The Bolsheviks and the National Question, 1917–23

JEREMY SMITH is Lecturer in Russian and East European Politics at Edge Hill University College, Ormskirk, Lancashire. He completed his PhD at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in 1996 and has published several articles on the national policies of the early soviet government.

This book deals with the policies of the Soviets towards the non-Russian nationalities of the former Russian empire. Smith explores the attempts of the Bolsheviks to promote the development of minority nationalities, using a combination of political, cultural and educational measures. In the STUDIES IN RUSSIA AND EAST EUROPE series.In a timely re-examination of the origins of the system which fell apart so dramatically in 1991, this book deals with the policies of the Soviets towards the non-Russian nationalities of the former Russian Empire. Making extensive use of previously unavailable material from the Soviet archives, Jeremy Smith explores the attempts of the Bolsheviks to promote the development of minority nationalities in the Soviet context, through a combination of political, cultural and educational measures, and looks at the disputes surrounding the creation of the Soviet Union.