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John Burrows Executive Director Center For World Indigenous Studies ()-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=() ||/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\|| ||=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|| || || || The Fourth World Documentation Project runs entirely on grants || || and private donations. If you find this information service || || useful to you in any way, please consider making a donation to || || help keep it running. CWIS is a non-profit [U.S. 501(c)(3)] || || organization. All donations are completely tax deductible. || || Donations may be made to: || || || || The Center For World Indigenous Studies || || ATTN: FWDP || || P.O. Box 2574 || || Olympia, Washington USA || || 98507-2574 || || Thank You, || || CWIS Staff || || || ||=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|| ||\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/|| ()=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-() ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: This file has been created under the loving care of :: :: -= THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT =- :: :: A service provided by :: :: The Center For World Indigenous Studies :: :: :: :: THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT ARCHIVES :: :: http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/fwdp.html :: :: THE CENTER FOR WORLD INDIGENOUS STUDIES :: :: http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/cwisinfo.html :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: DOCUMENT: SINOUSSR.TXT N A T I O N A L I T I E S P O L I C I E S O F T H E S O V I E T U N I O N A N D C H I N A By Douglas Sanders February 18, 1980 The nationalities policy developed by Lenin and applied in the Soviet Union and in China has rarely been seen as an instructive model for Canada. In the last decade the "two nations" terminology to describe the English and French communities in Canada has been rejected by all federal politicians. The model of the Soviet Union would be particularly dangerous for Canada because of its stress on the right of constituent nations of the union to secede from the union. It has been more common to hear of Soviet nationalities policies from Slavic populations in Canada. The political organizations in the Ukrainian community in Western Canada have been seriously divided on the question of whether the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic has been an adequate vehicle for the realization of Ukrainian national goals. The pro-Communist organizations have praised the nationalities policies and asserted that Ukrainian nationalism was respected in the constitutional arrangement in the Soviet Union. The anti- communist Ukrainians have long described a process of "Russification" imposed on the Ukraine by the Russian republic, making a mockery of claims of national equality within the Soviet Union. There have as well been references to the nationalities policies of the Soviet Union and China by certain native leaders in the country. George Erasmus, head of the Dene nation organization in the North-West territories informed the Minister of Indian Affairs at the annual general assembly of the National Indian Brotherhood in Montreal in September of 1979 that in international terms the Canadian government's refusal to recognize Indian sovereignty was ridiculous. He noted that "even some of the Communist countries" recognize the right of self-determination of indigenous populations. There are other examples of native leaders referring to the nationalities policies of the Soviet Union and China,although such.references are not common. There are two elements of Marxist thought which greatly affect the content of the nationalities policy. Firstly, Marxism has a theory of the evolution of society in stages. Society begins with primitive communal structures. It evolves into a slave-owning society and from there into feudalism. Feudalism is replaced by capitalism and in turn by socialism and communism. This historical progression is from more primitive forms of social organization to more modern forms. The literature on the nationalities policies of the Soviet Union and China is full of references to minority populations being at a primitive stage. There are constant references to the notion that China and the Soviet Union have taken minority nationalities from the stage of primitive to communal organization directly to the stage of socialism, leaping over centuries that would normally be involved in that transition. Permeating nationalities policy is the basic notion that there is a common goal for all communities, the goal of communism. There will, therefore, be no romanticism about the traditional economic activities of minority populations. Traditional economies would pass away in any case to be replaced by more modern forms. It is seen as completely appropriate for the revolutionary state to accelerate the historical process and reorganize the economy of minority populations. A second factor of Marxist thought which is relevant to the nationalities policies is the basic notion of economic determinism. In analyzing the content of culture, Lenin saw the pattern of economic activity as being the main factor. Other concepts of culture or of nations which stress national will or common language or psychic unity are criticised. The importance of language in a national formation is that a common language signals the fact of a common economy. When different tribal groups merge into a nation the language will be commonized and unified in order to facilitate commercial relations. The historical economic tendencies will therefore work to reduce cultural and national differences. The historical tendencies are both towards the development of nations and on the other hand toward international integration. The development of nations will occur as tribal groups form into national units. Nations will also develop as national groups separate from the oppressive domination of imperialist nations. But the logic of economic development,beginning in the stage of capitalism,is for economic activity to transcend national borders and therefore to have the effect of lessening the differences between nations. Economic evolution therefore has a long term result of weakening national differences and promoting internationalism. With the achievement of communism national differences and the nation state will have fallen away. These two elements of Marxist thought mean that a nationalities policy will be seen as a transitional vehicle, geared to promote social change, which does not envisage permanent distinct survival for the national group involved. Soviet writers deny Western accusations of a policy of "Russification". The goal is not assimilation of differing nationalities into a Russian culture but the evolution of all of the national groups in the Soviet Union towards a common future. One study replies to the Western charges in the following way: "The material and intellectual culture of the Russians has undergone no less change in the past decades than that of, say, the Byelorussians or the Kazakhs. The Russian language has also changed considerably owing to loan-words from languages of the countries of other peoples and to the rise of new international terminology. In catering for that new community, the Soviet people, it appears now as an inter-national language. i.e., as a means of communication between all peoples of the U.S.S.R.: Georgians and Estonians, Armenians and Kazakhs, etc. (Bromley and Kozlof, National Processes in the U.S.S.R., in Races and Peoples, at p. 134). The Soviet Union proclaims that the historical process of the drawing together of nations and nationalities has given rise to a new historical community, the Soviet people. The term "Soviet people" came into official use in the late 1930's. "Of course, the path leading to the merging of nations predicted by Lenin is long and involved and not all the sections of this path are at present plainly visible. Lenin said that national differences 'will continue to exist for a very long time to come, even after the dictatorship of the proletariat has been established on a world-wide scale'. The C.P.S.U. PROGRAMME notes that 'with the victory of communism in the U.S.S.R., the nations will draw still closer together, their economic and ideological unity will increase and the communist traits common to their spiritual make-up will develop. However, the obliteration of national distinctions, and especially of language distinctions, is a considerably longer process than the obliteration of class distinctions.'... 'the further drawing together of the nations and nationalities of our country is an objective process,' L.I. Brezhnev stressed. 'the Party is against pushing the process; there is no need for that, for it is determined by the entire course of our Soviet life. At the same time, the Party considers as impermissible any attempt to hold it up, to impede it on some pretext, or to give undue emphasis to national distinctiveness, because this would go against the general line of development of our society, the internationalist ideals and the idealogy of communists, the interest of communist construction.' (Bromley & Kozlov at pp. 138 and 139). By the 1970 census the total population of the Soviet Union was 242 million. Russians are listed as 53.4% of the population with a total population of 129 million. Ukrainians are the second largest national group with 16.9% of the population or 41 million. The Uzbeks and the Bylorussians are both 3.8% of the population for slightly over 9 million people. 18 other national groups are listed with populations ranging from about 6 million to 1 million. There has been speculation in the West that the 1979 census may show that Russians are a minority within the total population of the Soviet Union today. In 1917 the declaration of the rights of the peoples of Russia was formulated. It stated the quality and sovereignty of the nations of Russia It stated the right of the nations of Russia to free self determination including the right to secede and form independent states. It also referred to the free development of the national minorities and ethnographical groups inhabiting the territory of Russia. In January 1918 the third all-Russia Congress of Soviets declared a Russian Soviet Republic, which was a multi-national state, to be a federation. Lenin's declaration of rights of the working and exploited people, accepted by the congress, stated that the Soviet Russian republic was based on a free union of free nations and was a federation of Soviet national republics. In a speech at the congress Lenin predicted that "more and more diverse federations of free nations would group themselves around revolutionary Russia." (Kumanev, U.S.S.R. Nationalities Policy, in Races and Peoples, p. 102.) In April, 1918 the autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkestan was proclaimed as an autonomous republic within the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. (Kumanev, at p.102). In the course of 1919 and 1920 the Bashkirian, Karelian, Tatar, Mari, Udmurt and other autonomous republics and regions were born. By the end of 1922 the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic already included 10 autonomous republics. In 1922 the Transcaucasian Federation came into being. It brought Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia together. The federation had a close military and economic alliance with the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. In 1922 the constitution for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was approved in Moscow at the first congress of Soviets. This brought the republics of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federate of Socialist Republic and the Ukraine and Bylorussia together with the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic into a federation. The congress in 1922 unanimously ratified a declaration and a treaty forming the U.S.S.R. A twelfth party congress in April of 1923 worked out a detailed programme for establishing the U.S.S.R. The second all-union congress of Soviets in January of 1924 completed the formation of a single unified state and passed the constitution. The constitution affirmed the complete equality of the peoples, their sovereignty and obligations to the proletarian state and the principles of democratic centralism. In 1940 Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were admitted into the Union of Soviet Republics. Shortly afterwards the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was formed. The present constitution of the U.S.S.R. was passed in 1977. The preamble to the constitution refers to the "nations and nationalities of the U.S.S.R.". It states that on the basis of "equality of all its nations and nationalities and their fraternal co-operation, a new historical community of people has been formed - the Soviet people." Article 1 of the constitution refers to the government of the U.S.S.R. as expressing the will and interests of all the nations and nationalities of the country. Article 19 refers to the goal of the development and drawing together of all the nations and nationalities of the U.S.S.R. Article 36 reads as follows: "Citizens of the U.S.S.R. of different races and nationalities have equal rights. Exercise of these rights is ensured by a policy of all-round development and drawing together of all the nations and nationalities of the U.S.S.R., by educating citizens in the spirit of Soviet patriotism and social internationalism, and by the possibility to use their native language and the languages of other peoples of the U.S.S.R. Any direct or indirect limitation of the rights of citizens or establishment of direct or indirect privileges on grounds of race or nationality and any advocacy of racial or national exclusiveness, hostility or contempt are punishable by law." Article 70 refers to the U.S.S.R. as a "multinational state formed on the principle of socialist federalism as a result of the free self- determination of nations and of voluntary association of equal Soviet Socialist Republics." Article 71 lists the Union republics. There are 15 Union republics which are as follows: Russia, Ukraine, Bylerussia, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldavia, Latvia, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Armenia, Turkmenia and Estonia. Each union republic has its own constitution. By article 72 of the constitution of the U.S.S.R. each union republic has the right to secede. The structure of the union republics handles the nationalities question at the largest level. There are, in addition, autonomous republics, autonomous regions and national areas. Autonomous republics exist within union republics. The boundaries are determined by the union republic but cannot be changed without the consent of the autonomous republic (a protection written into the constitution of the Soviet Union in article 84). The central government of the U.S.S.R. has jurisdiction over endorsing the formation of new autonomous republics and autonomous regions within the union republic. Chapter 10 of the constitution of the U.S.S.R. deals with the autonomous republics. There are 16 autonomous republics within the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic: Bashkir, Buryat, Daghestan, Kabardin- Balkar, Kalmyk, Karelian, Komi, Mari, Mordovian, North Ossetian, Tatar, Tubar, Udmurt, Chechen-Ingush, Chuvash and Yakut. There is one autonomous republic in the Uzbek republic, that is Kara-Kalpak. There are two autonomous republics in the Georgian republic. They are Abkhasian and Adzhar. There is one autonomous republic in the Azerbaijan republic. It is the Nakhichevan autonomous republic. In all there are 20 autonomous republics which range in population from over 3 million to about 100,000 people. There are 8 autonomous regions in the Soviet Union which are mentioned by name in article 87 of the constitution. These are administrative areas only. They can be elevated to the status of autonomous republics. The largest population involved is less than 300,000. Five of the autonomous regions are within Russia and one each is found within the republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan. There are ten national areas which are located within the Russian socialist federal Soviet republic. They are located primarily in the far North and tend to have small populations in a large territory. They are administrative areas with responsibility in relation to co-operatives, education, medical services and cultural activities. They range in population from 10,000 to 235,000. The Supreme Soviet which is the highest legislative body for the Soviet Union, is composed of two chambers with equal rights. They are the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of the nationalities. They have equal numbers of deputies. Article 110 of the constitution provides for the composition of the Soviet of the nationalities as follows: "The Soviet of nationalities shall be elected on the basis of the following representation: 32 deputies from each union republic, 11 deputies from each autonomous republic. 5 deputies from each autonomous region, and 1 deputy from each autonomous area." The Russian language has certainly spread to be common means of communication. According to the 1959 census over 10 million non-Russians declared Russian as their mother tongue. The 1970 census showed an increase in the number of such persons to be 13 million. Besides these 42 million had adopted Russian as their second mother tongue. Russia entered its revolutionary period as a multinational state. The formation of the Soviet union was the creation of a new amalgamation of national entities into a large federation. In contrast the boundaries of China, with the possible exception of Tibet, have been stable for a long time. The Chinese say that they have had a unitary multinational state since the Qin dynasty (221-207 B.C.). China does not see itself as a new national formation and while it has a system of autonomous regions they are referred to as being inalienable parts of the national territory. There is no tradition of stating a right of areas to secede. In China there are 55 minority nationalities which in total comprise about 6% of the population. This is dramatically different percentage of the population than is found in the Soviet Union. Nevertheless 10 of the minority nationalities have populations of over 1 million and the minorities occupy between 50 and 60 percent of the national territory. There are five autonomous regions which are equivalent, in the state structure, to provinces. They are: Inner Mongolia, Ningsia, Sinkiang, Tibet and Kwangsi. All five of these autonomous regions are border areas. In addition there are 29 autonomous prefectures or "chou". The largest concentration of autonomous prefectures is in the southern state of Yunnan where there are eight such prefectures. 11 other autonomous prefectures are found in provinces lying to the north of Yunnan. 5 autonomous prefectures are found in the Sinkiang autonomous region in North-Western China. Only one autonomous prefecture can be found in the highly populated eastern area of China and that is in the province of Kirin bordering on Korea. That autonomous prefecture is for the Korean nationality who were brought into that area of China by the Japanese, during their occupation of Manchuria, as a labour force. In addition to the autonomous regions and autonomous prefectures there are 69 autonomous counties or banners. The present constitution of China was enacted in 1978. In three parts of the preamble there are references to all the nationalities of the country: Article 4 reads as follows: "The Peoples Republic of China is a unitary multinational state. All the nationalities are equal. There should be unity and fraternal love among the nationalities and they should help and learn from each other. Discrimination against, or oppression of, any nationality, and acts which undermine the unity of the nationalities are prohibited. Big- nationality chauvinism and local-nationality chauvinism must be opposed. All the nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, and to preserve or reform their own customs and ways. Regional autonomy applies in an area where a minority nationality lives in a compact community. All the national autonomous areas are inalienable parts of the Peoples Republic of China." The minority populations have 10.9% of the deputies in the National Peoples Congress and in other congresses within the governmental system. They have, therefore, higher representation than the numbers alone would justify. The Chinese also point out that the population policy of China, which advocates small families and late marriage, does not apply to the minority nationalities. It is explained that the minority nationalities may feel threatened by the application of the population policy to them by the Han majority. Tibet is a special case. The Chinese maintain that Tibet has historically always been a part of China, though that is contested by some others. In 1949, at the time of the Chinese revolution, Tibet sought help from the United Kingdom, the United States and India to assure their right to autonomy. But in 1951 the Dalai Lama recognised Chinese sovereignty over Tibet in an agreement which allowed him to continue to rule the area. In 1956 there was the beginnings of a nationalistic revolt in Tibet which was decisively put down in 1959. Since 1959 Tibet has been treated as an equal part of the Chinese nation as the Tibet autonomous region. Certain of the Chinese literature on minority nationalities refers to the Olunchuns, one of China's smaller national minorities. There were 1,300 Olunchuns at the time of liberation but that population has now tripled. The Olunchuns were a hunting and nomadic tribe living in the mountain forests of the northern province of Heilongjiang. An Olunchun autonomous banner was established in 1951. According to one Chinese article "in 1953 government work teams came to seek them out of the forests and built settlements for them." This source describes the Olunchuns as leaping over centuries in their social and economic development. Now their hunting activity is regulated by the state. China maintains two nationalities institutes, one located in Peking and the other in Yunnan province in the south. These institutes are designed to train members of minority nationalities as cadres. They are then to return to their regions to take up leadership roles among their own people. In western literature there has been a criticism of Chinese nationalities policy based on the population patterns in the autonomous areas. Time magazine in an article in 1976, asserted that there were 120 thousand Han cadres in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. It stated that in Urumchi, the capital of Sinkiang autonomous region there were 800 thousand people, 60% of whom were Han. It also stated that there were only 440 thousand Mongolian in a total population of 8.6 million in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia. John Burns writing in the Globe and Mail on July 31st, 1973 stated that minority nationalities were in a majority in only one of the autonomous regions, that is Tibet. He stated that they were outnumbered by as much as 7 to 1 in other areas citing the example of inner Mongolia. It was his conclusion that the designation of some areas as autonomous regions is largely nominal. John Fraser writing in the Globe and Mail in 1979 said that the Han population in Lhasa is now 70 thousand which is twenty thousand more than the Tibetan population. Clearly the Chinese feature their nationalities policy as an important part of their description of their state structure. Even a brief survey of China's system will include reference to the minority nationalities. The depiction of minority nationals is common in Chinese poster art. Two prominent buildings in Peking, built on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the revolution, are the hotel of the nationalities and the palace of the nationalities. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To have a current Center For World Indigenous Studies Publication Catalogue sent to you via e-mail, send a request to jburrows@halcyon.com http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/cwiscat.html Center For World Indigenous Studies P.O. 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