Formation of the Soviet Union: Communism and Nationalism, 1917-1923

by Richard Pipes

Atheneum College Edition No. 124. Originally published by Harvard University Press.

A well-documented study of nationalism and communism in Russia showing how the deep-rooted social conflcts that erupted in 1917 in the Tsarist empire spread to the Ukrainian, Caucasian and Asiatic periphery of the realm, mingled there with incipient national movements. Keen political analysis of the diverse forces at work in these areas reveals how the Bolsheviks were able to capitalize on the chaos and social ferment to emerge from the civil war as the dominant political power in these geographical areas as well as Russia.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History, Soviet Union

365 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Born in Poland, Richard Pipes fled the country with his family when Germany invaded it in 1939. After reaching the United States a year later, Pipes began his education at Muskingum College, which was interrupted in 1943 when he was drafted into the Army Air Corps and sent to Cornell to study Russian. He completed his bachelor's degree at Cornell in 1946 and earned his doctorate at Harvard University four years later.

Pipes taught at Harvard from 1950 until his retirement in 1996, and was director of Harvard's Russian Research Center from 1968-1973. A campaigner for a tougher foreign policy towards the Soviet Union during the Cold War, in 1976, he led a group of analysts in a reassessment of Soviet foreign policy and military power. He served as director of Eastern European and Soviet affairs at the National Security Council from 1981 until 1983, after which he returned to Harvard, where he finished his career as Baird Professor Emeritus of History.

Reviews

[Ben Eaves]

In one part Pipes compares the Transcaucasian Federative Republic to the Holy Roman Empire on the grounds that it was neither Transcaucasian, nor Federative, nor a Republic which at the very least made me laugh.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing about such a large and diverse entity as the region that was formerly the Russian Empire and trying to include its ethnicities and national movements in their variety is tricky by default. So you know going into such a book will require effort and patience. However, the book reflects the complexity of this era and how many voices were striving to be heard in this reorganization of this enormous territory

Pipes segues into Lenin's usage of the national movements to pursue his own ends after a discussion of various national movements, how Marx and Engels felt the idea of ethnic minorities was a non-issue, and how certain groups were trying to develop an idea of national self-determination to be followed. The models of territorial nationalism vs. extraterritorial nationalism are particularly intriguing, as are the particular and robust stances certain political movements took on the idea of nationalism.