Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia

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The Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia (

1. Equality and sovereignty of peoples of Russia
2. Right of peoples of Russia of a free self-determination, including secession and formation of a separate state
3. Abolition of all national and religious privileges and restrictions
4. Free development of national minorities and ethnographical groups populating the territory of Russia.

The meaning of the Declaration is still disputed in Russian historiography. In 1917 the Bolshevist thinking was still largely idealistic, dominated by vague ideas of "universal happiness". Also, at that moment Bolsheviks believed that the World revolution was imminent, so they did not care much about loss of territories. However, in the Western literature, it is often argued that in fact Lenin and Stalin agreed to capture mostly the territories they had no sovereignty over since Russia had lost them to Central Powers in 1915 and 1916. Many historians suggest that the purpose of the document was to limit the public dissent after Russia lost most of its western areas to the advancing German Empire and try to complicate the matters behind the front lines.

The declaration was an attempt to rally some ethnic non-Russians behind the Bolsheviks.

The following countries declared their independence soon after the Bolsheviks' declaration, establishing themselves as non-Communist states. Although the role the declaration played in their independence movements is doubtful, it eased Soviet Russia's recognition of their independence. Except for Finland, all of these areas were outside of Russian sovereignty following the Austro-German successes in the World War I and were officially ceded in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

• Finland (6 December 1917)
•  Lithuania (11 December 1917)
• Ukraine (autonomy 22 November 1917, independence 22 January 1918)
• Moldavia (autonomy 15 December 1917, independence 6 February 1918, joined Romania on 9 April 1918)
•  Estonia (April 22, 1918)
• 
  Belarus
  (25 March 1918)
• Poland (11 November 1918)
•  Latvia (18 November 1918)

(exact dates need correction)

These countries declared their independence, as Communist states, soon after the declaration:

•  Tannu Tuva (June 1918)

Several other independent republics were proclaimed but were short-lived:

• Transcaucasia (24 February 1918)
• Kuban
• Kazan
•  Kaluga
•  Ryazan
• 
  Bashkurdistan
•  Orenburg
• North Ingria

Later developments

Bolsheviks never formally rejected the idea of self-determination, but the Soviet Constitutions (of 1924, 1936 and 1977) limited the right of secession to the constituent republics only.

See also

• Universal Declaration on the Rights of Peoples

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Declaration of the Rights for the Peoples of Russia

Russian Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Декларация прав народов России