Alma-Ata in the 1930s: The Soviet Capital of National Autonomy and a Regime City
Алма-Ата в 1930-е годы: советская столица национальной автономии и режимный город
Ablazhey N.N. Zhanbossinova A.S.
2026Novosibirsk State Technical University
Vestnik Novosibirskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, Seriya: Istoriya, Filologiya
2026#25Issue 1127 - 140 pp.
The article examines the evolving status of Alma-Ata in the political and geographical landscape of the USSR and Kazakh autonomy during the 1930s. It presents a comparative analysis of the city’s roles as both a capital and a re-gime city, particularly in light of Alma-Ata’s designation as the capital of autonomy and the initial phase of imple-menting the passport system in the USSR. In addition, the article offers data on the city’s growth and population in-crease, largely attributed to migration. It argues that the introduction of the passport system in 1933 and the establishment of Alma-Ata as a regime city in 1938 facilitated the enforcement of a passport regime. This enabled var-ious campaigns to evict specific groups from the city and to relocate individuals living in unauthorized structures along the city’s perimeter. Ultimately, the conclusion underscores that, despite its designation as an autonomous capi-tal, Alma-Ata – Central Asia’s largest city – remained peripheral to the central authority. This is evident in the gradual rollout of the passport system, the prolonged absence of a special regime city status, and the discrepancy between Al-ma-Ata’s actual standing and its expected prominence as one of the capitals of the Soviet Union’s national republics. Nevertheless, the establishment of regime status in the late 1930s serves as a testament to Alma-Ata’s emerging role as a political center.
Alma-Ata , capital , introduction of the passport system , migration , passport regime , regime city
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Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Novosibirsk State University
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026