THE NEW CLASS AND NATIONALISM

THE NEW CLASS AND NATIONALISM

 

D. A. Tomasic, Journal of Croatian Studies, number I

I

The system of rule which has developed in contemporary Communist countries has brought about sharp social differentiation and class stratification. In addition, in the Communist-ruled countries which are composed of two or more different nationalities, the hegemony of one nationality over the others has been established.

It is generally known that in the Soviet Union, the members of the Great Russian nationality, which compose less than 50 per cent of the entire population, form an overwhelming majority in the top Party bodies (Presidium, Secretariat, Central Committee). They dominate also the top governmental, military, managerial and intellectual hierarchies of the country. Moreover, as a result of such a hegemonistic position on the part of the Great Russians, the non-Russian members of the Party must be sufficiently Russified to be allowed by the Russian leaders to achieve positions of power and trust.

This practice also applies to the positions of power on the local levels of Soviet society. In the Ukraine; for instance, in 1927, out of 29 million Ukrainians, there were 2,677,000 Great Russians, or 9 per cent of the population. But the Ukrainian Communist Party, according to the official statistics of 1927, was composed at that time of 51.96 per cent Ukrainians and 46.15 per cent Russians. And it was the Russian members of the Party together with the Russified Ukrainians that dominated the Party and dictated its policies.

A similar situation has existed in Communist Czechoslovakia. There the ruling class has tended to be composed predominantly of the members of Czech nationality. The ranks of this New Class have been opened to the Slovaks only inasmuch as they had sufficiently Czechized themselves.

This is equally the case of Communist Yugoslavia where members of Serb nationality and Orthodox religious background have succeeded in establishing their hegemony over the other nationalities of that country, as will be shown in the following pages.

see the entire article: http://www.studiacroatica.org/jcs/01/0107.htm