Foreign Policy as a Factor in the Establishment of the Soviet Union: The Cases of Ukraine and Belarus. Issue 4 (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Borzecki, Jerzy
• Is Part Of: Diplomacy and statecraft. Volume 30:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 652
• Page End: 680
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: Diplomacy -- Periodicals; World politics -- Periodicals; International relations -- Periodicals; 327
• DOI: 10.1080/09592296.2019.1670997
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-2296

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The establishment of the Soviet Union was unplanned and unexpected. Originally, Vladimir Lenin formed a two-stage plan – Sovietise Ukraine and Belarus as ostensibly independent states, then merge them into Soviet Russia as autonomous units. Local Bolsheviks initially supported this plan. However, to counteract foreign, mainly Polish, support for the émigré Ukrainian and Belarusian People's republics, Moscow decided in early 1920 to postpone the planned merger indefinitely, granting the two Soviet republics some attributes of formal independence. The fallout from the Soviet-Polish peace process of 1920–1921 then compounded the effect of these measures on local Bolsheviks. As a result, the republics started to appreciate independence. By 1922, they attempted to act independently, even in foreign policy, which Moscow could hardly tolerate. Yet, local Bolsheviks vehemently opposed Joseph Stalin's proposal to remedy the situation by proceeding with the long-delayed merger. Fearing that a forcible union might result in an irreparable rift between Moscow and the republics, Lenin decided to change his original plan and establish the Soviet Union. It was a compromise formula, where the republics retained their ostensible independence and the Centre exercised unquestioned authority.