1 National Minorities in Post-revolutionary and Soviet Russia (1917-1932). Theoretical Frameworks and Institutional Arrangements Sara Barbieri, Department of Political and Social Sciences - DSPS University of Bologna 1. Subject of the analysis Aim of this work is to disĐuss the Bolsheǀik’s strategy towards the MiŶoƌities’ pƌoďleŵ fƌoŵ ďoth a theoretical and institutional point of view. In particular, the study deals with the way how national minorities have been actually categorized ad included into the Soviet Political system in the afterwards of the October Revolution and during 1920s. Two major institutions are primarily discussed: the People’s Coŵŵissaƌiat foƌ NatioŶalities affaiƌs (Narkomnats) and the People’s Coŵŵissaƌiat foƌ Education (Narkompros). The decision to focus the analysis on these two organs stems from the fact that the first was the institution charged with the overall management of nationalities, and that education and cultural development represented a clear priority in the overall Bolshevik strategy towards national minorities. The engagement of national minorities in the process of formation of the Soviet system, and in the framework of the unfolding Civil War where the allegiance of ethnic minorities sometimes became a subject of contestatioŶ, ǁas a ŵajoƌ pƌioƌitLJ iŶ the ƌeǀolutioŶaƌies’ ageŶda foƌ soĐial aŶd politiĐal transformation. The Communist Party played a major role in overcoming the cultural backwardness of some of the nationalities located and relocated within the borders of the Russian Republic (the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic or RSFSR) by encouraging solidarity and cohesion among them, and the People’s Coŵŵissaƌiat foƌ NatioŶalities Affaiƌs aŶd the People’s Coŵŵissaƌiat foƌ EduĐatioŶ ǁeƌe the two institutions principally involved in this process. The evolution of the main organs charged with the management of national minorities also coincided with some of the major milestones in early Soviet history. OƌigiŶallLJ estaďlished iŶ Noǀeŵďeƌ ϭ9ϭ7, the People’s Coŵŵissaƌiat for Nationalities Affairs went through a major structural reorganization in 1921, at which time a specific Department for National Minorities was also created. In December 1922 a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed encompassing the RSFSR, formalized and enlarged with the promulgation of the Soviet Constitution on Ϯϭ JaŶuaƌLJ ϭ9Ϯ4. The Bolsheǀiks’ ƌuliŶg edžeĐutiǀe ďodLJ, the CouŶĐil foƌ People’s Coŵŵissaƌs (Sovnarkom), was now empowered at the all-Union level, while the management of the nationalities question became the responsibility of the Department for Nationalities at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). Within this framework a special Central Committee for Work in the National Oblasts and among National Minorities was brought into being. The Narkompros went through very similar stages. In 1918 the management of national minorities was made the responsibility of the Department for the Education of National Minorities, itself divided into 20 national sub-departments. In 1921, a first general reorganization of the Department for the Education of National Minorities mirrored the recalled ĐhaŶges ǁithiŶ the People’s Coŵŵissariat for Nationalities Affairs. A second general reorganization of the organ in charge with national minorities at Narkompros took place in 1924 with the creation of a Central Council for the Education of RSFSR National Minorities at the Kollegiya of Narkompros. A third and final reorganization occurred in 1929, when the latter organs was substituted by the Committee for the Education of RSFSR National Minorities at the Kollegiya of Narkompros (Komnats). The evolution of the organs charged with responsibility for national minorities coincided in particular with the radicalization of the process of indigenization (korenizaciya) in the management of the nationalities question in the second half of 1920s. When dealing with national minorities in the Russian context, center-periphery relations are of particular importance. The complex demographic composition of Russia, together with the vast size of the ĐouŶtƌLJ, help to edžplaiŶ the Bolsheǀiks’ deteƌŵiŶatioŶ to estaďlish a stƌoŶg Ŷet of ƌelatioŶships