Suny R.G, Martin T. (eds.) A state of nations: Empire and Nation-Making in the Age of Lenin and Stalin

Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 2001. 320 p. ISBN10: 0195144236; ISBN13: 978-0195144239."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." 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." 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 J. 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." Expanding on this thesis - P.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." This "science" is also part of the revolution in Central Asia, as section two ends, A.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.".
In section three, D.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. D.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. 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, M.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." 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." 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.".
[Roy E. Cloudburst].
.Empire and nations.
Ronald Grigor Suny. Empire strikes out : imperial Russia, "national" identity, and theories of empire.
Terry Martin. Affirmative action empire : the Soviet Union as the highest form of imperialism.
The revolutionary conjuncture.
Joshua Sanborn. Family, fraternity, and nation-building in Russia, 1905-1925.
Peter Holquist. To count, to extract, and to exterminate : population statistics and population politics in late imperial and Soviet Russia.
Adeeb Khalid. Nationalizing the revolution in central Asia : the transformation of Jadidism, 1917-1920.
Forging nations.
Daniel E. Schafer. Local politics and the birth of the Republic of Bashkortostan, 1919-1920.
Douglas Northrop. Nationalizing backwardness : gender, empire, and Uzbek identity.
Stalinism and the empire of nations.
Matt Payne. Forge of the Kazakh proletariat? The Turksib, nativization, and industrialization during Stalins's first five-year plan.
Peter A. Blitstein. Nation-building or Russification? Obligatory Russian instruction in the Soviet non-Russian School, 1938-1953.
David Brandenberger."...It is imperative to advance Russian nationalism as the first priority" : debates within the Stalinist ideological establishment, 1941-1945.