“The illiterate people are out of politics„: Elimination of illiteracy and the national minorities of the USSR

Abstract

Immediately after the October Revolution, in addition to the military front (against the enemies of the Bolshevik power) and the economic front (against famine and economic collapse), a third front was opened: the struggle for general literacy. Even though the attempt of the Soviet power to overcome illiteracy in the country within a short period of time was not successful, the network of literacy centers was being steadily expanded and more and more “instructors„ were being trained. The situation among German and other national minorities was far from ideal, even though the minorities had been traditionally among the most culturally advanced and most literate part of the populations in the former Russian empire. The facts show that while the Authorities focused on culture and education levels of «backward» nationalities rising, the number of illiterates among the “culturally-developed„ nationalities was steadily increasing. Even at the beginning of the 1930s the sovetization of the national minorities` educational institutions was still far from being implemented into practice. That was due to the fact that the Commissariats for Education from the autonomous Republics did no t coordinate their efforts and ignored cultural differentiations. Number of highly qualified and loyal teachers from different national minorities backgrounds was not enough, it was almost impossible to combine native language schools system and the spirit of “Soviet pedagogy„.