Lenin's theory of the national question was formed on the basis of generalizing the experience of the world development of national relations , including in Russia, where more than a hundred nationalities lived. From the work "Draft and Explanation of the Social - Democratic Party Program", written in prison in St. Petersburg at the end of 1895, to the last articles - "On the question of nationalities or 'autonomization', 'Better Less, but better' (March 1923), V. I. Lenin was continuously engaged in theoretical problems of the proletarian state. internationalism and national relations. In 1956, the collection "V. I. Lenin on the National and National-Colonial Question" prepared by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU was published, which included about 90 Lenin articles on this problem. Characteristically, two-thirds of them were written between 1913 and 1919. An analysis of V. I. Lenin's works on the national question published during these years shows that this question occupied a significant place in the Marxist theory of imperialism and the socialist revolution. In the works of V. I. Lenin's works written in the post-October period deal with the national question in three aspects: first, they indicate the means necessary to create a socialist community of peoples in a multiethnic Soviet state; second, great attention is paid to the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism, the development of international revolutionary solidarity in the conditions of the existence of a country under the dictatorship of the proletariat; Third, the problems of the national liberation movement in the context of the general crisis of capitalism, the role and place of the liberation movement of oppressed peoples in the anti - imperialist struggle, and the transition of previously backward peoples to socialism, bypassing the capitalist stage of development, are considered.
The theoretical and practical activities of the Communist and workers ' parties in generalizing the experience of rallying the various national detachments of the revolutionary movement into one anti-imperialist front and their struggle for the creation and strengthening of the commonwealth of socialist nations and States are a continuation of the Leninist stage in the development of the national question.
This article attempts to examine some aspects of V. I. Lenin's scientifically grounded theory of the national question and to show its practical significance in modern conditions.
Lenin's concept of the nation is one of the most important scientific foundations of the theory of the national question. This concept was formed in the struggle with the anti-scientific psychological theories of the nation, which serve as the ideological justification of nationalism.
Key to understanding the nature of a nation, historical conditions, and time
page 18
Its origin, its role in social development is given by Lenin's thesis formulated in his article "Karl Marx": "Nations are an inevitable product and an inevitable form of the bourgeois epoch of social development" 1 . The nation acts as a form of affirmation and development of all bourgeois social relations - economic, socio-political, cultural and ideological. Bourgeois social relations could not develop in such a form of community of people as a clan, tribe, or nationality; this required a new type of community. The nation initially appears as a historically necessary form of establishing capitalism as a social system in a certain territory, among a certain people, with historically formed features.
For a long time, it has been widely accepted in the literature that a clan and tribe are ethnographic categories, and a nation is a historical category. Meanwhile, the gens, tribe, and nationality are as much historical communities as the nation. Unfortunately, the typology of social communities has not yet been developed. It should be based on the objective role of social communities in the structure of socio-economic formation. Some commonalities have a decisive influence on the content of this structure, while others are a form of its development. The first type of community includes a class, class, social group, and social stratum. The second type of social community is represented by the clan, tribe, nationality and nation. All of them are a form of development of certain social organisms.
In ethnography, the anthropological characteristics of people are included in the ethnic (ethnic anthropology). In addition, in ethnography, ethnic has a number of stages: intra-national, national, and supranational (for example, Hutsuls, Ukrainians, and Slavs appear in ethnography as ethnic communities). In sociology, however, the ethnic dimension is measured with the socio-economic formation. Hence the need to use the term socio-ethnic community. Kin, tribe, nationality, and nation make up different types of socio-ethnic communities, since they are structural elements of historically changing socio-economic formations. The transition from tribal community to nationality, as well as the transition from nationality to nation, is a leap in the development of the form of community. Tribal community, nationality and nation develop on a certain territory( ethnic territory), have their own language (ethno-linguistic community), have peculiar features of culture, everyday life, psychology. Each of these communities develops on the basis of a certain economy: primitive communal, slave-owning, feudal or capitalist. A nation is a socio-ethnic community of the era of capitalism and socialism. When V. I. Lenin spoke of the bourgeois and socialist nations2 , he meant precisely that they belonged to a certain social system.
The irresistible force of national development lies not in the spirit of the nation, not in the idea of the nation, which bourgeois sociologists insist on, but in the social need that contributes to the development of a national community of people. In so far as these needs exist, nations will arise and continue to exist. The origin, development, convergence, flourishing, and finally the extinction of nations is a natural historical process. Knowing the objective laws of national development, you can purposefully influence this process.
The problem of the nation, its role and place in social development were considered by V. I. Lenin in connection with the demands of revolutionary practice.
1 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 26, p. 75.
2 See V. I. Lenin. PSS Vol. 3, pp. 54-55.
page 19
Take, for example, the issue of national interests. A correct understanding of it has a direct bearing on the scientific justification of the Leninist program on the national question. Bourgeois ideologues try to imagine that the interests of the nation are alien to the Communists; the bourgeoisie's play on national interests is a form of ideological sabotage. Communists, as is well known, do not oppose national interests, but rather their understanding from a nationalist perspective. For them, there is no dilemma: either class or national interests. Classes and nations exist simultaneously, being heterogeneous elements of the socio-economic formation. There is a complex relationship between them. There is no nation that does not have a definite class structure. The formation of the structure and content of the national interest is mainly influenced by the classes and social groups that make up a given nation. Since nations in bourgeois society develop in conditions of aggravation of internal antagonistic contradictions, the social interests of the classes that make up the nation are not homogeneous.
The nationalist approach to understanding national interests is expressed in forgetting the role and significance of classes in shaping these interests. These latter include two main elements: class interests and national-specific interests that express the objective needs of a given community. You can't ignore any of these elements. If the class content of national interests is forgotten, it can lead to the opposition of peoples, to the isolation of the working people of different nations and countries. At the same time, it would be a mistake not to take into account the specific interests of nations, which, as a rule, are infringed on by oppressed peoples. That is why, "resolutely opposing all national nihilism, Lenin taught revolutionaries to consistently take into account national interests..." 3
The bourgeoisie and the proletariat have different views on national interests. For the bourgeoisie, what is national corresponds to its narrow class egoistic interests. The bourgeoisie is inherently nationalistic and especially anti-humanistic on the national question. If the protection of the interests of the nation does not contradict its class interests, then the bourgeoisie stands for national independence. But if defending it at the moment threatens its class interests, then it betrays the interests of the nation, the state, and takes the path of national treason.
As you know, V. I. Lenin first raised the question of the nation's will to self-determination. Unfortunately, the nation's will to self-determination as a social and socio - psychological problem has not yet been specifically studied. Meanwhile, this will acts within the nation as the most important regulator of people's behavior, as a factor of their social coercion. The will of the nation is a factor that mobilizes the masses to achieve the interests of the nation and plays an important role in the development of the national liberation movement. In interethnic relations, the will of a nation manifests itself in the form of a desire for self-determination or unification.
The will of a nation to self-determination is the actions of the broad masses of the people aimed at achieving national independence. But this does not mean that the essence of a nation can be reduced to its will, as bourgeois sociologists do. Thus, the American sociologist S. Lipset asserts that " a nation is a psychic phenomenon, a will that is the product of historical experience." Another American sociologist,
3 "To the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin". Collection of documents and materials, Moscow, 1970, p. 73.
page 20
G. Erl believes that a nation is "a group of people united by a collective will, which is expressed through the state"4 . The scientific inconsistency of these definitions lies in the fact that one of the components of the complex structure of the spiritual life of a nation - its will - is artificially torn out and absolutized. Hence the subjectivism of bourgeois scientists in defining the essence of a nation. Some of them see the basis of a nation in the common historical past, others in the national idea, and still others in its will.
Will is a secondary phenomenon in relation to the nation. In order for the will of the nation to function, the nation itself must be formed and developed. The "mechanism" of the action of the will of the nation can be understood and scientifically interpreted only on condition of a class and historical approach to this phenomenon. The will of the nation is expressed by certain classes, each of which has its own interests. "In the question of who is the bearer of the nation's will to secede," wrote V. I. Lenin,"the RCP stands on the historical-class point of view." 5
Since a nation consists of classes that differ in their interests, political and moral positions, can we speak of national pride as an integral phenomenon?V. I. Lenin answers this question. The point is to properly understand the object of national pride. The working class has its own proletarian "dimension" of national pride. While recognizing national pride, it does not lose its class consciousness and does not lose its class approach in assessing historical phenomena. In his article "On the National Pride of the Great Russians," V. I. Lenin showed what moments from Russia's past evoke a sense of national pride among the workers .6 National pride, as understood by the working class , is a sense of satisfaction that the working masses have a well-established tradition of liberation struggle; it is a strong condemnation of the aggressive aspirations of "their" exploiting classes and the practice of national oppression. V. I. Lenin pointed out that such oppression is a disgrace to the great Russian national dignity. Consequently, in the proletarian understanding of national pride, there is such an important aspect as the coincidence of the socio-political content of the national pride of the workers of different nations with the socio-political interests of the entire international working class. The analysis of such phenomena as national interests, the will of the nation, national pride enriches and deepens the understanding of the essence of the nation, shows the diversity of its connections with various aspects of social life.
In Lenin's theory of the nation, an important place is occupied by the idea of two interrelated progressive tendencies of capitalism in the national question. With the advent of the machine system, the process of production and consumption has moved beyond local and national borders. "This," wrote Karl Marx and Fr. Engels-applies equally to both material and spiritual production. The fruits of the spiritual activity of individual nations become common property. National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness are becoming more and more impossible... " 7 These ideas of the founders of Marxism were developed by V. I. Lenin. With reference to the era of imperialism, when the development of technology and means of communication strengthened ties between different countries, V. I. Lenin wrote: "Developing capitalism knows two historical trends in the national question. First: the awakening of national life and
4 S. M. Lipset. The First New Nation. N. -Y. 1963, p. 4; G. Earle. Individualism and Nationalism in American Ideology. Cambridge. 1964, p 10.
5 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 38, p. 112.
6 See V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 26, pp. 106-110.
7 K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch. Vol. 4, p. 428.
page 21
national movements, the struggle against all national oppression, the creation of national states. The second is the development and intensification of all kinds of relations between nations, the breaking down of national barriers, the creation of an international unity of capital, economic life in general, politics, science, etc. Both tendencies are the world law of capitalism. " 8
The awakening of national life occurs as a result of the increasing exchange of goods between previously closed regions and the formation of a national market. V. I. Lenin pointed out that "for the complete victory of commodity production, it is necessary to conquer the internal market by the bourgeoisie, it is necessary to unite territories with a population that speaks one language, while removing all obstacles to the development of this language and fixing it in literature"9 .
In the era of capitalism, economic and cultural ties between peoples developed to such an extent that they led to the breaking of national barriers in the production and consumption of material and cultural goods. The economic life of the peoples has lost its isolation, it has become an integral part of the unified world economy. In this regard, the role and importance of external, international and non-national factors in the development of the nation is increasing. However, the progressive process of internationalization of productive forces, science and technology under capitalism is accompanied by a deepening of antagonism between nations. The established world capitalist economy has transformed national oppression from a domestic phenomenon into a worldwide one.
None of the questions of the national problem in the era of imperialism can be correctly posed and solved without ignoring the fact of the existence of oppressed and oppressive nations. At a meeting of the commission on the national and colonial question at the Second Congress of the Comintern, when asked what was the most important and fundamental idea of the theses he presented to and adopted at the Congress, V. I. Lenin emphasized: "The distinction between oppressed and oppressing nations. We emphasize this distinction , in contrast to the Second International and bourgeois democracy. It is especially important for the proletariat and the Communist International in the era of imperialism to state concrete economic facts and, in solving all colonial and national questions, to proceed not from abstract propositions, but from the phenomena of concrete reality. " 10
V. I. Lenin applied the concept of "oppressed nations" taking into account the specific historical situation not only in relation to such peoples as the Irish, Poles, and Finns, but also to the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He believed that in the question of self-determination of nations, colonies should not be opposed to Europe, since both the oppressed peoples of Europe and the enslaved peoples of Africa are experiencing national oppression, and that "the demand for the emancipation of the colonies is nothing more than' recognition of the self-determination of nations. ' "11 Lenin showed the merging of the national and colonial questions into one general question.
Lenin's idea of the existence of oppressed and oppressive nations became the most important scientific basis for developing strategies and tactics for the struggle for the international unification of the working masses. V. I. Lenin believed that "the workers of the oppressing nation are to a certain extent participants of their bourgeoisie in robbing the workers (and the mass of the population) of the oppressed nation"12 . In contrast to the workers of oppressed nations, the workers
8 V. I. Lenin. PSS Vol. 24, p. 124.
9 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 25, p. 258.
10 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 41, p. 241.
11 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 30, p. 34.
12 Ibid., p. 107.
page 22
oppressive nations do not experience national oppression. The workers of the oppressed nations were brought up in a spirit of contempt and contempt for the oppressed nations; the bourgeois part of the workers is, as is well known, the social basis of opportunism, which in the national question manifests itself in the form of a departure from the positions of proletarian internationalism in solving theoretical and practical problems in the relations between the national detachments of the working class.
In the era of imperialism, there are shifts in the correlation of class forces within a nation, in the correlation of "two nations" in every bourgeois nation. The second, anti-popular part of the nation is represented mainly by the imperialist bourgeoisie. On this basis, a contradiction develops between the nation as a whole and the monopolistic bourgeoisie. One of the leaders of the French Communist Party, J. Kono, notes that "a nation is a broad set of social strata suffering from the policy of monopolies, strata that can and should unite around the working class, which is the backbone of the nation" 13 . In this case, a nation means those social forces that express its national interests. When using the term "bourgeois nations", it is impossible not to take into account the changes that have taken place in the relationship of the" two nations " in modern capitalist countries under the influence of the world revolutionary process and the strengthening of the positions of democratic and socialist forces.
Marxist-Leninists subordinate the study of the theory of nation and national relations to the needs of revolutionary practice. This allows them to fully take into account national issues in the revolutionary movement. Even in the conditions of an underground revolutionary struggle, " the party must actually ensure that all the party interests and needs of the social-democratic proletariat of each given nationality are met, taking into account its cultural and everyday characteristics."14 The leadership of the workers ' movement took into account such aspects as the language of party propaganda, the local peculiarities of this propaganda, the mood of the population, its traditions, etc.
Addressing the Bundists, who did not want to take into account the fact that the workers, regardless of their nationality, have common interests, V. I. Lenin wrote: "The party, in order to destroy any idea of its national character, has given itself the name not Russian, but Russian." 15
Lenin noted that, in contrast to the apologists of capitalism, the working class defends "the rapprochement of nations on the basis not of violence, but of a free union of the proletarians of all countries."16 He stressed that if a social-democrat of "a large, oppressive, annexing nation, while professing to merge nations in general, forgets for a moment that "his" Nicholas II, "his" William, George, Poincare, etc., are also in favor of merging with small nations (by annexation) ... then such a social-democrat will not be able to do so."the democrat will turn out to be a ridiculous doctrinaire in theory, an accomplice of imperialism in practice." 17
In the world of capitalism, the internationalization of the productive forces is accompanied by an intensification of inter-imperialist contradictions. As a method of eliminating these contradictions, some ideologues of the bourgeoisie put forward a proposal to eliminate national sovereignty, state borders, abandon the Motherland, national identity, etc.-
13 "Problems of Peace and Socialism", 1968, N 6, p. 9.
14 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 12, p. 234.
15 See V. I. Lenin, PSS. Vol. 10, p. 267.
16 V. I. Lenin. PSS Vol. 27, p. 259.
17 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 30, p. 44.
page 23
accessories 18 . Thus, in the view of the troubadours of American imperialism, the" interdependence " of the peoples of the world is the dependence of other countries on the United States.
In the modern world, there is a proletarian, bourgeois, and petty-bourgeois understanding of sovereignty. The working class uses the idea of sovereignty in the struggle for national and social liberation, in the struggle to preserve the socialist gains of the working people. The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, either puts forward the idea of sovereignty or rejects it, depending on specific situations. Petty-bourgeois nationalists seek to interpret sovereignty as the right of the people to stand outside the struggle of two world systems, outside the international class struggle.
The imperialist bourgeoisie, while "justifying" the necessity of bringing states and peoples closer together, has no other arsenal of ideological means than bourgeois cosmopolitanism. It is not by chance that after the Second World War, various pseudoscientific concepts about the "obsolescence" of national sovereignty in the age of atomic energy and space flights, as if the preservation of national statehood and territorial integrity in modern conditions is an anachronism, became widespread 19 . It is not sovereignty that the working class denies, but its nationalist interpretation. The development of a fraternal union of socialist countries, says the main document of the International Conference of Communist and Workers ' Parties in Moscow, presupposes strict observance of the principles of proletarian internationalism, mutual assistance and support, equality of rights, sovereignty, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs .20
The era of socialist revolutions opened by October was also the era of national liberation revolutions. The collapse of the colonial system of imperialism is the direct result of the close interaction of the national liberation movement on an international scale with the struggle of the peoples building socialism and communism, and with the revolutionary struggle of the working class of capitalist countries.
There is a direct connection and correlation between the strengthening and expansion of the position of socialism in international relations and the intensity of the disintegration of the colonial system of imperialism. The victory of the socialist revolution after World War II in a number of countries in Europe and Asia dealt a decisive blow to imperialism. The world system of socialism has become the main international support of the oppressed peoples in the struggle for national independence. There is no national liberation movement that does not involve a struggle of social and political forces for the forms and methods of achieving national independence, for choosing the ways to create national statehood. The question of the future organization of society is the main content of the struggle within the liberation movement. Anti-democratic forces often resort to violent means in order to exclude progressive forces from active participation in the national liberation movement. Reactionary forces seek to use this movement for their own selfish interests. They oppose the spread of Marxism in oppressed countries, and in some cases are engaged in "repainting the bourgeois-democratic liberation trends in backward countries
18 For more information, see E. D. Modrzhinskaya. Anti-communism as a weapon of imperialist Reaction, Moscow, 1962. The Struggle against Bourgeois ideology, Moscow, 1963. Ideologiya sovremennogo kolonializma [The Ideology of Modern colonialism], Moscow, 1959. Critique of the basic concepts of modern bourgeois falsifiers of Marxism-Leninism, Moscow, 1968.
19 See E. D. Modrzhinskaya. The ideology of modern colonialism.
20 "International Conference of Communist and Workers' Parties. Materials and documents", Moscow, 1969, p. 305.
page 24
in the color of communism"21 . This process of" repainting "became particularly widespread during the collapse of the colonial system, which was reflected in the concepts of so-called "national socialism".
These concepts are not homogeneous in their socio-political content. In some cases, "socialism" refers to the creation of a public sector in the economy of developing countries, in others - the introduction of equalization of distribution. The theoretical basis of the concept of" national socialism " often includes the nationalism of the oppressed nation. Nationalism serves as an ideological justification for the need for "one's own", "national" socialism, which is different from the socialism of other peoples. It shows distrust of the spiritual and scientific values created in other countries, and protest against bourgeois spiritual expansion, and sometimes the idea of superiority over other peoples. Depending on which classes and social groups use the concept of "national socialism", it takes on a different orientation. In some cases, this is a program of radical transformation, while in others it is an ideological cover for the interests of small and sometimes medium - sized owners, a policy of attacking big capital, and in others it is an adaptation to the socialist sentiments of the working masses and a disguise for the real processes taking place in public life. The positive content of the concept of " national socialism "is reduced to the struggle against colonialism and neo-colonialism, to the demands for radical agrarian transformations, the revival of nations, and national independence. 22 "In recent years," the Central Committee of the CPSU says in its Theses dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth, " many of the young nation - states have experienced a period of fierce class struggle, economic disruption, coups d'etat, and tribal strife. International imperialism speculates on the instability and contradictions of national revolutions. " 23
The objective basis for clarifying the question of the role of various liberation movements in the world revolutionary process is the significance of the liberation movement in resolving the main contradiction of the modern era. The national Liberation movement operates in the general stream of revolutionary forces directed against imperialism. By entering into interaction with the world socialist system and the international labor movement, the national liberation movement is enriched with new features. The alliance of the workers', peasants', and national liberation movements formed in the struggle against imperialism opens up the prospect of a transition to socialism, bypassing capitalism, for previously backward peoples. The struggle of the working masses of developing countries for a non-capitalist path of social development is an integral part of the anti-imperialist struggle, which involves a wide variety of social movements, political trends and organizations .24 "In the new era," the Central Committee of the CPSU theses on the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth say, "the peoples who have thrown off the yoke of colonialism, if they are led by revolutionary forces and if they rely on the support of world socialism, can follow the path of social progress, bypassing capitalism." 25 The validity of this conclusion is confirmed by the experience of the transition of a number of peoples to the Soviet Union.-
21 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 41, p. 167.
22 For more information, see "Ideology of the modern national liberation movement", Moscow, 1966.
23 "To the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin", p. 71.
24 For more information, see R. A. Ulyanovsk. Lenin's concept of non-capitalist development and modernity. Voprosy Istorii, 1970, No. 4.
25 "To the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin", pp. 71-72.
page 25
from pre-capitalist relations to socialism. This is also evidenced by the experience of the Mongolian People's Republic.
The national question can be resolved only when the exploiting classes are removed from the leadership of society. With the disappearance of class antagonism, the social foundations of the antagonism of nations disappear, and a real possibility is created for the solution of the national question. However, unfriendly relations between nations can persist for some time even after the factors of the socio-economic order that create antagonism between them (national oppression, infringement of national interests, etc.) have disappeared.This affects the strength of social inertia, the strength of traditions that have developed in an exploitative society. "National antipathies,"wrote V. I. Lenin," will not disappear so quickly; hatred - and quite legitimate - of the oppressed nation towards the oppressor will remain for a while; it will evaporate only after the victory of socialism and after the final establishment of fully democratic relations between nations. " 26 Striving to strengthen the unity of the working masses of all the nations of our country, the Communist Party showed great caution and patience in the struggle against the remnants of national distrust. V. I. Lenin pointed out that in order to achieve the trust of previously oppressed nationalities, it is necessary to " compensate in one way or another for the distrust, suspicion, and resentment of foreigners by their treatment or concessions which in the historical past were inflicted on him by the government of a "great-power "nation" 27 .
The most important achievement of the theory and practice of Leninism in the field of national - State construction was the elaboration by our party of the question of the Soviet federation, autonomy, and the bicameral system of the highest body of State power in the U.S.S.R. A path was found to create a unified state based on the development of the national-Soviet statehood of the peoples, and a new type of socialist federation was opened, based on a voluntary agreement between the sovereign Soviet republics.
Answering the question of foreign correspondents, what is the secret of the fact that the Bolsheviks managed to organize fraternal cooperation of peoples, V. I. Lenin said:: "Our experience of dealing with the national question in a state containing such an abundance of nationalities as can hardly be found in other countries within five years fully convinces us that the only correct attitude to the interests of nations in such cases will be to maximize their satisfaction and create conditions that exclude any possibility of conflicts on this territory. the soil. Our experience has created in us an unyielding conviction that only a great attention to the interests of different nations removes the ground for conflicts, removes mutual distrust, eliminates the fear of any intrigues, creates that trust, especially among workers and peasants who speak different languages, without which neither peaceful relations between peoples nor any successful development can be achieved. the development of all that is valuable in modern civilization is absolutely impossible. " 28
When planning the national economy of the USSR, special attention was constantly paid to the previously economically and culturally backward national regions , 29 and faster economic development was envisaged.
26 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 30, p. 51.
27 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 45, p. 359.
28 Ibid., p. 240.
29 For more information, see: N. I. Matyushkin. Resolution of the national question in the U.S.S.R. Voprosy istorii, 1967, No. 12; I. P. Tsameryan. Lenin's national Policy in action. "Kommunist", 1968, No. 9; M. S. Dzhunusov. Soviet experience in solving the national question and its international significance. "History of the USSR", 1967, N 6.
page 26
the pace of their development. At the same time, the needs and requirements of these regions were linked to the needs and needs of the State as a whole. The implementation of the principles of proletarian internationalism in economic construction meant the redistribution of material resources by the socialist State in favor of previously backward peoples. The more developed peoples, primarily the Russian people, have contributed to the elimination of the economic and cultural backwardness of the rest of our country's population. To improve the material situation of previously oppressed peoples, a whole system of measures was applied: tax exemption, regulation of the policy of prices for industrial and agricultural goods, switching part of the funds accumulated in the Russian Federation and Ukraine to the needs of economic and cultural construction in national regions. The rural population of a number of national republics was exempted from paying taxes. Assistance to these peoples was taken into account when drawing up the national budget. In the budgets of the autonomous republics and regions, a significant part was made up of subsidies from the national budget.
The development of a nation is not only the strengthening of national-specific features, but also the development of universal and socio-class characteristics in it, the strengthening of common features with other nations. In the process of national development, there is a synthesis of the universal, social-class and national-specific. A nation cannot develop successfully solely on its own basis, without using the social experience of other peoples, without exchanging material and cultural values. The boundaries between development and the convergence of nations are not absolute. The rapprochement of nations is one of the most important sources of their development. At the same time, the development of nations is a necessary condition for their rapprochement. The flourishing of a nation cannot be achieved only on the basis of identifying its specifics. It is achieved as a result of development both on its own and on a non-national basis as a result of the synthesis of both sources.
History now knows the bourgeois and socialist type of internationalization of social life. This process, along with general historical features (the breaking down of national barriers, the intensification of exchange, etc.), has socially determined features that cannot be the same for socialism and capitalism. Socialism is characterized by the development of internationalization of social life on the basis of cooperation and mutual assistance, the combination of international and national, the equalization of the level of development of peoples, the strengthening of sovereignty, and the flourishing of socialist nations.
The commonwealth of peoples of our country was formed historically. It was strengthened in the course of the class struggle, in the struggle for the victory of the socialist revolution. In the process of building socialism, as a result of the creation of a socio-political unity of society, the community of working people of various nationalities developed into a new historical community - the multinational Soviet people. This concept was firmly established in the literature in connection with the victory of socialism. The Soviet people was formed not as a result of the development of any one nation to the detriment of others, but in the process of free development and the close rapprochement of all nations. The peoples of the USSR are united not in an ethnic sense , but in a socio-political sense. The Soviet people is an extremely broad community of the population of our country, including all nations, nationalities and ethnic groups. In the Theses of the Central Committee of the CPSU dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of V. I. Lenin, the Soviet people is defined as "the socialist union of all workers of the USSR - workers in industry, agriculture, etc.
30 This circumstance is not taken into account by individual authors. See A.V. Efimov. About directions in the study of the nation. "New and Recent History", 1967, N 4, p. 35.
page 27
culture, physical and mental labor, which forms the social basis of a multinational national state"31 . The emergence of the Soviet people as a new historical community of people is a higher stage in the development of the practice of national relations. The experience of the Soviet Union has shown the real possibility of the emergence of historical communities that embody national and interethnic features. The successful development of the Soviet multinational people as a new community is a magnificent result of the implementation of the Leninist international policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government.
V. I. Lenin repeatedly pointed out the fundamental contrast between bourgeois nationalism and proletarian internationalism32 , which is determined by the mutually exclusive nature of the interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Proletarian internationalism reflects the high level of development of social ties existing between workers of different nations and countries. Proletarian internationalism is a special kind of social practice, higher in its level than the practice of class struggle, which is limited to the framework of a nation or country. Proletarian internationalism acts as the social will of the working class in the national question, as the regulator of the relations of all its national units. The bearer of proletarian internationalism is the world communist movement.
Bourgeois nationalism reflects all the phenomena of social life through the prism of the nation, understood as an unchanging, timeless spiritual entity. Nationalism acts as an ideology of national inequality and the superiority of some nations over others. By its class nature, nationalism can be divided into three groups: pre-bourgeois (this includes feudal-monarchical, peasant, clerical, ethnic nationalism - the opposition of peoples by their origin, language, custom, etc.); petty-bourgeois and bourgeois. Bourgeois nationalism is relatively easy to detect. As for petty-bourgeois nationalism, it appears in veiled and sometimes supposedly harmless forms (overestimation of national interests, the dignity of their people, etc.). Among the big bourgeoisie, nationalism is associated with the policy of monopolies. Nationalism for the big bourgeoisie is the conquest of national and non-national markets, the use of the national factor in competitive struggle. The nationalism of the petty bourgeoisie differs from that of the big bourgeoisie in that it combines verbal recognition of the equality of peoples with national egoism and narrow-mindedness. Petty-bourgeois nationalism is characterized by a special set of socio-psychological components, an exceptional sharpness of emotional moments. The boundaries between bourgeois and petty-bourgeois nationalism are conditional and mobile. The petty-bourgeois nationalist prejudices of the politically undeveloped part of the population are the channels through which the bourgeoisie influences the working masses and inflames nationalist passions.
V. I. Lenin taught that the assessment of any manifestations of nationalism should be approached concretely and historically. The nationalism of oppressed nations is one thing, the nationalism of the imperialist bourgeoisie is another. The awakening of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America took place in a different historical era than it was in European countries. Therefore, nationalism in these parts of the world is not only anti-feudal, as it was in Europe, but also anti-colonial, anti-imperialist. Mostly it is kre-
31 "To the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin", p. 59.
32 See V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 24, p. 123.
page 28
Peasant nationalism, the nationalism of small owners of towns and villages. Often the nationalism of bourgeois-landlord elements is mixed in. When describing the nationalism of developing countries, it should be borne in mind that it has progressive features only insofar as it has an anti-colonial and anti-feudal orientation.
Nationalism has a special place among the methods and means used by the bourgeoisie for the ideological disintegration of the workers. It can corrupt their consciousness and feelings more strongly and faster than other forms of ideology .V. I. Lenin spoke of "refined nationalism", which, under the guise of protecting national interests, national culture, and national independence, preaches the disunion of the national detachments of the proletariat. 33 Lenin called the opportunism of the leaders of the Second International, who had gone over to their warring governments, "social-nationalism." The leaders of the Second International lost the class, proletarian criterion in assessing social phenomena, and completely forgot about the conventionality of the boundaries of the national in bourgeois states.
There is an internal link between opportunism and petty-bourgeois nationalism. This connection is due to the commonality of their class nature. L. I. Brezhnev, speaking at the International Conference of Communist and Workers ' Parties in 1969, noted that "the unifying feature of 'left' and right opportunism is often concessions to nationalism, and sometimes even a direct transition to nationalist positions . The connection between opportunism and nationalism is revealed in the relation to international duty, to obligations to the international proletariat. Both opportunists and nationalists oppose the sovereignty and equality of peoples to international duty. Not everyone who recognizes the principle of equality of nations and nationalities is a consistent internationalist. An internationalist is only one who organically links the equality of nations and nationalities with their revolutionary solidarity.
Nationalism often stems from the fact that taking into account national specifics turns into a self-sufficient factor. Nationalism in the practice of the workers 'and communists' movement is such actions and actions in the relations between the various national detachments of the world revolutionary movement that are carried out in spite of the common international tasks of the working class, in spite of the strengthening of the united anti-imperialist camp. Every manifestation of nationalism in the world communist movement is an opportunistic perversion of Marxism-Leninism, the result of forgetting the class approach to the national question. A correct understanding of the correlation between the national and international tasks of the socialist countries consists in not interrupting or contrasting the struggle against imperialism with the struggle of the masses of the people for the development of socialist economy. Back in the April days of 1917, when the Bolsheviks were preparing for the decisive class battles, V. I. Lenin wrote that " internationalism in practice is one and only one: selfless work on the development of the revolutionary movement and the revolutionary struggle in their country, support (by propaganda, sympathy, material support). the same struggle, the same line, and only one of it, in all countries without exception. " 35 However, it would be erroneous to present the unity of the national and international tasks of the Communist and workers ' parties as their absolute identity.
33 See V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 25, p. 144.
34 "International Conference of Communist and Workers 'Parties", p. 67.
35 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 31, p. 170.
page 29
The antithesis between proletarian internationalism and bourgeois nationalism in our epoch is connected with the struggle between two world systems. Relying on bourgeois nationalism, imperialism seeks to break up the communist movement and undermine the unity of the socialist countries. In modern conditions, when the world reaction increases provocations against the forces of progress, democracy and socialism, the direct responsibility of each national detachment of the world revolutionary movement for the fate of the world and social progress has increased. The danger of nationalism lies, in particular, in the fact that it elevates narrow national interests to the absolute, puts them above international tasks, and opposes them to the interests of the socialist community of peoples. By artificially emphasizing the independence and independence of each state, nationalism, in the name of a misinterpreted "national prestige", leads practically to the rejection of international solidarity actions with other socialist countries.
In the modern world, the national question is an integral part of the social transformations of our era. As a result of the victory of socialism in the U.S.S.R., the national question has been largely resolved and national relations are developing as an integral part of socialist social relations. In countries that have been freed from colonial oppression, the national question is an integral part of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal transformations; in these countries, new young nations are being born and developed. In capitalist countries, the national question is an integral part of the anti - monopoly struggle, as exemplified by the Negro problem in the United States and the Irish problem in England. The solution of the national question in these countries is connected with the struggle of the working class.
More than 120 years ago, Karl Marx and Fr. Engels first formulated the basic slogan of proletarian internationalism: "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" The International Conference of Communist and Workers 'Parties of 1969, taking into account the diversity of forms of the world revolutionary process of our epoch, supplemented this slogan by proclaiming:" The peoples of the socialist countries, the proletarians, all the democratic forces in the capital countries, the liberated and oppressed peoples-unite in a common struggle against imperialism, for peace, national independence, social progress, democracy and socialism!"36 . This appeal clearly reflects the current level of practice of proletarian internationalism.
36 "International Conference of Communist and Workers 'Parties", p. 330.
page 30
New publications: |
Popular with readers: |
News from other countries: |
![]() |
Editorial Contacts |
About · News · For Advertisers |
![]() 2023-2025, LIBRARY.KG is a part of Libmonster, international library network (open map) Keeping the heritage of Kyrgyzstan |