The Nomadic Population of the Steppe Region during the Civil Confrontation: Everyday Practices and Survival Strategies (1918 — early 1920s)

The Nomadic Population of the Steppe Region during the Civil Confrontation: Everyday Practices and Survival Strategies (1918 — early 1920s)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31489/3134-9102/2026ejh-1/120-131

Keywords:

Kazakh nomadic population; Steppe Region; civil confrontation; Civil War; everyday practices; survival strategies; nomadic mobility; livestock husbandry; social adaptation; history of everyday life.

Abstract

The article examines the everyday practices and survival strategies of the Kazakh nomadic population of the Steppe Region under the conditions of the Civil confrontation from 1918 to the early 1920s. The aim of the study is to identify the adaptive mechanisms that ensured the preservation of economic and social stability of aul communities during a period of violence, economic crisis, and administrative instability. The study identi fies key survival strategies, including the preservation of livestock husbandry, spatial mobility, economic and fiscal maneuvering, refusal to participate in armed confrontation, and the legal documentation of incurred losses. Regional specificities of these strategies are revealed: in the agrarian districts of Akmola Oblast, practices of food redistribution and commodity exchange predominated, whereas in the livestock-oriented areas of Semipalatinsk Oblast, survival strategies were concentrated on preserving livestock numbers as the basis of subsistence. It is concluded that the everyday practices of the nomadic population were transformed into a stable system of adaptive strategies that made it possible to mitigate the destructive impact of the crisis and preserve the basic elements of the traditional way of life under conditions of civil confrontation.

Published online

2026-03-31

How to Cite

Kazhenova, G., & Abdykulova, G. (2026). The Nomadic Population of the Steppe Region during the Civil Confrontation: Everyday Practices and Survival Strategies (1918 — early 1920s). Eurasian Journal of History, 12131(1), 120–131. https://doi.org/10.31489/3134-9102/2026ejh-1/120-131

Issue

Section

HISTORY
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