Inheritance and Innovation: The Application and Development of Marxist National Theory in China

Author: Zhan Zhenrong/Nationality: Mainland China
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Publishing Date: 2001-12-01
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5. Lenin emphasized that advanced nations should demonstrate an internationalist spirit of flexibility and tolerance when assisting minority and backward nations in economic development. Lenin stated: "We are internationalists. We strive to bring the workers and peasants of all countries closely together, completely integrating them into a unified world Soviet Republic." ⑤ Although the distrust of the Great Russians left over from the Tsarist and bourgeois Great Russian imperialism was rapidly disappearing among the working masses of the peoples who had previously joined the Russian Empire, and was fading away with the growing understanding of Soviet Russia, this distrust had not yet completely vanished in all nations and all strata of labor. Therefore, it was necessary to handle national sentiments with particular care, genuinely implement the equality of all nations and the freedom of separation, in order to eliminate the foundation of this distrust and forge a voluntary and close union of the Soviet Republics of all nations. It was essential to intensify assistance to the backward and small nations, help the workers and peasants of each nation organize themselves independently, inspire them to oppose medieval and bourgeois oppression, and assist those previously oppressed or unequal nations in developing their languages and literatures. ① Lenin further analyzed that based on the experience of the three years since the October Revolution, "this distrust was gradually disappearing, though very slowly. The more cautious and patient the Great Russians, who had always been the oppressor nation, were, the more guaranteed the elimination of this distrust would be." ② For regions with relatively backward economies and cultures, "it was necessary to adopt flexible strategies based on making significant concessions to any petty-bourgeois elements." ③ Lenin warned the Bolsheviks in ethnic regions: "It was necessary to carry out this work extensively, firmly, skillfully, and cautiously, making every effort to use it to improve the living conditions of workers and peasants and attract intellectuals to participate in economic construction." ④ To fulfill the historical task of helping backward nations and countries transition to socialism, Lenin demanded that the internationalism of the proletariat of advanced nations like the Great Russians "not only lie in adhering to formal national equality but also in adhering to inequality against the oppressor nation, i.e., the great nation, which could compensate for the actual inequalities that had formed in living conditions." ⑤ It is evident that Lenin repeatedly called on the working class of the great nations to help minority nations develop their economies and cultures with a broad-minded spirit, eliminating the actual inequalities in economic and cultural development left over from history. In summary, under new historical conditions, Lenin developed Marx and Engels' theory on how backward nations could leap over the stage of capitalism. Guided by Lenin's brilliant thought, the peoples of Central Asia and other backward nations of Russia, with the help of the Soviet government and advanced nations, especially the Russian nation and its working class, advanced through more than a century of development history, gradually moving from the feudal stage of clan-kinship to the stage of socialism, transforming from oppressed and exploited slaves into masters of the state. Unfortunately, due to a series of comprehensive factors, Lenin's theories on the transition of backward nations to socialism, on opening up and absorbing the achievements of developed capitalist civilization, on developing economies and cultures in ethnic regions according to local conditions, and on the internationalist spirit of the great nations, were not fully implemented in Soviet society after Lenin's death. Lenin's theories were distorted in practice. Of course, this was not Lenin's fault but rather the consequence of deviating from Lenin's national theory.
V. Lenin proposed the theory of vigorously cultivating ethnic cadres
The consistent idea of vigorously cultivating and training ethnic cadres was one of Lenin's long-standing principles. Even before the October Revolution, Lenin proposed: "The party should genuinely ensure that the interests of the party and the needs of the proletariat of the respective nations supporting the Social Democratic Party are met, while taking into account their cultural and living characteristics; to guarantee this, special representative conferences of the Social Democrats of the respective nations should be held, and minority representatives should be included in the local, provincial, and central organs of the party." Lenin further explained: "The minority representatives in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union should be elected in the following way: the All-Party Congress selects a certain number of candidates from those recommended by the provincials of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from various parts of Russia (where independent Social Democratic Party organizations exist) as members of the Central Committee." In the early days of the October Revolution, there was a severe shortage of ethnic cadres in non-Russian regions. Therefore, Lenin and the Bolshevik Party attached great importance to the cultivation of ethnic cadres. At the 10th Congress of the RCP(b), led by Lenin, it was explicitly stated that local ethnic cadres should be boldly appointed in minority regions, and "courts, administrative, economic, and governing bodies using the local language and composed of locals familiar with the habits and psychology of the residents" should be established in non-Russian regions." ② Lenin believed that there were four ways to cultivate various types of ethnic cadres:
First, by establishing a unified and centralized RCP(b) organization, vigorously developing minority party members, absorbing peasants into national management, and taking measures to promote a large number of workers and peasants from non-Russian nations to leadership positions, thereby cultivating the cadres of minority nations at all levels.
Second, by making every effort to absorb the local old intellectuals who were relatively loyal to the Soviet government to participate in the work of the Soviet organs, and giving them full respect and care.
Third, by establishing a Communist University to train skilled ethnic political workers, people's teachers, and researchers.
Fourth, by attaching great importance to the role of teachers, especially ethnic teachers, and doing everything possible to improve their status and care for the growth of ethnic teachers. For immediate needs, it was necessary for the Central Committee of the RCP(b) to send a large number of cadres to non-Russian regions to assist in the construction of the Soviet government. The sources of these cadres included central organ cadres, demobilized Red Army officers, and revolutionary cadres selected from central regions.
The 8th Congress of the RCP(b), presided over by Lenin, passed a resolution declaring that, in accordance with the principles of democratic centralism, it was necessary to establish a unified and centralized Communist Party and a unified central committee to lead all the party's work. The Central Committees of the Soviet Republics of all nations enjoyed the rights of regional committees and were subordinate to the Central Committee of the RCP(b). Subsequently, the Soviet Union gradually completed the work of merging the Communist Party organizations of all nations into a unified Russian Communist Party (b). At the same time, the Bolshevik Party also proposed: "One of the fundamental tasks of the party is to cultivate and develop young Communist Party organizations in the working masses and semi-proletarian masses of the respective nations and regions. Use all means to assist these organizations to establish themselves firmly, receive genuine communist education, and unite even if they are initially small but truly internationalist Communist Party cadres." ① After the 9th Congress of the RCP(b), the ethnic regional party organizations intensified their efforts to recruit new party members and cultivate ethnic cadres. The party organizations in various ethnic regions recruited a large number of local ethnic laborers (mainly peasants) and trained over one million cadres at all levels of the party in various ethnic regions. ② To meet the needs of the Soviet state for new types of ethnic cadres, the Eastern Laborers' Communist University (with 7 branch campuses), the Central Committees of thes' Party Schools, the Turkestan LeninCommunist University (later renamed the Central Asian Lenin Communist University), and the Western Ethnic Communist University were established one after another between 1921 and 1923. In just a few years, these universities trained thousands of politically mature political workers, people's teachers, and scientific and technological personnel who were proficient in ethnic languages and urgently needed by the state. To ensure the success of education and train more ethnic political workers and scientific and technological talents, Lenin highly evaluated the status and role of people's teachers and showed special care for the lives and growth of ethnic teachers as part of the ethnic cadres. Lenin repeatedly instructed the People's Commissariat for Education to actively recruit loyal intellectuals, experts, and educators of the proletariat revolution to participate in the management of the Soviet organs and to select teachers with both ability and integrity for leadership positions. Under Lenin's care and correct leadership, the ethnic teaching force in the Soviet Union grew strong and gradually became the backbone of ethnic education, playing a significant role in the socio-economic and cultural life of ethnic regions.