se eligió el método del análisis crítico, que facilitó el tratamiento eficaz de las fuentes de información archivísticas y científicas, a partir de las cuales se llevó a cabo la investigación posterior. También se utilizaron los siguientes métodos de cognición científica: histórico y genético, histórico y de sistemas, análisis diacrónico, heurístico, síntesis, deducción y comparación. Este estudio examina el establecimiento y las actividades de la Autonomía de Alash, analizando hechos archivados y documentos de investigadores kazajos y extranjeros. Cita relatos de testigos presenciales, explora la estructura política, evalúa las acciones de los líderes y explica las consecuencias de las labores de inteligencia. Justifica los cambios de aliados, detalla la cooperación entre Alash y la Rusia soviética y describe los resultados. Los materiales de este trabajo de investigación tienen un valor práctico para la ciencia histórica debido a la evaluación presentada de los datos sobre el movimiento Alash, el análisis de la literatura científica, la observación y el debate presentados en este estudio.

Palabras clave: historia de Kazajstán; autonomía; inteligencia Alash; represión; cooperación con los bolcheviques; establecimiento de la Unión Soviética.

The study of the causes and consequences of the Russian Civil War of the early 20th century in world and Kazakh history is of great importance. It is also important for historians of Kazakhstan to further investigate and highlight the results of the activities of national political parties and movements that were established in the country during this period and worked to determine the future of the Kazakh state. The socio-political activities of the Alash movement in the republic in 1917-1924 were quite specific in this regard.

A. Bokeikhanov, A. Baitursynov, M. Dulatov, R. Marsekov, O. Alzhanov, B. Sarsenov and others were the founders of the Alash Democratic Party and led the Alash movement at the turn of the century. They created the government of the Alash Autonomy, substantiated and developed a plan for creating a new independent Kazakh autonomous state. This is how the Alash movement emerged and began to operate during the Russian Civil War in the first quarter of the 20th century.

Repressions in Kazakhstan, including mass shootings of Alash leaders, artificial famine in the 1930s, and subsequent hardships in the second half of the 20th century, have left their mark on several generations of people. Nevertheless, as noted in the historical background of the era of Kazakhstan's modern independence by Nursultan Nazarbayev: “The 20th century gave Kazakhstan a number of advantages. These include industrialisation, the creation of social and industrial infrastructure, and the establishment of a new intelligentsia”^[1].

The study by S. Zhussip et al.^[2] is devoted to the investigation of the process of creating and organising the army of the Alash Autonomy. The authors consider various aspects of the establishment of the army, from the creation of the first volunteer units to permanent military formations and their structure. Special attention is paid to the issues of providing the army with weapons, ammunition, and other resources, as well as problems related to the training of personnel and command staff 2. D. Massimkhanuly and A. Abidenkyzy^[3] investigated the role of Alash Autonomy in shaping the modern identity of Kazakhstan and its impact on Kazakhstan’s policy regarding national identity and multiethnic nature.

D.A. Amanzholova^[4] considered visual sources that reflect the history of the Alash movement. The researcher notes that visual sources such as photographs, cards, postcards, and post stamps can help study the history of the movement, as they provide important visual evidence of events and figures of that period, and describes how visual sources can be used to explore the history of Alash, and provides examples of images of movement leaders, military formations, and documents4.

The historiography of the Alash movement was also considered by Z. Saktaganova et al.^[5]. The study focuses on the comparison of different historical approaches to the Alash movement, in particular, the differences between Soviet and post-Soviet historiography, and the influence of political ideologies on the study of the Alash movement5. H. Tursun and A. Kabyl (2022) ^[6]devoted their research to the life and work of Serikul Aldabergenov, who was one of the participants of the Alash movement. Their study focuses on archival data that allowed recreating various stages of Serikul Aldabergenov’s life, his participation in political movements, in particular the Alash movement, and further emigration. The study also describes important stages in the history of Kazakhstan, in particular, the movement for national independence and the stages of Bolshevik rule6.

D. Kaumen et al.^[7] considered the role and influence of the Alash movement on the development of the National Kazakh intelligentsia at the beginning of the 20th century in the context of the development of human capital. The authors investigated the process of establishment and development of the intellectual elite, in particular, the leaders of Alash, their educational and cultural abilities, and activities for the benefit of the development of the Kazakh nation7.

This study examines the socio-political activities of the Alash movement in Kazakhstan during the Russian Civil War to deepen the understanding of the history of Kazakhstan during this period.

The study of the history of the Alash movement during the Civil War and its historical understanding should be carried out using proven methods, and the results should reflect historical reality and adhere to the principles of evidence-based science. For this purpose, the study used primary sources of both Kazakh historians and researchers from other countries as well as archival data. To deepen the understanding of the history of Kazakhstan during the Civil War, the following methods were used through the prism of socio-political activities of the Alash movement: critical analysis, historical and genetic, historical and system, diachronic analysis, heuristic method, synthesis, deduction, and comparison. Other conditions include the use of the principles of problematics, historicism, objectivity, and consistency of scientific cognition.

The critical analysis was used to select and understand historical scientific and literary sources. As a result of using the method of critical analysis, previous papers concerning the coverage of the history of Kazakhstan during the Russian Civil War were investigated and historically reliable archival and scientific sources of information were selected, based on which further research was conducted, and therefore, the use of critical analysis was considered in the research methodology as a priority requirement for achieving objectivity in the study of the problem.

With the help of the historical and genetic method, the causality of the relations of the leaders of the Alash movement with the Russian monarchists and Bolsheviks that developed in the period under study was revealed, and the root causes and motives of each of the parties were described. This approach provided a better understanding of the problem and suggested more logical ways to solve it.

The use of the historical and system method in the course of the study was designed to implement a detailed analysis of the collected information to consider the socio-political activities of representatives of the Alash movement as a historical system, parts of which were not only political figures and state events, but also educational, cultural, and social phenomena, as well as persons who stimulated this type of development in Kazakhstan at the beginning of the 20th century. The socio-political activity of the Alash movement, which is studied in this paper, is directly related to current world events and it is extremely important to consider it in the context of time.

Using diachronic analysis, the study period was divided into three stages: 1917-1918, 1918-1919, and 1919-1924, the first two of which led to the participation of the Alash movement in the Civil War on the side of the Red Army.

The heuristic method of cognition was used to draw conclusions about the results achieved by the Alash movement, based on subsequent events in the history of the Kazakh state. The heuristic method helped assess the effectiveness of Alash Autonomy's cooperation with V. Lenin and Soviet Russia.

Using synthesis, the data obtained were generalised, with the help of which a single ideological component was identified, which was an incentive for the activity of the Alash movement, namely, the preservation and development of national culture, language and history, the struggle for political and economic independence of the state.

The method of deduction acted as an auxiliary method of cognition. With its help, a general assessment of the activities of the Alash movement was given based on modern knowledge about the effectiveness of state-forming concepts and forms of government.

The comparison was used to contrast the activities of the leaders of the Alash movement during the support of Imperial Russia and Bolshevik Russia.

Several stages can be distinguished depending on the scale of the Alash movement’s activities. The first stage covers the period from the end of 1917 to April 1918. The second stage was from mid-1918 to mid-1919, which was characterised by the acquaintance of the leaders of the Alash movement with the Soviet leaders who had just come to power, their programme and the beginning of interaction. The third stage – from November 1919 to the beginning of 1924 – is the period of participation of the Alash leaders in the armed conflict with anti-Soviet troops during the Civil War. During the last period, together with the Kazakh revolutionaries, conditions were created for the establishment and strengthening of Kazakh autonomy, and definition of the territory of the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Republic, with the support of the central Soviet leadership.

In the republic, systematic and organised work was carried out to eliminate illiteracy: the leaders of the Alash movement actively contributed to the development of science and education through cooperation with the central, republican, and local Soviet authorities to prevent and eliminate the consequences of famine in the country in the early 1920s, caused by the First World War, armed revolutions, and civil unrest. The functions of other state and political entities and formations are presented in Table 1.

Members of the Alash movement have played a significant role in Kazakhstan’s implementation of a new economic policy since 1914, working together with the Russian leadership to restore and develop the economy, which was in crisis after the world and civil wars. Thus, the cooperation of the nation's intelligentsia and the leadership of Soviet Russia determined the path of further development of Kazakhstan from the late 19th century to the mid-1920s.

Temporary administration and power of A.V. Kolchak did not formulate any strategies or plans for joint operations with the Alash formations during the first time after the fall of Tsarist power in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Their programmes were aimed at strengthening the Imperial course in future Russia. From the political climate of that time, it can be seen that the national regions maximally opposed the desire for separation on the rights of autonomy. In particular, announcing the declaration of the 1st State Duma at a meeting of the State Council on August 14, 1917, in Moscow, cadet V. Nabokov noted that “in the current situation, an attempt to dismember our homeland will mean purposeful and aimless assistance to the enemy”.

Chairman of the last State Duma M. Rodzianko said at this meeting: “I have heard the statement of the minister-chairman about the revival of the separatist lines of nations inhabiting our great Russia, and I see that this is not the fault of the state, but of the government, which failed to eradicate this movement, which threatened to tear our indigenous regions away from us, with its authority, which failed to stop all such demands with all its strength”^[8]. Knowing the real political climate, A. Bokeikhan stated: “It is better if the cadet party is transferred to a person's ownership. If our Kazakhs own the property, they will sell it to a neighbour under the Bashkir name, and in a few years they will be washed away and left in a terrible situation. The cadet party opposes national autonomy. We united under the banner of “Alash” and worked to increase national autonomy” ^[9]. Then he announced his withdrawal from this party.

In such circumstances, those who got acquainted with Lenin's programme, which determined the prospects for the development of nations in the Soviet system, and proposed their own directions for this development, actively began to recognise and implement it. However, the goal of the Soviet programme was not fully implemented. The cause was, first, the death of V. Lenin, and later – the establishment of Stalin's barracks socialism. As a result, since the second half of the 1920s, Lenin’s programme of national policy was disrupted, and Stalin's repressions became its continuation. The leaders of the liberation doctrine of Kazakhstan, who began to mobilise to turn Lenin’s course of national policy into reality, were called enemies of the people and punished.

Further events forced the leadership of the Alash party to implement its plans on the principles of autonomy within the new international federation, which would follow the democratic course of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. To achieve these goals, they entered into an agreement with the interim government and expressed their support for its policies.

The October Revolution of 1917 aggravated the political situation in the country and marked the beginning of the establishment of Bolshevik Soviet rule. It was in this situation that “the fall of the provisional government, the loss of power of its local authorities one by one, the first steps of the Bolsheviks in the field of state-building, the orientation towards the establishment of a socialist social system required various political parties, including Alash, to define a new strategy and tactics”. After the fall of the interim government, the leaders of Alash set themselves the goal of implementing their programme even in critical conditions. They analysed current political developments within Russia in the hope that they would stop the rapid establishment of Soviet power in all regions of Kazakhstan. “...with troops led by the Orenburg Ataman A. Dutov... the union had a largely formal significance and, as further events showed, its effectiveness was negligible”^[10].

However, representatives of Alash, who closely followed all further political developments in Russia and the world, also noticed that Lenin's revolutionary teachings had gone beyond the borders of one state and found support among workers in other European countries, and the influence of communist parties in them began to grow. Thus, it can be assumed that the first agreement of the representatives of Alash with the Soviet system was conditioned by the fact that the historical events of that period began to develop in favour of Lenin's policy.

After coming to power, the Bolshevik Party began implementing its programme, including economic, social, and national policies, which led to the creation of the People’s Commissariat for Ethnic Affairs. In 1918, V. Lenin initiated the creation of the Turkestan Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (ASSR), which included several regions, which became proof of the reality of Bolshevik national policy. This was proof of the reality of national policy, as effective planning for granting autonomy to many peoples was carried out. A telegram to the People’s Commissariat of National Affairs dated March 24 and 27 “On the way to achieving this goal” was sent to deputies of various councils, which helped increase the confidence of nations in the Soviet government^[11].

On the occasion of this invitation: “In March 1918, on behalf of the Alash authorities, Halel and Zhakhansha Dosmukhamedov went from Uralsk to Moscow to meet with the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I. Lenin and the People’s Commissar for National Affairs J.V. Stalin and hand them a resolution on the creation of a second common Kazakh-Kyrgyz state (Orenburg, December 1917). After J. Stalin got acquainted with the resolution, on March 19 he telegraphed to Semipalatinsk and invited A. Bukeikhanov and his deputy H. Gabbasov for telephone conversations. A day later, on March 20, negotiations with J.V. Stalin were held by telegraph by Halel Gabbasov. This will refer to the status of autonomy for the Alash Orda”^[12]. In this context, A. Bokeikhan9 stated: “According to Halel Gabbasov, his proposals and demands in negotiations with J.V. Stalin on the telegraph wire were previously formulated at a special meeting with the participation of A. Bokeikhanov, R. Marsekov, A. Yermekov, B. Sarsenov, A. Baitursynov, M. Dulatov”.

The proposals and demands were prepared in accordance with the decision of the Second All-Kazakh-Kyrgyz Congress, where it was decided to create territorial and national autonomy in areas dominated by Kazakhs to protect their interests in the context of civil war. The Congress called for a democratic federal Russia that would ensure national equality, a native language “based on tradition”, a fair income tax, and guaranteed presidential power that would guarantee the separation of religion and state.

The agreement between the Alash Autonomy and the Bolsheviks on the creation of Kazakh autonomy within Russia was concluded in 1919. However, the civil war and other events prevented its implementation. The demands of the Alash Autonomy were not met, and their attitude to the October Revolution was not unambiguous^[13].

At the beginning of April 1919, the situation at the front changed: under the command of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, White Guard approached the Volga River, pushing out Red Army units. The White Guard besieged Orenburg and captured Aktobe. Meanwhile, the Kostanay uprising failed, and the 4th Alash regiment had to choose between heading to the Aral Sea with the Red Army or returning to the White Guard, so the representatives of the Alash decided to return to the White Guard.

The next step was to fight the enemy of freedom – the Bolsheviks. The Alash government established contacts with secret organisations of socialist revolutionaries in Siberia and fought with them against Bolshevism^[14], which indicates the determination of the leaders of the Kazakh liberation movement at the beginning of the 20th century to irreconcilable ideological, military struggle to achieve their goals.

The results of the conflict in the Omsk and Akmola regions at that time were as follows: “Kyrgyz volosts had a negative attitude towards zemstvo volosts due to the establishment of their own Alash councils. Appeals were distributed from this council calling on the Kyrgyz to armed fight against the Russians. The chairman and several members of the council were captured, and only then did the Kyrgyz recognise the Siberian authorities. Now the Alash Autonomy Council (Siberian government of A.V. Kolchak) does not exist, volost executive committees work”^[15].

The Bolshevik government created the Kazrevcom Commission (Kazakh Revolutionary Committee) to support Soviet power among Alash followers. S. Mendeshov, together with the commission, resolved the issues of transfer, disbandment, change of the leadership of the departments of the Western Alash Autonomy, appointment of political commissars, and determination of property that was seized from the Cossacks^[16].

The leaders of the Alash Autonomy decided to go over to the side of the Soviet government to bring their country to freedom. An agreement with the Soviet government was concluded in December 1918, but most of the Alash councils remained under the influence of the White Guard. The first group that went over to the side of the Soviets were the turgayans, led by A. Baitursynov, who stated that the choice of the side of the Soviet government was predetermined by the appearance of A.V. Kolchak, who sought monarchical power.

If the mutual armed confrontation between the leaders of the Alash and the Soviet government came to an end, one could expect tough measures from the latter. On March 13, 1920, prominent workers of the Semipalatinsk province, M. Auezov, A. Yermekov, Zh. Aimautov made a demand to Kazrevcom, Sibrevcom (Siberian Revolutionary Committee) and A. Baitursynov to permanently stop harassing representatives of national intelligence for their previous political activities. The letter states that “Kazakh intelligence ... from a national standpoint, is not taken. The reason is that only by increasing the cultural rank of its masses can it be included in the family of the world proletariat”. He also strongly warned that the persecution of a small number of Kazakh students would cause irreparable harm to the future of the people^[17]. And this shows that such a tense situation took place throughout Kazakhstan during this period.

During the Leninist period, pardoning all members of the Alash movement was fully implemented by the Soviet authorities, and almost everyone who was part of this movement was massively involved in justifying socialist Kazakhstan. The opportunity was created for them to work, despite their past activities against the Soviet government. For example, since the beginning of 1920, the “State Political Administration (SPA) is prohibited from conducting agent work among Kyrgyz responsible employees, even if their previous affairs are related to the Alash movement”. A special instruction was thus sent^[18]. The leaders of the Alash movement were known for their participation in all political affairs to strengthen Soviet statehood in Kazakhstan. For example: “Alikhan Bokeikhanov, Raimzhan Marsekov, and many others ... the group took an active part in pre-election events (3 All-Kyrgyz Congresses of Soviets)”^[19].

After the intense actions of political parties in Russia at that time, the implementation of Alash’s plans, which led to an armed conflict to fight for freedom for their people, was carried out at a certain level in the Soviet Union, which was the beginning of a new stage in the history of already socialist Kazakhstan.

Comparing the goals and content of the programmes of the leaders of Alash and Lenin’s national policy, there is a consonance: both reflect the equality of nations, economic, cultural, and national development, and freedom of religious beliefs. The programmes also provided for the freedom of nations to create, if necessary, completely independent individual states. “Some articles of the Alash programme are similar to the programme of the Social Democrats”^[20]. Similar aspirations of representatives of the Alash movement with the declarative goals of the socialists may indicate a great influence of the spirit of the era on the vision of the future. After the collapse of several empires (Russian, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian), the intelligentsia of that time sought to develop a radically different ideology: a departure from the bourgeois lifestyle, the development of technology, the redistribution of resources, etc.

The specific circumstances of the national regions that wanted to secede from Soviet Russia and become a separate state were also the focus of the Bolshevik leader’s attention. For example, S. Beisembayev^[21] wrote: “Answering Bukharin, V.I. Lenin pointed out that “it is necessary to remember at what stage this people stands from the Middle Ages to bourgeois democracy. We must wait for the development of this people”. That is why the implementation of these requirements of both programmes was postponed by its creators for a certain period in accordance with the actual situation.

According to M. Koigeldiev^[22], the Bolshevik programme was not initially supported by the Alash intelligence service. According to the intelligence officers, the Bolsheviks were following a course that would bring suffering even to Russia itself, and not just to Kazakhstan. First of all, the leaders of Alash categorically rejected the provisions of the Bolshevik programme on the transformation of private property into communal property. In their opinion, such things could not be done to Kazakh society. Such actions, firstly, could cause confusion among the Kazakh masses, who were not at all ready to take such measures, and secondly, they could lead to a social catastrophe even before the establishment of social equality. It turned out that the violation of the traditional type of economy, the unwillingness of the Kazakh peasantry and society to conduct an economy based on the communal property could not have had a positive effect. Kazakh intelligence also did not support the Bolshevik theory of class struggle. In their understanding, Kazakh society was far from at the same level of class development as Russia. It can be concluded that at that historical period, the Kazakh people, who were under colonial oppression, needed to unite based on a common national interest, and not any classification. Kazakh intelligence understood that classification, on the contrary, weakens it and does not allow solving the main problems.

V. Goldin^[23] emphasised that in the study of the history of the civil war in Russia, there is a whole sector of views and opinions, ranging from communist and social democratic to liberal, conservative, and even monarchical. However, if considering not only Soviet, but also emigrant and foreign historiography, then such judgments and the scale of politicisation of the topic are always characteristic of it. In the modern literature on the Russian Civil War, the authors use various methodological potential – up to the formative and class-civilisational approach, the analysis of processes through the prism of the theory of modernisation. Historians also turn to the best practices and methods of other sciences. An interdisciplinary approach and interdisciplinary synthesis are one of the key areas for a deeper understanding of the Civil War23. Thus, when studying the history of the Alash movement, it is necessary to focus not only on local historical literature, but also use more diverse sources of information, which will help in reproducing an objective picture of the reality of that time.

M. Olcott^[24], in her paper on the Alash party and movement established in Kazakhstan, wrote that the news of the February Revolution of 1917 was met with applause in all segments of society. This event seemed to be a sign of the beginning of a new era, in which the discontent of the Kazakh people was openly heard and the previous negative policy was restored. Kazakhs supported the provisional government, and many of their educated youth established the Kazakh National Party Alash Orda, received representation in Petrograd, and worked for their own national interests24. That is, the Kazakh people began to take steps towards a democratic society at the beginning of the 20th century, which casts doubt on the claim that the Kazakhs were not ready to create their own independent state.

Professor K.N. Nurpeisov^[25], wrote that on June 24, 1918, the Alash adopted a resolution to cancel all decrees issued by the Soviet government on the territory of the Alash Autonomy, and the next day after that, the decision to create Alash councils in the regions and counties came into force. Another decree announced the creation of a three-member military council close to the Alash party. This military council was entrusted with the tasks of the Ministry of Defence25. During the Civil War, the government and the Alash party were established, and its movement also carried out socio-political activities, which indicates the existence of a state tradition at least among the Kazakh intelligence.

The study by T. Rysbekov et al.^[26] consider the history of the Alash movement in western Kazakhstan and its influence on the development of the national consciousness of Kazakhs and the idea of creating an independent Kazakh state at the beginning of the 20th century. The study examines the features of political and cultural conditionality of the establishment of Western Alash, its programme principles, structure, and stages of development. The role of Western Alash in the national independence movement of Kazakhstan and the restoration of the country's independence in 1991 is also considered26. The study provides a better understanding of the significance of Western Alash in the establishment of Kazakh statehood and its influence on the modern ideology of Kazakhstan through the establishment of the Alash Autonomy, the deployment of cultural and educational activities, and the struggle against the colonial policy of Tsarist Russia.

The activities of Alikhan Bokeikhanov, one of the leading figures of the Alash movement in the first years of Soviet power in Kazakhstan are considered by S.K. Zhussip et al.2. The paper describes Alikhan Bokeikhanov’s attempt to preserve the independence of Kazakhstan in the context of the struggle against the Bolshevik government. The authors also consider his cooperation with other national figures of that time, his propaganda work among the population, and his role in shaping the cultural life of Kazakhs2. In addition to being one of the key figures of the Alash movement, Alikhan Bokeikhanov was also one of the initiators of the creation of Kazakh writing, popularised national culture and art among young people, which indicates the significance of this figure for the national revival of Kazakhstan.

Sh. Zabikh and K. Zabikh^[27] examined the views of other two prominent figures of the Alash movement – Zhakhansha Dosmukhamedov and Mustafa Shokai – on the idea of uniting the Turkic peoples. The paper describes their views on the politics and rights of the Turkic peoples, and also points out the influence of their ideas on the development of the Alash movement as a whole. The paper also reveals the collaboration of Zhakhanshi Dosmukhamedov and Mustafa Shokai with other figures of Turkic culture at that time, which contributed to the dissemination of their ideas among the general public of Kazakhstan27. The study emphasises the importance of the idea of unity of Turkic-speaking peoples for the development of national consciousness and the creation of a strong state entity to revive national freedom and independence.

That is, the history of the Alash movement in the Soviet period is marked by the fact that the methods of implementing the programmes of the leaders of the liberation doctrine in Kazakhstan after the February bourgeois-people's revolution of 1917 in Russia were complicated and had to change directions due to the current situation.

This study aimed to deepen the understanding of the history of Kazakhstan at the time of the Alash movement. It resulted in the following conclusions:

In connection with such events as the Russian Civil War, the creation of a provisional government, the further activities of the Alash movement under Soviet rule, etc., in the future, it is necessary to study the data from the archives of countries that were not part of the Soviet Union, which would help understand the topic of the Alash movement from other points of view. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to implement joint grant projects for historical scientists from Kazakhstan and other countries who intend to study this topic. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended to publish scientific books. At the same time, it is important to make multi-part documentaries and widely broadcast them in Kazakh, Russian, and English in order to popularise the history of the Alash movement at the world level.

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Organ	Function
Alash Orda	The highest governing body of the Alash movement, representing the national council
Alash party	A political party that defended the interests of Kazakhs and sought the creation of an independent state
Military structure	Formation of the Alash army, which defended the national territory from foreign invaders
Cultural, educational, and scientific institutions	They ensured the development of culture, education, and science among the Kazakh people
Newspapers and journals	Printed publications that spread the ideas of the Alash movement among the population