The Alash movement emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, during the national liberation struggle of the Kazakh people. Its main goal was the creation of an independent Kazakh state. The First World War and the 1917 February and October revolutions in Russia intensified the activities of the Kazakh national intelligentsia to protect the rights of the indigenous population. The first steps to create a Kazakh national party were taken during the First Russian Revolution. At the end of 1905, a “delegate congress” of representatives of five regions of Kazakhstan was convened in Uralsk. The congress took a preliminary decision to create a Kazakh national party, on the basis of which the Alash Party later emerged.
On 21-28 July 1917, the First All-Kazakh Congress in Orenburg saw the organizational registration of the Alash Party. The programme of the party was developed by Alikhan Bokeikhanov, Akhmet Baitursynov, Myrzhakyp Dulatov and others. The programme consisted of 10 sections and was published in the “Kazakh” newspaper (21 November 1917). The congress considered the issues of state administration, autonomy, participation in the Constituent Assembly, the formation of a political party, land, people’s police, education, and judiciary system, among other things. The main decision of the Congress was to defend the right of the Kazakhs to territorial and national autonomy within the “democratic, parliamentary and federal Russian republic.” An significant milestone of the congress was the formation of the Alash Party.
The founders of the Alash Party were Bokeikhanov, Baitursynov, Khalel Dosmukhamedov and other liberal-democratic representatives of the Kazakh intelligentsia. The party was a national-democratic organisation. It also included representatives of the scientific and creative intelligentsia, such as Mukhamedzhan Tynyshpayev, Magzhan Zhumabayev, Shakarim Kudaiberdiyev and others. Alash Party included representatives of various strata of the Kazakh society.
Alikhan Bokeikhanov was elected chairman of the party. “Kazakh” newspaper was recognised as the official body of the party.
The government of the Alash autonomy was formed in December 1917 and lasted until 1920.
In December 1917, the Second All-Kazakh Congress of the Alash Party was held in Orenburg. Its conveners were Bokeikhanov, Baitursynov, Dulatov, as well as Eldes Omarov, Seidazim Kadyrbayev, and Sagidym Doschanov. Baktygerei Kulmanov was the chairman of the congress. Among the invited members was Mustafa Shokai, head of government of the newly created Turkestan Autonomy.
Bokeikhanov made a report about the autonomy. The report and the issue of the Kazakh autonomy were submitted to a special commission. Khalel Gabbasov spoke on behalf of the commission. Thus, the Congress unanimously decided to form the autonomy of Kazakh regions and to give it the name “Alash”. The “Alash Orda” temporary People’s Council consisting of 25 members was also created.
The congress adopted important documents concerning the political fate of the Kazakh people. The main issue was the formation of the autonomy and its government. The congress declared the creation of the Kazakh autonomy under the name of “Alash”. The congress also saw the formation of the government – the Provisional People’s Council under the name of “Alash Orda” (the government of the Alash autonomy). The congress decided that the Kazakh autonomy should include the Bokey Horde, the Oral, Torgai, Akmola and Semipalatinsk oblasts, districts of the Transcaspian region and the Altai province populated by Kazakhs. Semipalatinsk was temporarily declared the centre of the Alash Orda autonomy. The Alash Orda government was headed by Alikhan Bokeikhanov. The Congress decided to organise regional county councils and committees, instructed Alash Orda to “immediately take over all executive power over the Kazakh population.”
The history of the Alash Party coincided with the revolutionary year of 1917. During this period, there was an acceleration of the political unity of various strata of the Kazakh society, new slogans appeared: to form national-territorial autonomy within the framework of the democratic federation; social protection of various segments of the population, etc.
After the fall of the monarchy, at the end of 1917, the Alash movement moved from party building to attempts to create a national autonomy. Members of Alash acted in line with the general democratic demands of the public, consistently defending the achievements of the February Revolution of 1917. During the final stage of the Alash movement history (1918-1920), its leaders were well aware of the difficulty of the idea of a complete autonomy, primarily due to the scattered territory and the weakness of economic development of the Kazakh society and the military-political situation.
Later, the relationship between the Alash Party and the new government turned to permanent contacts and compromises. Having clearly assessed the situation, the Alash leaders accepted the conditions dictated by the Soviet military and political leadership. After a meeting with Vladimir Lenin in 1919, Baitursynov was included in the emergency regional body – the Kirghiz Military-Revolutionary Committee. But its authority was often only nominal. The actual administration was carried out by the bodies of the Turkestan Front, and then by party committees, in which the Bolsheviks, who had been sent from the centre, played a leading role.
After the victory in the civil war, the Soviet government disbanded the Alash Orda government, and the Alash Orda figures were later subjected to repression by the Stalinist regime.