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Portraits of Lenin and Brezhnev on Red Square During the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of the October Revolution. Moscow, 7 November 1977 / Getty Images

Portraits of Lenin and Brezhnev on Red Square During the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of the October Revolution. Moscow, 7 November 1977 / Getty Images

Mikhail Gorbachev, Member of the Soviet Politburo, Arrives in London for an Official Visit. 15 December 1984 / Getty Images

Mikhail Gorbachev, Member of the Soviet Politburo, Arrives in London for an Official Visit. 15 December 1984 / Getty Images

Kazakh SSR Leaders Salamat Mukashev, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Dinmukhamed Kunayev (from Left to Right) with World War II Veterans on Victory Day. Almaty, 9 May 1986 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Kazakh SSR Leaders Salamat Mukashev, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Dinmukhamed Kunayev (from Left to Right) with World War II Veterans on Victory Day. Almaty, 9 May 1986 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Anti-Soviet Demonstration in Vilnius, Lithuania. 21 April 1990 / Getty Images

Anti-Soviet Demonstration in Vilnius, Lithuania. 21 April 1990 / Getty Images

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Kazakhstan

THE JELTOQSAN IN THE WESTERN PRESS

How the Press Covered the Events of December 1986

Geologist B. Adilov, an Activist of the Nevada–Semipalatinsk Anti-Nuclear Movement, Reads Out a Rally Resolution. Almaty, 1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Geologist B. Adilov, an Activist of the Nevada–Semipalatinsk Anti-Nuclear Movement, Reads Out a Rally Resolution. Almaty, 1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Participants in a Republican Aitys Competition Celebrating Nauryz. Almaty, 1988 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Participants in a Republican Aitys Competition Celebrating Nauryz. Almaty, 1988 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Rally in Support of the Inviolability of Kazakhstan’s Borders. Almaty, 1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Rally in Support of the Inviolability of Kazakhstan’s Borders. Almaty, 1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Nursultan Nazarbayev Meeting with Sherkhan Murtaza, Editor-in-Chief of Socialistik Kazakhstan (right), and Gadilbek Shalakhmetov, Chairman of the Kazakh SSR State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting (left). 1989–1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Nursultan Nazarbayev Meeting with Sherkhan Murtaza, Editor-in-Chief of Socialistik Kazakhstan (right), and Gadilbek Shalakhmetov, Chairman of the Kazakh SSR State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting (left). 1989–1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Rally in Defense of the Kazakh Language. Almaty, 1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Rally in Defense of the Kazakh Language. Almaty, 1990 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

A Lone Figure Walking Through an Oil Development Site in Kazakhstan / Getty Images

A Lone Figure Walking Through an Oil Development Site in Kazakhstan / Getty Images

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A Former Fishing Boat Captain on His Vessel, Stranded After the Aral Sea Dried Up. 1989 / David Turnley / Getty Images

A Former Fishing Boat Captain on His Vessel, Stranded After the Aral Sea Dried Up. 1989 / David Turnley / Getty Images

Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev and Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Signing of an Inter-Republican Economic Agreement. Moscow, 18 October 1991 / Getty Images

Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev and Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Signing of an Inter-Republican Economic Agreement. Moscow, 18 October 1991 / Getty Images

Nursultan Nazarbayev with His Wife Sara Voting in the All-Union Referendum. Almaty, 1991 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Nursultan Nazarbayev with His Wife Sara Voting in the All-Union Referendum. Almaty, 1991 / Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents and Sound Recordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan

A Boy Beside a Toppled Soviet Monument During the Removal of Soviet Symbols Following the Failed August Coup. Moscow, August 1991 / Getty Images

A Boy Beside a Toppled Soviet Monument During the Removal of Soviet Symbols Following the Failed August Coup. Moscow, August 1991 / Getty Images

Boris Yeltsin, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Leonid Kravchuk During the Meeting of Former Soviet Republic Leaders That Formalized the Establishment of the CIS. Almaty, 21 December 1991 / Getty Images

Boris Yeltsin, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Leonid Kravchuk During the Meeting of Former Soviet Republic Leaders That Formalized the Establishment of the CIS. Almaty, 21 December 1991 / Getty Images

Local Girls in Beyneu. Kazakhstan, 1993 / Wolfgang Kaehler / LightRocket via Getty Images

Local Girls in Beyneu. Kazakhstan, 1993 / Wolfgang Kaehler / LightRocket via Getty Images