Formation of the borders of Kazakhstan: discussions and solutions in the first twenty years of soviet power

Abstract

The issues of the formation of the administrative borders of Kazakhstan with the republics of Central Asia and the RSFSR are considered within the frame of rapidly changing military and socio-political situation. Priorities in the delimitation, taking into account the size of territories, population and education status, are identified. Attention is drawn to the relationship of the national republics with the union bodies, neighboring autonomies, other territories and regions of Russia. The evolution of the delimitation process, the transformation of the boundaries and the basic criteria used in this process, the forms of demarcation and approaches to their implementation are shown. The main and additional criteria of delimitation of the borders of the subjects of the RSFSR and the USSR were determined. The continuity of the principles of administrative division in the pre-war period with the modern principles of interstate delimitation and the influence of the processes of delimitation on the evolution of international law are shown. A certain interconnection between the dynamics of administrative-territorial division, including the formation of autonomies on a national basis, which took place after the February and October revolutions, was traced, but qualitative differences between pre- and early Soviet approaches were also recorded. It is concluded that it was in the pre-war period that the main contours of the current borders of the Central Asian states were established, and the demarcation process itself played a great role in stabilizing the situation in the region.