THE NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN AS A UNIFIED HISTORICAL PROCESS

One of the most pressing issues in the history of the Kazakh nation is the national liberation movements. It is a historical fact that the Kazakh steppe was colonized by the Russian Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries. Colonization was carried out through various methods and strategies. Alongside the Tsarist government's colonial policy, the Kazakh people continuously resisted. A distinctive feature of the national liberation movement in Kazakhstan is that the struggle for independence in the Great Steppe was unrelenting—from the very beginning of Russian colonial encroachment to the fall of the Tsarist regime in 1917. This history of resistance and armed uprisings has been studied in Tsarist-noble historiography, Soviet class-based history, and over the last three decades since Kazakhstan gained independence. However, the methodological approach to these studies has often been flawed. The Kazakh uprisings have typically been examined in isolation from one another. In reality, the resistance against the Russian Empire’s expansionist and colonial policies was a unified and interconnected movement. The leaders of these struggles were aware of one another and often acted in coordination. The national liberation movement in Kazakhstan should be viewed as a single historical process. This study aims to highlight the interconnectedness and continuity of the uprisings and movements. The article can be regarded as an attempt to create an integrated account of the Kazakh national liberation struggle.