National Minorities

• Lenin promised self-determination inNovember 1917 which encouraged separatists.
• In December 1917 Finland adopted to become independent. An elected rada (parliament) was set up in the Ukraine. There were divisions in the party but Lenin stuck to his principles as national minorities helped bring the Bolsheviks to power.
• All major nationalities and Jews were given separate representation in the Communist Party. In 1926 Jews were given a special ‘national settlement’ in the east which became autonomous. Encouraged the teaching of national languages and Yiddish was widely used.  All anti-Semitic rules were abandoned in 1917
• Whereas Stalin aimed to create a greater centralisation and a single ‘Soviet identity’
• The regime was officially opposed to racial discrimination and intermarriage was promoted
• But from 1938 learning Russian became compulsory in all schools and was the only language in the Red Army. Stalin began deportation in the 1930s and anti-Semitic sentiment was revived especially in rural areas. Rabbis and religious leaders were arrested when 2 million Jews were incorporated into the Soviet Union between 1939-40 and 1.4 million people were deported