.The National Question in Our Programme

by Vladimir Lenin

.In our draft Party programme we have advanced the demand for a republic with a democratic constitution that would guarantee, among other things, “recognition of the right to self-determination for all nations forming part of the state.” Many did not find this demand in our programme sufficiently clear, and in issue No. 33, in speaking about the Manifesto of the Armenian Social-Democrats, we explained the meaning of this point in the following way. The Social-Democrats will always combat every attempt to influence national self-determination from without by violence or by any injustice. However, our unreserved recognition of the struggle for freedom of self-determination does not in any way commit us to supporting every demand for national self-determination. As the party of the proletariat, the Social-Democratic Party considers i to be its positive and principal task to further the self-determination of the proletariat in each nationality rather than that of peoples or nations. We must always and unreservedly work for the very closest unity of the proletariat of all nationalities, and it is only in isolated and exceptional cases that we can advance and actively support demands conducive to the establishment of a new class state or to the substitution of a looser federal unity, etc., for the complete political unity of a state.[* See pp. 326-29 of this volume.—Ed.]

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About the author

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, leader of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), statesman and political theorist. After the October Revolution he served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great work by Lenin. He clearly lays out the national idea as far as the, soon to be, Bolsheviks are concerned. Lenin's typical wit is on full display with plenty of barbs being tossed around. This once again touches on the idea of self-determination versus autonomy, but it's still not a differentation that completely works as Lenin has yet to be concrete in the difference. As an exploration of the national idea this is a great work, though I'm not sure I agree with the self-determination/autonomy contradiction so far.