Topical problems of the history of Kazakhstan in the M.P. Vyatkin's works

The article deals with M.P. Vyatkin's role in the research of problems of the history of Kazakhstan during the complicated period of the development of the Soviet science of history (The 40s of the 20th century), besides the conditions of the science development are considered in the article. Many historical facts of the organization of the science development in Kazakhstan are specified and corrected on the basis of the archive sources and published materials. The circumstances of creating and preparing the first complete text-book on Kazakhstan's history are clarified (The main author of the book is M.P. Vyatkin and it was published in 1943). The author of the article studies one of many problems of the book creation. The problem is concerned with different opinions relating to estimations and features of the fact of Kazakhstan's joining to Russia. Some compilers of the text-book emphasized the role of the tsarism's colonial policy. Other compilers considered the consequences of Kazakhstan's joining to Russia as a progressive fact. In the thirties of the twentieth century the views of M.N. Pokrovsky became firmly established in the science of history. M.N. Pokrovsky considered the joining of the Central Asia nations to Russia as the absolute evil. After M.N. Pokrovsky's death Soviet historians began criticizing his conception of «the absolute evil». Historians began developing a new conception of «the least evil». As to the new conception the joining of the nations to Russia was the least evil compared with the evil of living under other states' power. M.P. Vyatkin was the first Soviet historian who applied the conception of «the least evil» to the estimation of the fact concerning the joining of nations of the Central Asia to Russia. M.P. Vyatkin concludes that Kazakhstan in the eighteenth century faced the alternative: to be under Russia's power or under Jungaria's power. M.P. Vyatkin believes that Kazakhstan's joining to Russia should be estimated as «the least evil». While writing the text-book «The History of Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic from the ancient times to the present days» the conception of «the least evil» was not supported by the book compilers. The compilers supported A.M. Pankratova's view, who was the follower of M.N. Pokrovsky. At the end the book compilers accepted the viewpoint that the joining of Kazakhstan to Russia should be estimated as a conquest. Later the book «The History of Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic from the ancient times to the present days» was sharply criticized for the estimation. M.P. Vyatkin made a great contribution into the studies of the history of Kazakhstan. M.P. Vyatkin's conception is characterized in general by logical and consistent judgements and objective analysis of complicated political situation in Kazakhstan (in XVII-XVIII) in the period from the seventeenth century tj the eighteenth century. It is indisputable that any researcher who deals with the history of Kazakhstan in XVII-XIX must study M.P. Vyatkin's works. The main statements of his conception are reflected in «The History of Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic from the ancient times to the present days». M.P. Vyatkin was the author of a number of chapters of the «The History of Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic from the ancient times to the present days» and one of the book editors.

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