Vladimir Lenin and Ethnic Minorities

Vladimir Lenin is one of the more complex figures in Russian History. In some Communist and Socialist circles, Lenin is venerated as a hero and given almost Saint-like attributes, while to many other people he was a bloodthirsty dictator who drove innocent people from their homes and established an oppressive regime that lasted for more than 60 years. There were many praiseworthy things to be said about Vladimir Lenin including his skills as an orator, his advocacy for the participation of women in politics, and his own personal ascetic lifestyle.

 However, it is abundantly clear that most material praising Lenin has emerged from Russia, and has inevitably been influenced by Soviet Propaganda, while some of the more unsavory opinions about Lenin were influenced by Western perceptions of the later Stalin regime. To truly understand Lenin we have to create a balanced narrative composed of both Eastern and Western Sources. In order to undergo such an endeavor, I have had to make use of online translating services (google translate) because I am not fluent or proficient in any of the Languages that were spoken in the Soviet Union or its client states. While some would attempt to paint a broad picture of Lenin as either a hero-figure or an evil dictator, such sweeping moralizations are outside of the context of this blog and its focus on ethnic minorities in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War.

The most revealing thing in my investigation of the Lenin regime was my research into Lenin's policy towards ethnic minorities. Following the Russian Civil War Lenin cracked down on minority groups that supported the White Army (the faction supporting the Russian Provisional Government which Lenin overthrew with the support of the popular Petrograd Soviet). This is especially apparent in the case of the Cossacks, a semi-nomadic Slavic group that lived in the Pontic Steppe (the flat grassy region of Southeastern Ukraine and the Caucasian part of Russia). The Cossacks had historically been granted autonomy in exchange for service in the Tsarist Army as cavalrymen. This agreement was beneficial to both parties, and in nearly every war the Russian Empire faced, the Cossacks fulfilled their end of the bargain.

                                         an exaggerated depiction of Cossacks in traditional garb

To the Soviet Government under Lenin however, the Cossacks were a problematic group because they fought in the White Army, had ties to the Orthodox Church, and in many cases were monarchist (even though some had been in the Red Army). In 1919, just two years after his establishment as dictator Lenin ordered massive reprisals against the Cossacks. Cossack political leaders were arrested and executed, Cossack churches were destroyed, and as many as ten thousand Cossacks were slaughtered in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, much of the Cossack identity was lost following Decossackization because they had not traditionally been a record-keeping society.

"Conduct merciless mass terror" - Sergey Ivanovich Syrtsov

                                          The siege of the City of Bukhara under Communist forces

Such accounts were not limited to the Cossacks as many other groups also experienced repression under Lenin's rule including the Kalmyk people (distant cousins of the Mongols), and the inhabitants of Russias central Asian colonies. The Kalmyks had an arrangement with the Imperial Government that was similar to that of the Cossacks, and as a result, many of them were targeted by the Kremlin, and as many as 20,000 Kalmyks were forcibly relocated to frigid and inhospitable places in remote Siberia. In Central Asia the Soviet Government attempted to enforce the policy of State Atheism among the Muslim majority inhabitants in the region, along with the abolishment of Sharia Law, leading to a continuation of the revolt that had at first been directed against the Tsarist Government.

In conclusion, it is clear that many of Stalin's more infamous policies were predicated by the policies of Lenin, and it is also clear that we cannot understand the great tragedies of the 20th century without understanding the groundwork that was laid here. Many characters in history are in shades of grey, and Lenin certainly fits the bill considering his seemingly contradictory attitudes towards women and working-class Russians on one hand, and ethnic minorities on the other hand.

Sources:

https://yustysya.livejournal.com/30958.html#cutid1 (This source is in Russian (google translate))

 https://web.archive.org/web/20091210025518/http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/presspr/pressreleases/cossacks.htm  Dr.Shane O'Rorke

http://www.persee.fr/doc/cmr_1252-6576_1997_num_38_1_2486 
(introduction in French for an English language source)

http://www.sonin.mn/blog/Munkhbayar/21142 (This source is in Mongolian(google translate))