Perestroika and crisis of national relations in Kazakhstan (1985-1991)

The article deals with the problems of interethnic relations in Kazakhstan in the years of perestroika and breakdown of the USSR. An impression of objectivity of the Soviet society collapse as a result of release of ethnic nationalism from under the "press" of party bodies and state security apparatus due to the crash of official ideology of internationalism and actions of ethnic elites aimed at the disintegration of the country prevails in the research literature. Perestroika in the USSR was directed at the reformation of the Soviet society. Actions of the Soviet Union Center aimed at elimination of ethnic disparity hierarchy in national republics caused titular nations anxiety and expectation of changes among the ethnic minorities that in turn provoked aggravation of ethnic relations. The Union government reconsidered official personnel policy and carried out replacement of the former leaders of National Republics. In Kazakhstan it caused overt actions of Kazakh young people and intelligentsia in Almaty in December 1986. The new party leadership of Kazakhstan headed by G.V. Kolbin chose demolition of existing system of ethnic and tribal preferences in personnel policy and introduction of ethnically proportional representation in party-governmental and Soviet apparatus as its center of attention. Struggle against predominance of Kazakhs in governmental bodied was represented as correction of the "extremes" and return to genuine Lenin's national policy. At the same time it was attempted to switch attention of the society from national issues to solving problems of social difficulties. Such an approach did not cause any significant opposition in the republic. However, Kolbin's addressing the language problem, namely, sharp decreasing of the sphere of the Kazakh language application and studying, had considerable consequences. The language reform presupposed equal development of both Kazakh and Russian languages as well as support of language and cultural demands of ethnic minorities. Since the summer of 1989 the language reform was used as the instrument in the fight against the Union Center for accretion of power in National Republics. The language reform in Kazakhstan as well as in other Union republics meant the beginning of the Soviet internationalist project crash which was closely connected with the policy of language unification on account of the Russian language spread since 1930. Actualization of the national languages problem created powerful resourcesin support of republicnomenklaturas' claims for uncontrolled imperious dominance and control of the national economies. Fairly speaking, interests of party nomenclatura, which earlier had made its contribution to 'extinction' of the Kazakh language, and national intelligentsia converged at this issue. The language reform split public opinion and struck a violent blow at the remaining relations of interethnic confidence and solidarism typical of the preceding period. However, Kazakh party nomenclatura and intelligentsia did not aim at secession from the Union. Absolute majority of Kazakhstani people also supported the idea of preserving the unity of the country. Analysis of the ethno-political processes in Kazakhstan in the years of perestroika shows that destructiveness of nationalism potential was exaggerated. The crisis of national relations actually occurred but example of Kazakhstan suggests that potential of interethnic concord and civil loyalty was much more significant. After collapse of the country the social capital in the form of interethnic tolerance was used by the Kazakhstan political leadership to integrate the population into new political community of Kazakhstani people.

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