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Nationality Question in the Resolutions of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1898–1964

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Silvia P. Forgus
Silvia P. Forgus*
Affiliation:
Appalachian State University
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Extract

Since its conception in 1898 the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has had to contend with the nationality question. The Party has had to formulate programs and make organizational and functional decisions pertaining to national rights. It has had to dwell on political aspects of the issue and adopt resolutions touching on the social, economic, and cultural problems of non-Russian nations in the Russian Empire and the Soviet State. What were these resolutions and what effect, if any, did ideological considerations, domestic power struggles, situational factors, and personal styles of the party leaders have on the resolutions?

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , Fall 1977 , pp. 183 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © 1976 by the Association for the Study of the Nationalities (USSR and East Europe) Inc. 

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References

Notes

1. For a bibliography on books, pamphlets and articles pertaining to nationality questions written in the Soviet Union and in the West see Allworth, Edward, ed., Soviet Nationality Problems (New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1971), pp. 257–281.Google Scholar

2. McNeal, Robert H., gen. ed., Resolutions and Decisions of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 4 vols. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974), I, p. 3, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3. The name of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has been changed three times. From 1898 to 1918 the party was called the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDRP). In 1918 the party was named Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) RKP)b). In 1925 it was renamed All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) VKP(b). Since 1925 the party has been called the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).Google Scholar

4. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, I, pp. 20–22.Google Scholar

5. Ibid., I, p. 48, document 6.Google Scholar

6. Ibid., I, p. 102, document 58.Google Scholar

7. Ibid., I, pp. 103, 104, documents 58, 59.Google Scholar

8. Ibid., I, p. 21.Google Scholar

9. Ibid., I, p. 42, document 3.Google Scholar

10. Forgus, Silvia P., “Estonian Nationalism and Primary Education 1860–1905” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, 1974), pp. 271, 281.Google Scholar

11. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, I, pp. 131–134, document 81.Google Scholar

12. Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., A History of Russia. 2d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969), p. 452.Google Scholar

13. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, I, p. 167, document 114.Google Scholar

14. Ibid., I, pp. 181, 182, document 125.Google Scholar

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17. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, I, pp. 225, 226, document 158.Google Scholar

18. Ibid., I, p. 218.Google Scholar

19. Ibid., I, p. 226, document 158.Google Scholar

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21. Ibid., I, pp. 227, 228.Google Scholar

22. Ibid., I, p. 264.Google Scholar

23. Ibid., II, p. 61, document 7.Google Scholar

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Ultimately, it was Khrushchev who had to take the blame for the shortcomings in the party work. McNeal maintained that someone, maybe Malenkov, had desirous of ruining Khrushchev's record. Ibid., III, p. 227.Google Scholar

34. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, III, p. 228, document 36.Google Scholar

35. Ibid., III, pp. 230, 231, document 36.Google Scholar

36. Ibid., III, pp. 231, 232, document 36.Google Scholar

37. Kolasky, John, Education in Soviet Ukraine (Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1968), p. 23.Google Scholar

38. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, III, p. 227, document 36.Google Scholar

39. Edward Allworth, ed., Soviet Nationality Problems, p. 58.Google Scholar

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41. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, IV, p. 37, 41, document 5.Google Scholar

42. Ibid., IV, p. 42, document 5.Google Scholar

43. Ibid., IV pp. 50, 51, document 6.Google Scholar

44. Ibid., IV, p. 51, document 7.Google Scholar

45. Ibid., IV, p. 51, document 7.Google Scholar

46. Ibid., IV, p. 52, document 7.Google Scholar

47. Ibid., IV, p. 9.Google Scholar

48. Massell, Gregory J., The Surrogate Proletariat (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974), pp. 265–266.Google Scholar

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50. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, IV, pp. 93, 94, document 19.Google Scholar

51. Ibid., IV, p. 115, document 24.Google Scholar

52. Ibid., IV, p. 117, document 25.Google Scholar

53. Ibid., IV, pp. 118–121, document 26.Google Scholar

54. Ibid., IV, p. 121, document 26.Google Scholar

55. Ibid., IV, p. 123, document 26.Google Scholar

56. Ibid., IV, pp. 133–138, document 28.Google Scholar

57. Ibid., IV, p. 143, document 30.Google Scholar

58. Ibid., IV, p. 143, document 30.Google Scholar

59. Ibid., IV, p. 176, document 33.Google Scholar

60. Ibid., IV, p. 178, document 33.Google Scholar

61. Allworth, , Soviet Nationality Problems, p. 7.Google Scholar

62. Zelev, , The Nationalities Question, p. 56.Google Scholar

63. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, IV, p. 245, document 33.Google Scholar

64. For a difference between Russification and Sovietization see Clem, Ralph S., ed., The Soviet West Interplay between Nationality and Social Organization (New York, Washington, London: Praeger Publisher, 1975), p. 9.Google Scholar

65. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, IV, pp. 311, 312, document 43.Google Scholar

66. Hazard, John, “Statutory Recognition of Nationality Differences in the USSR” in Allworth, op. cit., p. 88.Google Scholar

67. Goldhagen, Erich, Ethnic Minorities in the Soviet Union (New York, Washington London: Praeger Publishers, 1968), p. x.Google Scholar

68. Linden, , Khrushchev, p. 40.Google Scholar

69. McNeal, , Resolutions and Decisions, IV, pp. 311, 312, document 43.Google Scholar

70. Ziedonis, , Problems of Mininations, pp. 123–128.Google Scholar

71. Allworth, , Soviet Nationality Problems, p. 10.Google Scholar