A State of Nations: Empire and Nation-Making in the Age of Lenin and Stalin [Paperback]

Ronald Grigor Suny (Editor), Terry Martin (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195144236 | ISBN-13: 978-0195144239 | Publication Date: November 29, 2001

This collected volume, edited by Ron Suny and Terry Martin, shows how the Soviet state managed to create a multiethnic empire in its early years, from the end of the Russian Revolution to the end of World War II. Bringing together the newest research on a wide geographic range, from Russia to Central Asia, this volume is essential reading for students and scholars of Soviet history and politics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A State of Nations gives a very useful overview of the actual situation of American studies on "empire and nation-making" from the late tsarist empire to the end of the Stalin era."--Journal of Modern History

"The volume of A State of Nations gives a very useful overview of the actual situation of American studies on "empire and nation-maiking" from the late tsarist empire to the end of the Stalin era. these innovative articles revise the image of Soviet nationality policies as a linear process, planned by the center, and show convincingly its contradictions and improvisations, the simultaneity and interdependence of nation creating and nation destroying."-The Journal of Modern History

"This outstanding collection contains some of the most exciting research now available on nationalism and nation-making in the Soviet Union. With its cutting-edge scholarship, original insights, and theoretical sophistication, A STATE OF NATIONS is sure to make an important contribution to the study of the Soviet multinational state."--Adrienne Edgar, University of California, Santa Barbara

About the Author

Ronald Grigor Suny is at University of Chicago. Terry Martin is at Harvard University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195144236
• ISBN-13: 978-0195144239
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For the Soviet Scholar, June 29, 2006

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Roy E. Cloudburst (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A State of Nations: Empire and Nation-Making in the Age of Lenin and Stalin (Paperback)

A State of Nations: Empire and Nation-Making in the age of Lenin and Stalin is a compilation of scholarly articles from Russian professors, and edited by two distinguished Russian scholars Ronald Suny and Terry Martin who provide keen opening introductions. The work concentrates on non-Russian influence during the revolution, the transfer of Russia from an empire to a nation, the largely neglected area of multi-ethinicity during the revolution and Civil War, and transformation of society in the Lenin and Russian years. Suny and Martin divide this work into four sections - with the first two sections concentrating on topics such as national Identity, imperialism, fraternity, and Jadidism while the latter sections emphasize the importance of local politics, nationalizing Russian backwardness, nativization, Nation-building and Russification. In essence, each contributor or author gives a novel thesis, or at least expands a previously accepted scholarly premise, from the time shortly before the revolution to the age of Stalin.

Suny convincingly concludes in his introduction that "tsarist Russia failed to develop a strong, coherent, widely accepted national identify, autonomous from religious dynastic, or state identifications." (8) This premise sets the stage for the rest of the work, as Martin parallels Suny argument by spotlighting the Bolsheviks and their pursuit of national power. Martin's Affirmative Action argument refers "not only to programs on behalf of members of a given ethnic group but primarily to Soviet State support for the national territories, languages, elites, and identities of those ethnic groups." (78) This complex, and sometimes arduous argument, provides new insight into the diverse effects that ethnic groups and the Soviet State had with one another.

With a narrower focus, section two begins with a comprehensive study of family and fraternity, by Joshua Sanborn, who introduces an argument on the "multiethnic" nation. The key to Sanborn's argument is the role of soldiers, as he contends that "not only did the strongest and most consistent efforts to build the multiethnic nation come from the military, but it was also the military that latched upon family and fraternity as effective techniques to do so." (105) Expanding on this thesis - Peter Holquist takes a closer look at violence from the revolution to the age of Stalin. Holquist contends that the use of this coercion "discerns not a regime zig-zagging from on unrelated repression to the next [but] rather [that] sees a state continually seeking to sculpt and mold its population according to an applied science of society." (133) This "science" is also part of the revolution in Central Asia, as section two ends, Adeed Khalid, with a well-written essay about the nationalization of the revolution, illustrates the Bolshevik scheme for gaining Muslim nationalism from Central Asia. With a focus on Turks and Jadidists, Khalid convincingly argues that "naturalization of the revolution benefited from the alliance of the nationalists with the Bolsheviks." (159)

In section three, Daniel Schafer skillfully introduces Bashkortostan, a republic that was formed after the Russian revolution. In essence, Schafer argues that Bashkortostan is an example of a border and a republic negotiation. "Only in this way could the notion of national autonomy be coordinated with other imperatives of the day. (183). Doug Northrop expands this border argument to the actions of "the east," especially the ones which had conflicting meanings as he surmises that "the conflicting logic of constructing nationality and backwardness through the same symbol" meant distinct things to different audiences. (213) Northrop uses the wearing of veils by Uzbeks in his example, as the Soviets saw there use as "deviant," whereas the Uzbek's saw it as a national "identity" issue for their country.

In the final section, Matt Payne, correctly emphasizes the importance of nationalization in the Soviet regime. Essentially, Payne uses the Turksib to illustrate the "formation of social identities, class or ethnic, is the product of a complex and nuanced interaction among the state, social formations, and the individual." (242) Breaking down this new expansion even more, Peter Blitstein, concentrates on nation building and Russification. For instance, the school system in Russia becomes a major political issue. "The centralization and standardization of Russian instructors as far as possible was an important goal of officials." (266) As Russifying the school system became more important, so did the issue of nationalism. In the final essay David Bradenberger successfully explores the development of Russian nationalism (1941-1945), as a major priority in the Russian society. From party ideologies to war time propaganda, Bradenberger concludes that the "fading imperative of non-Russian propaganda and the heavy atmosphere of wartime Russocentrism meant that, by 1944, the position advanced by Pankratova [lead scholar of Russocentric ideology] and her allies lapsed into obsolescence." (288)

In conclusion, this work provides keen, and sometimes novel, insight into non-Russian influence during the revolution, Russia's transformation of nationalism and ideologies, and transmogrification of society in the Lenin and Russian years, and multi-ethinicity during the revolution and Civil War. Varying in their degree of reading fluidity, writing styles, and scholarly attributes; overall, the authors provide clear insights into Russia's struggle for national identity, their sometimes subtle, but always pertinent relations and developments with non-Russians such as Uzbeks and Turks, and their keen interpretations and insights into Russification and Russocentrism. Suny and Martin, skillfully lead, a thoughtful and well-researched, work which adds to the rich history of Russia. As the back cover notes, this work "is essential reading for students and scholars of Soviet history and politics, as well as those who study nationalism, comparative ethnicity, and imperialism."