Seems like it would encourage ethno-nationalism.
Why was the Soviet Union divided into SSR's?
Daniel Ramirez
Other urls found in this thread:
marxists.org
marxists.org
marxists.org
marxists.org
revolutionarydemocracy.org
twitter.com
Lucas Bell
uhhh Leninism has some pretty shit and very liberal conceptions of nationhood
Brody Smith
marxists.org
Soviets believed that each ethnic group had a right to develop their own national identity and national culture and that socialism is what would allow them to do this.
It was also kind of a tactical decision at the time because giving different groups in the USSR their own mini-state would help convince the nationalists living there to support the Soviet Union because "hey we were the ones who preserved your language and your culture, why would you ever oppose us?"
You're right that it backfired though, promoting ethnic identity along the border near Germany led to some nationalists siding with the Nazis instead of the Soviets because they were taught to only conceive of politics in racial terms.
A Biography of No Place is an interesting book on the racial politics of Eastern Europe during the early soviet period. It's kinda delves into pop-history but its definitely worth reading imo.
Colton Smith
Benefits: All these republics were effortlessly held in Soviet gasp.
More importantly, no nationalists sided with the White side during the civil war,
Disadvantages: It resulted in formation and entrenchment of local cliques, not too concerned about ideas.
Compared with China, they had (and still have) rather serious rebellions and discontent. On the other hand, they have global leadership, while the nationalists have no influence in the military and administration.
Angel Hughes
Oh god this map is godawful
Nathan Ross
...
Connor Martinez
Because Lenin was a spooked nationalist tbh. Stalin wanted a centralized state where everyone would simply be a Soviet citizen.
Cameron Russell
Ethnic Russians according to OP
Sebastian Kelly
Seems to me like OP is saying that the socialist principle of internationalist class solidarity is undermined by dividing the working class based on their ethnicity and thereby tacitly approving ethno-nationalism as a valid ideology.
Isaiah Carter
why didn't mongoli became part of the USSR?