Here is the history of the disintegration of the Russian Empire, and the emergence, on its ruins, of a multinational Communist state. In this revealing account, Richard Pipes tells how the Communists exploited the new nationalism of the peoples of the Ukraine, Belorussia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Volga-Ural area--first to seize power and then to expand into the borderlands.
The Formation of the Soviet Union acquires special relevance in the post-Soviet era, when the ethnic groups described in the book once again reclaimed their independence, this time apparently for good.
In a 1996 Preface to the Revised Edition, Pipes suggests how material recently released from the Russian archives might supplement his account.
1. The National Problem in Russia The Russian Empire on the Eve of the 1917 Revolution National Movements in Russia The Ukrainians and Belorussians. The Turkic Peoples. The Peoples of the Caucasus. Socialism and the National Problem in Western and Central Europe Russian Political Parties and the National Problem Lenin and the National Question before 1913 Lenin's Theory of Self-Determination 2. 1917 and The Disintegration of the Russian Empire The General Causes The Ukraine and Belorussia The Rise of the Ukrainian Central Rada (February-June 1917). From July to the October Revolution in the Ukraine. Belorussia in 1917. The Moslem Borderlands The All-Russian Moslem Movement. The Crimea in 1917. Bashkiriia and the Kazakh-Kirghiz Steppe. Turkestan and the Autonomous Government of Kokand. The Caucasus The Terek Region and Daghestan. Transcaucasia. The Bolsheviks in Power 3. Soviet Conquest of the Ukraine and Belorussia The Fall of the Ukrainian Central Rada The Communist Party of the Ukraine: Its Formation and Early Activity (1918) The Struggle of the Communists for Power in the Ukraine in 1919 Belorussia from 1918 to 1920 4. Soviet Conquest of the Moslem Borderlands The Moslem Communist Movement in Soviet Russia (1918) The Bashkir and Tatar Republics The Kirghiz Republic Turkestan The Crimea 5. Soviet Conquest of the Caucasus The Transcaucaslan Federation Soviet Rule in the North Caucasus and Eastern Transcaucasia (1918) The Terek Region. Baku. The Independent Republics (1918-19) Azerbaijan. Armenia. Georgia. The Prelude to the Conquest The Conquest The Fall of Azerbaijan. The Fall of Armenia. The Fall of Georgia. 6. The Establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Consolidation of the Party and State Apparatus The RSPSR. Relations between the RSFSR and the other Soviet Republics. The People's Republics. The Opposition to Centralization Nationalist Opposition: Enver Pasha and the Basmachis. Nationalist-Communist Opposition: Sultan-Galiev. Communist Opposition: the Ukraine. Communist Opposition: Georgia. Formulation of Constitutional Principles of the Union Lenin's Change of Mind The Last Discussion of the Nationality Question Conclusion Chronology of Principal Events Ethnic Distribution of Population, 1897 and 1926 The System of Transliteration Bibliography Notes Index
