Internationalism or Russification

A study in the Soviet nationalities problem

by Ivan Dzuyba

Internationalism or Russification? was written in 1965 while there was a wave of political repression in Ukraine. In the book, Dzyuba analyses from a Marxist position the national and cultural policy of the Soviet Union in Ukraine. The book was first sent to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and to the head of the government. Internationalism or Russification? was then distributed as a samizdat, and was first published abroad in 1968. In 1972, Dzyuba was expelled from the Writers’ Union and subsequently arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Ivan Dzyuba died on the 22 February 2022 at the age of 91 on the eve of the invasion of his country by Russia.

In the book, Dzyuba describes how the USSR developed a relationship of Russian great-power chauvinism and oppression towards other republics and in particular Ukraine. Dzyuba calls for a return to the policies towards non-Russian nationalities under Lenin which were granted statehood and self-determination. With the invasion of Ukraine, Putin has carried on the Russian great-power chauvinism of the Tsars and Stalin. This book documents in great detail the oppression of Ukraine and is as relevant today as when it first appeared.

370 pages.

RRP: £17,(print); RRP: £9.99 (e-book)