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Abstract

Based on regional Komsomol documentation, this article examines the history of Central Kazakhstan in the aftermath of the 1959 Temirtau Uprising. The brutal suppression of the Temirtau Uprising did not end youth unrest in Central Kazakhstan. In 1961, violent student revolts occurred in the towns of Topar and Karkalinsk and in the village of Chernigovka. This article will argue that the attempted pacification of youth unrest required a comprehensive strategy by Soviet authorities, involving not only the expansion of urban social control, but also the development of more precisely patronage relationships between ethnically differentiated urban and rural subregions to safeguard the food supply to restive towns and cities. Notably, this process resulted in new levels of visibility for deported ethnic German populations, who were lauded for their role in raising pigs, in contrast to Kazakhs, who were criticized for resisting the spread of pig farming. While the food insecurity that triggered the Temirtau Uprising may have been ameliorated over the course of the 1960s, this process involved imbricating Central Kazakhstan's diverse population in new systems of ethnic hierarchy and shame/disgrace.