Did The Soviet Union's Communist Leaders Stifle All Expressions Of Ethnic Identity In Favour Of Class-based Identity?

The Soviet Union and its leaders had been previously seen as intrinsically against any expression of ethnic or national identity and preferring instead class consciousness by most historians. More recent historians, however, have examined the way in which the Soviet Union not only permitted the expression of ethnic identity, but in some cases even encouraged it.

A good example of this new approach is Albert Rieber, a professor of history at Central European University, who produced one such study in 2001 when he set out to uncover the way in which Joseph Stalin tried to reconcile his Georgian identity with his political position in Great Russia. According to Rieber's analysis, Stalin was never able to hide his ethnic identity, and one can argue that perhaps he never even wanted to.

Rieber examined Stalin's memoirs, writings, as well as the literary tradition and folklore of Georgia to determine that Stalin had difficulty balancing his two ethnic and national identities, in addition to his class identity. Rieber observed that a key aspect of Georgian culture and folklore was that of the perceived heroism and patriotism of social bandits and criminals, who were able to rise up from their oppressed peasant status and take control of their life by causing landlords-- and the wealthy in general-- much grief.

Rieber argued that Stalin saw himself as that quintessential Georgian bandit, which was so prevalent in the folklore of his native country. In fact, Georgian culture had left such a significant mark on Stalin, that in his youth he adopted the name "Koba," one of the most famous bandits in Georgian literature and even used this pseudonym when writing his memoirs and when signing letters.

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