In this book, the author argues that the Soviet nationalities problem is defined by the nature of the relationship between state and society in the pre- and post-1917 eras, examining the legacy of Imperial Russia in current Soviet politics.

Acknowledgments -- 1 The Imperial Legacy and the Soviet Nationalities Problem /Roman Szporluk -- 2 Nationality Elites and Political Change in the Soviet Union /Steven L. Burg -- 3 Nationalities and the Soviet Economy /Gertrude E. Schroeder -- 4 Nationalities and the Soviet Military /Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone -- 5 Some Factors in the Linguistic and Ethnic Russification of Soviet Nationalities: Is Everyone Becoming Russian? /Barbara A. Anderson and Brian D. Silver -- 6 Readers, Writers, and Republics: The Structural Basis of Non-Russian Literary Politics /Paul A. Goble -- 7 Nationalities and Soviet Religious Policies /Bohdan R. Bociurkiw -- 8 Ukraine, Belorussia, and Moldavia: Imperial Integration, Russification, and the Struggle for National Survival /Roman Solchanyk -- 9 The Baltic Republics: Stagnation and Strivings for Sovereignty /Romuald J. Misiunas -- 10 Transcaucasia: Cultural Cohesion and Ethnic Revival in a Multinational Society /Ronald Grigor Suny -- 11 Central Asia: The Reformers Challenge Traditional Society /Martha Brill Olcott -- 12 Russian Nationalism and Soviet Politics /Dina Rome Spechler -- 13 Nationalism and Reform in Soviet Politics /Mark Beissinger and Lubomyr Hajda -- Index.