National question discussion in the Bolshevik party by example of I.V. Stalins <i>Marxism and the National Question</i>
In his research I. Stagis, basing on the analysis of the political situation in Russia in the beginning of the 20th century and after studying the Bolshevik Party program document on the national issue, tries to find answers to the question: what the reasons for the creation of this document were. The research carried out shows that Stalin, while not questioning the thesis of damage of nationalism for the socialist movement, tries to overcome Bolsheviks critical attitude to nations. The analysis of the documents shows that it is built on two concepts of the Bolsheviks national policy: the negation of nationalism and the principle of ignoring the national Synopsis. Stalin believed confronting nationalism is not the right but the duty of every Bolshevik. First, nationalism divides a single working-class movement, which, of course, harms the socialdemocratic party whose future depends on the success of this movement. Second, Russian nationalism at that time becomes a firm part of the ideology of the main opponents of the Bolsheviks - the Black Hundreds. Finally, nationalism is contrary to the program of the Social Democratic Party, which was very important in the confrontation between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, which waged a struggle for the right to represent the interests of all social democracy of the Russian Empire. Based on these factors, the Bolsheviks had to agree with Stalin and recognize the struggle against nationalism as their direct responsibility. However, the changing socio-political situation required the development of a strategy rather than a simple denial of the objectivity of the nation as a form of ethnic organization. The main purpose of Stalins work Marxism and the National Question was to attract the attention of the Social Democrats - the Bolsheviks - to the problems associated with the nation, the rationale for the study of the national question. Citing examples, widely reflected in the Bolshevik press, he drew attention to the changing socio-political context, showing how nationalism is destroying the basic values of the Bolsheviks, first of all - the unity of the socialist movement. Creating a positive image of social democracy as the only force that can deal with nationalism, can overcome the possible pessimism. At the same time the structure of the preface does not make it clear what the theory of the nation, Stalin's proposal, will be. Only one thing is clear - it will be built on the controversy with the concept of national-cultural autonomy, popular among social democrats of the Russian Empire. This fact itself further contributed to the transformation of Marxism and the National Question into the fundamental work on this issue.