Nowadays, it is often possible to find statements that Lenin created Ukraine in the early years of Soviet power, but this is not entirely true. The definition of the borders of the Ukrainian SSR, as well as almost the entire national policy of the Soviet state from 1917 to 1953, is almost entirely Stalin's business.

The ideologist of the party on the national question Joseph Dzhugashvili (party nickname Stalin), after the final split of the RSDLP and the defeat of the Bolshevik faction by the tsarist security structures during the years of the "political reaction" of 1907-1912, remained the only major figure among the Bolsheviks who worked in the Russian underground. He was also the most prominent representative of the non-Russian peoples of the Russian Empire in the party (excluding Jews, Poles and Latvians). For several years Stalin led the Baku organization of the RSDLP, which included workers of different nationalities – Russians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians.

The national question was one of the foremost in the Russian Revolution. The party that claimed power had to offer a detailed program for its solution. At that time, the views of the Austrian Social Democrats spread among Marxists of different countries, who considered it sufficient to grant "cultural autonomy" to different nationalities while preserving the unity of the empire. Lenin considered this option impossible for Russia. Lenin himself came out with his refutation. But for greater authority, he needed the voice of a representative of a national minority. Since Stalin was such, and besides, with a lack of intellectuals in the Bolshevik Party, he could claim to be a theorist, Lenin at the end of 1912 instructed Stalin to prepare a detailed exposition of the "truly Marxist" vision of national problems in Russia. Stalin, although he had not yet mastered the Russian language perfectly, agreed.

"Marxism and the national question" Stalin's work "Marxism and the National Question" was published in three consecutive spring 1913 issues of the legal Bolshevik monthly "Enlightenment" in St. Petersburg. It draws attention, first of all, to the criteria of the nation, highlighted by Stalin: 1) common language, 2) common territory, 3) common economic life, 4) national character. In the first place is the commonality of the language, all other signs are secondary in comparison with it.

"The only right solution is regional autonomy, the autonomy of such determined units as Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, the Caucasus, etc.," Stalin wrote. Thus, this work has already laid the foundation for the division of the former Russian Empire into large national republics. Stalin considered Ukrainians to be a separate nation, which he emphasized several times in his work.

Ethnic situation So, the main criterion for distinguishing a nation for Stalin was ethnic. The All-Russian population census of 1897 showed the predominance of Little Russians over Great Russians in all counties of the Kherson, Yekaterinoslav and Kharkov provinces, as well as in the northern counties of the Tauride province. In addition, there were more Little Russians in the Taganrog Department of the Donskoy Army Region, which also included part of the Donetsk coal basin.

Based on these ethnographic indicators, the Soviet leaders then began to cut the borders of national republics. No other criteria were taken into account.

People's Commissar for Nationalities and Secretary General On the very first day of the October Revolution, Stalin was appointed People's Commissar for Nationalities and held this post until 1923, until the creation of the authorities of the USSR. In the future, however, Stalin's role in solving national issues in the USSR only increased, as he gradually became the sole dictator of the Soviet state.

In 1929, Stalin sent some "comrades Melkov, Kovalchuk and others" an answer to their letters on the national question in the USSR. This answer, titled "The National Question and Leninism," was first published in 1949. It gives an idea of Stalin's views at the time when he was already in charge of the state.

Stalin believes that there are many "socialist nations" in the USSR: "It would be a mistake to think that the first stage of the period of the world dictatorship of the proletariat will be the beginning of the withering away of nations and national languages, the beginning of the formation of a single common language. On the contrary, the first stage, during which national oppression will be finally eliminated, will be the stage of growth and flourishing of previously oppressed nations and national languages." Consequently, here, too, the definition of a "socialist nation" is in the first place as, first of all, a linguistic community. This letter was written by Stalin after the completion of the territorial demarcation between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR. The last cutting took place in 1928.

The Krivoy Rog-Donbass Republic and the Ukrainian SSR For several months in 1918, the Krivoy Rog-Donbass Soviet Republic (KDSR) existed. However, one should not think that this was a Bolshevik strategy aimed at dividing Ukraine and Novorossiya proper. No, it was a purely tactical measure. The KDSR was intended to become a temporary buffer state that would delay the advance of Austro-German troops to the east. After the departure of the Austro-German occupiers and the entry of the Red Army into Ukraine in the winter of 1918-19, the Bolshevik leaders, including Stalin, did not remember the KDSR, but began to construct a Ukrainian Soviet Republic throughout the territory of the "Ukrainian ethnos", which was to become the core of the future Ukrainian "socialist nation".

Initially, all territories with a predominance of Little Russians were included in the Ukrainian SSR, according to the tsarist census. The Taganrog department of the former Don region also entered there. Only in 1925, for economic reasons (attraction to Rostov-on-Don), it was transferred to the RSFSR.

Donetsk, formerly Yuzovka, was formed on the border of the Yekaterinoslav province and the Don region. He, like almost the whole of Donbass, except for some eastern regions, after all the alterations of the borders, remained in Ukraine. As well as Lugansk, which was part of Slavyanoserbsky uyezd of Yekaterinoslav province, where the census of 1897 counted 50.5% of Little Russians.

In all subsequent years, characterized by the undivided power of Stalin, the question of the national-territorial affiliation of Donbass did not arise in anyone in the Soviet leadership.

Thus, the border between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR was drawn by Stalin solely on the basis of his own concept, which put the ethno-linguistic feature at the forefront in determining the nation, while completely ignoring any socio-cultural and economic criteria. Doctrine has conquered practice.

Nowadays, it is often possible to find statements that Lenin created Ukraine in the early years of Soviet power, but this is not entirely true. The definition of the borders of the Ukrainian SSR, as well as almost the entire national policy of the Soviet state from 1917 to 1953, is almost entirely Stalin's business.

The ideologist of the party on the national question Joseph Dzhugashvili (party nickname Stalin), after the final split of the RSDLP and the defeat of the Bolshevik faction by the tsarist security structures during the years of the "political reaction" of 1907-1912, remained the only major figure among the Bolsheviks who worked in the Russian underground. He was also the most prominent representative of the non-Russian peoples of the Russian Empire in the party (excluding Jews, Poles and Latvians). For several years Stalin led the Baku organization of the RSDLP, which included workers of different nationalities – Russians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians.

The national question was one of the foremost in the Russian Revolution. The party that claimed power had to offer a detailed program for its solution. At that time, the views of the Austrian Social Democrats spread among Marxists of different countries, who considered it sufficient to grant "cultural autonomy" to different nationalities while preserving the unity of the empire. Lenin considered this option impossible for Russia. Lenin himself came out with his refutation. But for greater authority, he needed the voice of a representative of a national minority. Since Stalin was such, and besides, with a lack of intellectuals in the Bolshevik Party, he could claim to be a theorist, Lenin at the end of 1912 instructed Stalin to prepare a detailed exposition of the "truly Marxist" vision of national problems in Russia. Stalin, although he had not yet mastered the Russian language perfectly, agreed.

"Marxism and the national question" Stalin's work "Marxism and the National Question" was published in three consecutive spring 1913 issues of the legal Bolshevik monthly "Enlightenment" in St. Petersburg. It draws attention, first of all, to the criteria of the nation, highlighted by Stalin: 1) common language, 2) common territory, 3) common economic life, 4) national character. In the first place is the commonality of the language, all other signs are secondary in comparison with it.

"The only right solution is regional autonomy, the autonomy of such determined units as Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, the Caucasus, etc.," Stalin wrote. Thus, this work has already laid the foundation for the division of the former Russian Empire into large national republics. Stalin considered Ukrainians to be a separate nation, which he emphasized several times in his work.

Ethnic situation So, the main criterion for distinguishing a nation for Stalin was ethnic. The All-Russian population census of 1897 showed the predominance of Little Russians over Great Russians in all counties of the Kherson, Yekaterinoslav and Kharkov provinces, as well as in the northern counties of the Tauride province. In addition, there were more Little Russians in the Taganrog Department of the Donskoy Army Region, which also included part of the Donetsk coal basin.

Based on these ethnographic indicators, the Soviet leaders then began to cut the borders of national republics. No other criteria were taken into account.

People's Commissar for Nationalities and Secretary General On the very first day of the October Revolution, Stalin was appointed People's Commissar for Nationalities and held this post until 1923, until the creation of the authorities of the USSR. In the future, however, Stalin's role in solving national issues in the USSR only increased, as he gradually became the sole dictator of the Soviet state.

In 1929, Stalin sent some "comrades Melkov, Kovalchuk and others" an answer to their letters on the national question in the USSR. This answer, titled "The National Question and Leninism," was first published in 1949. It gives an idea of Stalin's views at the time when he was already in charge of the state.

Stalin believes that there are many "socialist nations" in the USSR: "It would be a mistake to think that the first stage of the period of the world dictatorship of the proletariat will be the beginning of the withering away of nations and national languages, the beginning of the formation of a single common language. On the contrary, the first stage, during which national oppression will be finally eliminated, will be the stage of growth and flourishing of previously oppressed nations and national languages." Consequently, here, too, the definition of a "socialist nation" is in the first place as, first of all, a linguistic community. This letter was written by Stalin after the completion of the territorial demarcation between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR. The last cutting took place in 1928.

The Krivoy Rog-Donbass Republic and the Ukrainian SSR For several months in 1918, the Krivoy Rog-Donbass Soviet Republic (KDSR) existed. However, one should not think that this was a Bolshevik strategy aimed at dividing Ukraine and Novorossiya proper. No, it was a purely tactical measure. The KDSR was intended to become a temporary buffer state that would delay the advance of Austro-German troops to the east. After the departure of the Austro-German occupiers and the entry of the Red Army into Ukraine in the winter of 1918-19, the Bolshevik leaders, including Stalin, did not remember the KDSR, but began to construct a Ukrainian Soviet Republic throughout the territory of the "Ukrainian ethnos", which was to become the core of the future Ukrainian "socialist nation".

Initially, all territories with a predominance of Little Russians were included in the Ukrainian SSR, according to the tsarist census. The Taganrog department of the former Don region also entered there. Only in 1925, for economic reasons (attraction to Rostov-on-Don), it was transferred to the RSFSR.

Donetsk, formerly Yuzovka, was formed on the border of the Yekaterinoslav province and the Don region. He, like almost the whole of Donbass, except for some eastern regions, after all the alterations of the borders, remained in Ukraine. As well as Lugansk, which was part of Slavyanoserbsky uyezd of Yekaterinoslav province, where the census of 1897 counted 50.5% of Little Russians.

In all subsequent years, characterized by the undivided power of Stalin, the question of the national-territorial affiliation of Donbass did not arise in anyone in the Soviet leadership.

Thus, the border between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR was drawn by Stalin solely on the basis of his own concept, which put the ethno-linguistic feature at the forefront in determining the nation, while completely ignoring any socio-cultural and economic criteria. Doctrine has conquered practice.