DOCSLIB.ORG

Development of Outlying National Areas

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Development of Outlying National Areas DEVELOPMENT OF OUTLYING NATIONAL AREAS DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL OF OUTLYING AREAS , Prison of Nations Union o~ Equals Common! Cause Emancipation of Women National in Form and Socialist in Content Health Comes First The Future of the Outlying National Areas We want a voluntary union 0/ nations-a union which precludes any coercion 0/ one nation by another­ a union founded on complete. confidence, . on a clear recognition 0/ brotherly unity, on absolutely voluntary consent. (~) COlO3 COBETCKWX COLUfAJU1CTW~ECKWX PECfiY6JJ"K L'UNtON DES REPUBUOUES SOCIALISTES SOVIETIOUES THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS DIE UNION SOZIALISTISCHER SOWJETREPUBLIKEN F or centuries the world's progressive people dreamt of the time when the nations would forget their feuds and join in one great family. This dream first came true in multinational Russia after the victory of the Great -October Socialist Revolution of 1917, which gave power to the working people. Several days after the Revolution the Soviet Government adopted -the Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia, drawn up by Lenin. The Declaration proclaimed new principles of relations_ between nations, of a kind history had never known b~fore, it proclaimed full democra­ tiiZation, the right of peoples to equality, so­ vereignty, free self-determination and did away with all national privileges and restrictions. But before this equality could be translated into reality, it was necessary to overcome the economic and curtural backwardness of -the country's many nations and nationalities and establish all-round cooperation and brotherly mutual aid between them. Such relations could only be achieved through a voluntary union of nations on a democratic basis-on the bilsis of freedom and equality. Lenin had come to the conclusion that the most rational and just form of such a union would be a multinational socialist state based on the principles of autonomj and federation for .- the _ smaller nations-the Union of Soviet So~iali-st R~puplics. This little pamphlet tells how Lenin's ideas concerning the development of the outlying national areas were put into practice. Prison of Nations Pre-revolutionary Russia was a multinational power inhabited by over a hundred different nations and nationalities. The worjcing people ~f the vast empire were oppressed by the Russian tzar, by his military and civil administration. The small nationalities suffered from twofold oppression: from the Rus­ sian monarchy and their own national exploiters. The laffer enjoyed( the active support of the clergy of many religior:ls and foreign capitalists, notably the French, Belgian, British, German and American capitalists, who controlled many of RtJssia's key industries. Thus, as soon as rich oilfields were dis­ covered in Azerbaijan and lat!,r, near the town of Grozny, the American and European mono'" polies used every pretext, but most often direct economic pressure, to get control of these riches and to extract millions in profits, while the Caucasians who worked the mines eked out a meagre existence. Workers in the outlying national areas put in, as a rule, a 17-18-hour day for which they received a mere piffance. The life of farm la­ bourers in pr~-revolutionary Russia's E~stern out­ lying areas was probably the hardest of all. There men earned 86 roubles a 'year, women­ 56 roubles and adolescents-33 roubles whereas economists estimated that an adult had to spend 98 roubles per .annum on food alone. As a' re­ sult workers were perpetually in debt with the' boss. The peoples of the Eastern outlying areas' were subjected to a most cynical kind of exploi­ tation. Prices for consumer goods and food im­ ported to these areas wer!! exorbitantly high while prices for the exported primary goods were extremely low. Thus sugar and tea cost four times as much there as in Central Russia, 7 a 7-rouble samovar sold for 14 roubles, a 2-rouble iron pot sold for 50 roubles. Tax-col­ lecting and usury were a curse. Foreign, Russian and local industrialists and big landowners seized the be'st land, driving off the indigenous population into desert and mountainous areas. With the permission of the Russian authorities especially 1arge areas of land were handed to foreign concessior1ers by the Emir of Bukhara on the eve of World War I. The lot of the small peoples of Siberia was utterly unbearable. Taking advantage of the backwardness of the local population, enter­ prising businessmen made fabulous fortunes by bartering trinkets, salt and hunting gear for gold, fine furs and precious stones, _On top of economic oppression there was the political diSfranchisement -and cultural back­ wardness of the peoples of the national out'­ lying regions in pre-revolutionary Russia. It was easier for the landowners and capitalists to keep in subjection people who were ignorant. This explains why in pre-revolutionary Tajikistan, for example, only one person in 2,000 people was literate. -Kh. Salibayev, Honoured Teacher of the Tajik SSR, recalls the following episode: "It happened some 50 years ago in my native village. At the height of winter a - villager whose surname I do not remember, - but whose first name was Sharif, received a -letter f~om his brother in Fergana. He had left the village, _in search of a better life, and for a long time nothing was heard from him. Then came the long-awaited letter. The joy of the relatives knew no bounds. But they were illiterate and could not read it. Sharif went from house to house looking for a man who could read. But alasl None of the 300 adult villagers could read. Sharif took the scrap of paper and began to cry. The peasants consoled him and advised him to go to the neighbouring village which was situated beyond a high mountain pass. And that is what he had to do'" Many peoples in the multinational outlying 8 areas had no written language. Tbe Northern peoples. such as Chukchi, Evenki, Nanaitzi, ete., were absolutely illiterate and lived in utter ignorance. The overwhelming. majority of the people in Central Asia and other national. outlying regions, too, were illiterate. Three quarters of the popu­ lation in pre-revolutionary Russia· could neither read nor ·write. Hunger and cold, exhausting labour, poor sanitary·conditions contributed to the outbreaks of .such appalling dfseases as plague, cholera, smallpox, typhus. The. situation was further ag­ gravated by poor health- ~·ervice. Thus, in what is now Uzbekist~n; there was one doctor per 50,000 inhabitaots.. 'MaIJY nationalities in the North did not even know there was such a thing as qualified medical aid. The death rate wa~ higher than in most European countries, in the USA and Japan. In 1913,. it stood at 2.91 per cent. Child mor­ tality was especially high, with nearly two mil­ lion children (a. ·quarter of all babies born) dying before the age of one. To keep the numerous .peoples in subjection the bourgeois and landowners' Government of Russia re.sorted to inciting national hatred. Brutal exploitation, hunger and national op­ pression, disease and ignorance· were the lot of millions in pre-revolutionary -Russia, which was justly called a, prison of the peoples. 9 Before the revo- l\"> lution women in Ceittral Asia had to wear veils over their faces. Tilling the land' in Central Asia in 1910 Kazakh coal mi­ ners, Karagan­ da, 1903.. A fisherman's home on ihe Barents Sea at the beginning of the century. Union of Equals On the eve of the October Revolution the Communists in Russia faced the formidable task of creating new relations between the nationa­ lities inhabiting the vast country. The difficulty lay in the fact that capitalism had pushed na­ tional mistrust and alienation to the hilt. The Great October Revolution of 1917 gave power to the working people., The Second Con­ gress of So-.:iets which was held in those me­ morable days proclaimed Russia a Republic of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. The Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia, 'which renounced the old policy of ex­ ploitation and of setting one nationality against another and proclaimed the policy of "volun­ tary and honest unior, of the peoples of Russia," was, along with the Decree on Peace and Decree on Land, one of the first major documents' of the Soviet Government. The Declaration set down the bed-rock principles of Soviet national policy: equality and sovereignty of the peoples. of Rus­ sia, their right to free self-determination including secession and formation of Independent states. All national and religious privileges, which had over the centuries become prevalent and lega­ lized by Russian tzarism, were now cancelled. All the peoples, large and small, inhabiting. Russia, enjoyed equal rights. A People's Commissariat for Nationalities was formed under the Soviet of People's Commissars (Soviet Government) charged with practical di­ rection of the policy concerning the nationa-' lities. Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Tuva, a small mountain country on the border between Mongolia and China, later availed themselves of the right to self-determination to secede from the young Soviet Republic. 12 In the early months or" the Revolution and in the course of the Civil War the heroic struggle of workers and peasants of the national outlying areas led to the f~rmation of the first Soviet Republics: the Russian, Ukrainian, Byelo­ russian and Transcaucasian, the latter being a fe­ deration of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. The road of the Soviet Republics to state­ hood was a complicated one. However, they all . wanted to unite to fight counter-revolution and foreign intervention. The forming of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922 was telling proof of the suc­ cessful implementation of the Declaration ot Rights of the Peoples of Russia.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Stalin's Constitution of the USSR- December 1936
    Stalin’s Constitution of the USSR Moscow, USSR December 1936 ARTICLE 1. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of workers and peasants. ARTICLE 2. The Soviets of Working People's Deputies, which grew and attained strength as a result of the overthrow of the landlords and capitalists and the achievement of the dictatorship of the proletariat, constitute the political foundation of the U.S.S.R. ARTICLE 3. In the U.S.S.R. all power belongs to the working people of town and country as represented by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. ARTICLE 4. The socialist system of economy and the socialist ownership of the means and instruments of production firmly established as a result of the abolition of the capitalist system of economy, the abrogation of private ownership of the means and instruments of production and the abolition of the exploitation of man by man, constitute' the economic foundation of the U.S.S.R. ARTICLE 5. Socialist property in the U.S.S.R. exists either in the form of state property (the possession of the whole people), or in the form of cooperative and collective-farm property (property of a collective farm or property of a cooperative association). ARTICLE 6. The land, its natural deposits, waters, forests, mills, factories, mines, rail, water and air transport, banks, post, telegraph and telephones, large state-organized agricultural enterprises (state farms, machine and tractor stations and the like) as well as municipal enterprises and the bulk of the dwelling houses in the cities and industrial localities, are state property, that is, belong to the whole people.
    [Show full text]
  • Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia DOI: 10.34663/9783945561577-05
    Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge Studies 14 John Young: Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia DOI: 10.34663/9783945561577-05 In: John Markakis, Günther Schlee, and John Young: The Nation State : A Wrong Model for the Horn of Africa Online version at https://www.mprl-series.mpg.de/studies/14/ ISBN 978-3-945561-57-7, DOI 10.34663/9783945561577-00 First published 2021 by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften, Max Planck Re- search Library for the History and Development of Knowledge under Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Printed and distributed by: epubli / neopubli GmbH, Berlin https://www.epubli.de/shop/buch/111400 The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de Chapter 3 Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia John Young 3.1 Introduction Civil war broke out in Ethiopia on November 4, 2020 when the national army at the be­ hest of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attacked the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) administered state of Tigray. There were many differences between Abiy and the TPLF, but foremost was the Front’s support of national federalism and the prime minister’s back­ ing of a return to the centralized administration of past Ethiopian governments. The issue of national federalism has been controversial since it was first introduced by the Ethiopian Peo­ ple’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991, but the war encourages the debate to be revisited.
    [Show full text]
  • The Public Discussion of the 1936 Constitution and the Practice of Soviet Democracy
    Speaking Out: The Public Discussion of the 1936 Constitution and the Practice of Soviet Democracy By Samantha Lomb B.A. in History, Shepherd University, 2006 M.A. in History, University of Pittsburgh, 2009 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2014 University of Pittsburgh Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences This dissertation was presented by Samantha Lomb It was defended on April 7, 2014 and approved by William Chase, PhD, Professor Larry E. Holmes, PhD, Professor Emeritus Evelyn Rawski, PhD, Professor Gregor Thum, PhD, Assistant Professor Dissertation Director: William Chase, PhD, Professor ii Copyright © by Samantha Lomb 2014 iii Speaking Out: The Public Discussion of the 1936 Constitution and the Practice of Soviet Democracy Samantha Lomb, PhD University of Pittsburgh 2014 The Stalinist Constitution was a social contract between the state and its citizens. The Central leadership expressly formulated the 1936 draft to redefine citizenship and the rights it entailed, focusing on the inclusion of former class enemies and the expansion of “soviet democracy”. The discussion of the draft was conducted in such a manner as to be all-inclusive and promote the leadership’s definition of soviet democracy. However the issues that the leadership considered paramount and the issues that the populace considered paramount were very different. They focused on issues of local and daily importance and upon fairness and traditional peasant values as opposed to the state’s focus with the work and sacrifice of building socialism.
    [Show full text]
  • Constitution
    CONSTITUTION • (FUNDAMENTAL LAW) OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS Adopted at the Extraordinary Eighth Congress of Soviets of the U.S.S.R. -December 5, 1936. PRICE: 3d. ; LTP i 342.07023 ; S08K ARTICLE 1: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist, state of workers and peasants. ARTICLE 2: The political foundation of the U.S.S.R. are the Soviets, of Toilers' Deputies, which developed >and grew strong as a result of the overthrow of the power of the landlords and capitalists and the achievement of the dictatorship of the proletariat. ARTICLE 3: All power in the U.S.S.R. belongs to the toilers of town and country as represented by the Soviets of Toilers' Deputies. ARTICLE 4: The economic foundation of the U.S.S.R. is the socialist system of economy and the socialist ownership of the implements and means of production firmly established as a result of the liquidation of the capitalist system of economy, the abolition of private property in the imple- ments and means of production and the abolition of exploitation of man by- man. ARTICLE 5: Socialist property in the U.S.S.R. bears either the form of state property (the possession of the whole people) or the form of co-operative and collective farm property (property of separate collective farms and property of co-operative associations). ARTICLE 6: The land,-.mineral deposits, waters, forests, mills, fac- tories,-mines, railways, water and air transport systems, banks, means of communication, large state-organised agricultural enterprises (state farms, machine and tractor stations and the like) as well as municipal enterprises and the principal dwelling house properties in the cities and industrial localities, are state property, that is, the possession of the whole people.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnic Violence in the Former Soviet Union Richard H
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 Ethnic Violence in the Former Soviet Union Richard H. Hawley Jr. (Richard Howard) Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES ETHNIC VIOLENCE IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION By RICHARD H. HAWLEY, JR. A Dissertation submitted to the Political Science Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2011 Richard H. Hawley, Jr. defended this dissertation on August 26, 2011. The members of the supervisory committee were: Heemin Kim Professor Directing Dissertation Jonathan Grant University Representative Dale Smith Committee Member Charles Barrilleaux Committee Member Lee Metcalf Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii To my father, Richard H. Hawley, Sr. and To my mother, Catherine S. Hawley (in loving memory) iii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who made this dissertation possible, and I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of them. Above all, I thank my committee chair, Dr. Heemin Kim, for his understanding, patience, guidance, and comments. Next, I extend my appreciation to Dr. Dale Smith, a committee member and department chair, for his encouragement to me throughout all of my years as a doctoral student at the Florida State University. I am grateful for the support and feedback of my other committee members, namely Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • The Anti-Imperialist Empire: Soviet Nationality Policies Under Brezhnev
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by The Research Repository @ WVU (West Virginia University) Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2015 The Anti-Imperialist Empire: Soviet Nationality Policies under Brezhnev Jason A. Roberts Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Roberts, Jason A., "The Anti-Imperialist Empire: Soviet Nationality Policies under Brezhnev" (2015). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6514. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6514 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Anti-Imperialist Empire: Soviet Nationality Policies under Brezhnev Jason A. Roberts Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Mark B. Tauger, Ph.D., Chair Robert E Blobaum, Ph.D. Joseph M. Hodge, Ph.D. Joshua W. Arthurs, Ph.D. Christian Peterson, Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliaments and Parliamentarism in the Works of Soviet Dissidents, 1960S–80S
    Parliaments, Estates and Representation ISSN: 0260-6755 (Print) 1947-248X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rper20 Parliaments and parliamentarism in the works of Soviet dissidents, 1960s–80s Ivan Sablin To cite this article: Ivan Sablin (2019): Parliaments and parliamentarism in the works of Soviet dissidents, 1960s–80s, Parliaments, Estates and Representation, DOI: 10.1080/02606755.2019.1615672 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02606755.2019.1615672 © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 10 May 2019. Submit your article to this journal View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rper20 PARLIAMENTS, ESTATES & REPRESENTATION https://doi.org/10.1080/02606755.2019.1615672 Parliaments and parliamentarism in the works of Soviet dissidents, 1960s–80s Ivan Sablin Department of History, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany ABSTRACT KEYWORDS Drawing from samizdat (self-published) and tamizdat (foreign- Parliamentarism; Supreme published) materials, this article traces the understandings of Soviet; USSR; dissident; parliaments and parliamentarism in individual works by Soviet samizdat dissidents and reconstructs the authors’ underlying assumptions in the application of the two ideas. It focuses on the articulations and the implications of four concepts pertaining to parliamentarism – deliberation, representation, responsibility, and sovereignty – in the dissidents’ criticisms of Soviet ‘parliamentarism’ and their own parliamentary designs. Despite the consensus that the USSR Supreme Soviet was both a façade and pseudo parliament and the frequent appeals to popular sovereignty, only a handful of authors discussed parliamentarism as the latter’s manifestation before the Perestroika.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Politics and Society, Fourth Edition
    Russian Politics and Society Having been fully revised and updated to reflect the considerable changes in Russia over the last decade, the fourth edition of this classic text builds on the strengths of the previous editions to provide a comprehensive and sophisticated analysis on Russian politics and society. In this edition, Richard Sakwa seeks to evaluate the evidence in a balanced and informed way, denying simplistic assumptions about the inevitable failure of the democratic exper- iment in Russia while avoiding facile generalisations on the inevitable triumph of global integration and democratisation. New to this edition: • Extended coverage of electoral laws, party development and regional politics • New chapter on the ‘phoney democracy’ period, 1991–3 • Historical evaluation of Yeltsin’s leadership • Full coverage of Putin’s presidency • Discussion of the development of civil society and the problems of democratic consolidation • Latest developments in the Chechnya conflict • More on foreign policy issues such as Russia’s relationship with NATO and the EU after enlargement, Russia’s relations with other post-Soviet states and the problem of competing ‘near abroads’ for Russia and the West • The re-introduction of the Russian constitution as an appendix • An updated select bibliography • More focus on the challenges facing Russia in the twenty-first century Written in an accessible and lively style, this book is packed with detailed information on the central debates and issues in Russia’s difficult transformation. This makes it the best available textbook on the subject and essential reading for all those concerned with the fate of Russia, and with the future of international society.
    [Show full text]
  • US Army Guide to USSR
    A POCKET GUIDE TO TH E WAR AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS WASHINGTON, D . C. CO T S For use of military personnel only. Not to be Page republished, in whole or in part, without the Introduction 1 consent of the War Department. The Soviet Government 4 The Economic System 7 Nationality 9 Geography and Climate 10 The Soviet Union Counterattacks 13 Men and Machines 16 Wartime Life in Russia 19 Drama-Music-Literature-Sports 23 Rules for Health 30 Check List of Do's 32 Prepared by And Don'ts 33 ARMY INFORMATION BRANCH, A .S .F. Soviet Uniforms and Army Grades 34 UNITED STATES ARMY Soviet Awards and Decorations 37 Financial Guide 39 Weights and Measures 42 Speak Russian 43 Language Guide 14 UNTRODUCIli0 N On duty in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the largest country on the face of the earth, you may be stationed in a sub-tropical climate or within a stone' s throw of the Arctic Circle. You may be in rugged mountains or on the steppe, which is level as far as the eye can see. The people will vary as much as the climate ; the population of the Soviet Union consists of a grea t variety of peoples, each with its own culture, art, musi c and language. However, the predominant language o f the Soviet Union is Russian ; and, if you take the time and effort necessary to learn it, it will serve you well i n any section of the country . The U.S.S.R. is one of the most active theatres of oper- ation of the present war.
    [Show full text]
  • Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR) 26 and 27 May 1989 (Supreme Soviet of the USSR)
    UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS Dates of Elections: 26 March to 23 May 1989 (Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR) 26 and 27 May 1989 (Supreme Soviet of the USSR) Purpose of Elections Elections were held for all the seats of the new Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR provided for in the 1988 amendments to the 1977 Constitution* and, subsequently, for the new bicameral Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Characteristics of Parliament Pursuant to the 1988 constitutional amendments, the national parliamentary system of the USSR underwent radical change in the spring of 1989. The former system with a bicameral Supreme Soviet consisting of 750-member Houses was replaced by a Parliament with a 2,250-member Congress of People's Deputies, which chooses from among its members a bicameral 542-member Supreme Soviet. As before, the latter's seats are equally divided between the two Houses having equal rights: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. Of the 2,250 Deputies, 750 are elected from territorial electoral districts, 750 from national-territorial electoral districts and 750 from ail-Union public organizations. All Deputies have 5-year terms of office. The Congress annually re-elects one-fifth of the Supreme Soviet members. Electoral System All USSR citizens who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote for electoral district Deputies, with the exception of the insane, persons declared incompetent by a court of law, prisoners and those undergoing compulsory treatment. All voters exercise the franchise on an equal footing. In every electoral district, voters indicate their preferences for two candidates by crossing out names of candidates they are voting against on two separate ballots - one for the territorial constituency and one for the national-territorial constituency.
    [Show full text]
  • The Environmental Movement and Ecological Law in the Soviet Union: the Process of Transformation
    The Environmental Movement and Ecological Law in the Soviet Union: The Process of Transformation Tatiana Zaharchenko * INTRODUCTION The revolutionary changes now occurring in the Soviet Union are affecting all aspects of Soviet public life. These changes have profound implications for the newborn Soviet environmental movement. During the last three to four years, environmental interest groups in the Soviet Union have successfully generated enough political pressure to achieve limited but nonetheless substantial environmental protection measures. The legal and political changes now occurring within the Soviet system may someday permit individual citizens to use legal mechanisms to pro- tect the environment. For those unfamiliar with Soviet society, it must be stressed that these changes are inseparable from the legal reform in- cluded in the policy of perestroika.' Copyright © 1990 by ECOLOGY LAW QUARTERLY Assistant Professor of Ecological Law, Kharkov Law Institute, Kharkov, U.S.S.R. Professor Zaharchenko graduated from the Kharkov Law Institute in 1980 and received her Candidate of Legal Science degree in 1988. For six months in 1989-90, she worked in the San Francisco law offices of Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe and Graham & James, and at- tended environmental law classes at Boalt Hall School of Law as part of an internship program sponsored by the American Bar Association and the Soros Foundation. The author is in- debted to the Environmental Law Research Institute and Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe for their support of her research. The author would like to thank Gretta Goldenman for her invaluable help in writing this Article, Joan Lane and Christina Gerber for their patient assist- ance with numerous drafts, and Alexey Korotsev for his constant support and encouragement.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bolsheviks and the National Question, 1917-1923"
    Jeremy Robert Charnock Smith "THE BOLSHEVIKS AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION, 1917-1923" ilavq*; % PhD. Thesis The School of Slavonic and East European Studies University of London - 1 - ProQuest Number: 10018671 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10018671 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the formulation and execution of policies towards the various nationalities of the Soviet Republics from the October revolution of 1917 until the formation of the Soviet Union in 1923. Most of the Russian and Western literature on this question focuses on the process of the reincorporation of the non-Russian regions of the former empire into the new Bolshevik-led state. Accordingly, there is a general assumption that the purpose of Bolshevik national policy was to gain the short-term support of the national minorities in the struggle to win the civil war. By examining the material newly released from the Soviet archives in addition to the material previously available, I have concluded that the goal of Bolshevik nationality policies was to "raise the cultural level" of the non-Russians and to eliminate the inequalities arising from economic and historical conditions.
    [Show full text]