The Formation of the Soviet Union: Communism and Nationalism, 1917–1923, Revised Edition

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Harvard University Press, 1997 M04 25 - 392 pages

Here is the history of the disintegration of the Russian Empire, and the emergence, on its ruins, of a multinational Communist state. In this revealing account, Richard Pipes tells how the Communists exploited the new nationalism of the peoples of the Ukraine, Belorussia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Volga-Ural area--first to seize power and then to expand into the borderlands.

The Formation of the Soviet Union acquires special relevance in the post-Soviet era, when the ethnic groups described in the book once again reclaimed their independence, this time apparently for good.

In a 1996 Preface to the Revised Edition, Pipes suggests how material recently released from the Russian archives might supplement his account.

 

Contents

THE NATIONAL PROBLEM IN RUSSIA
1
National Movements in Russia
7
Socialism and the National Problem in Western and Central Europe
21
Russian Political Parties and the National Problem
29
Lenins Theory of SelfDetermination
41
EMPIRE
50
The Moslem Borderlands
75
The Caucasus
93
SOVIET CONQUEST OF THE CAUCASUS
193
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNION OF SOVIET
242
The Opposition to Centralization
255
Formulation of Constitutional Principles of the Union
269
Lenins Change of Mind
276
The Last Discussion of the Nationality Question
289
Chronology of Principal Events
298
Bibliography
304

The Bolsheviks in Power
107
SOVIET CONQUEST OF THE UKRAINE
114
SOVIET CONQUEST OF THE MOSLEM BORDERLANDS
155
Notes
329
Index
353
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