Prison of peoples
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prison of peoples or prison of nations (Russian: тюрьма народов) is a phrase first used by Vladimir Lenin in 1914.[1][2][3] He applied it to Russia, describing the national policy of that time.[4] The idea of calling Russia a prison is based on Marquis de Custine's book La Russie en 1839.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2017) |
Engels had used the phrase.[5] It is also associated with Soviet historian Mikhail Pokrovsky's criticism of "Russia—prison of the peoples" and "Russia—international gendarmerie".[5][6]
The main meaning of the phrase was the general idea of the Russian Empire as a backward authoritarian state. This definition was also sometimes used in relation to other multinational states that suppressed the desire of peoples for self-determination (Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the USSR, Yugoslavia and others).[7][8]