Nomads under Siege

Abstract

This chapter scrutinizes the Soviet regime’s launch of forced collectivization in Kazakhstan, showing how collectivization was accompanied by a broader assault on Kazakhs’ nomadic culture and practices. Intent on increasing the steppe’s agricultural productivity, the Central Committee repeatedly ignored warnings about the risks of sedentarization. As famine began in the winter of 1930-31, Moscow exacerbated the crisis by encouraging the migration and deportation of additional people to the steppe. By the winter of 1931-1932, livestock numbers in the republic had plummeted, and Kazakh nomads had entered into desperate flight.