СССР как «великая держава»: имперские нарративы и статус государства, 1920–1935

Quaestio Rossica. 2023. Т. 11. № 3. С. 1041–1056.

Ivanova M.

The article is devoted to the analysis of adaptation and resemantization of the “great power” concept in Soviet public discourse between 1920 and 1935. The actualization of the “great power” concept in the public discourse of this period was associated with the need to comprehend the USSR in the system of international relations, the system of “great powers”. After the First World War and the revolutionary events of the early 20th century, Russia was excluded from the European system of international relations, and the USSR had to fight for the recognition of the new state formation. In parallel, the new government had to defend its positions within the country. In addition, the new state was in a difficult relationship with the legacy of the Russian Empire. Denying numerous imperial attitudes at the ideological level, the USSR was forced to deal with old institutions, including the diplomatic and authoritative language of Imperial Russia. At the same time, new goals required revision of inconvenient intellectual constructs. The purpose of the article is to establish how the “great power” concept was rethought and appropriated by the Bolsheviks and the Soviet government after the 1917 revolution and the Civil War (1917–1922). The author identifies several main stages of rethinking the concept in public discourse and, on the basis of an analysis of the press, proves that the “great power” concept was only partially resemanticized. The term acquired new semantic connotations (primarily ideological), while retaining a significant part of the previous, pre-revolutionary attitudes. It was revealed that since the beginning of the 1920s there were attempts to assign the “great power” status to Soviet Russia. During this period, the great-power narrative was reactualized and stabilized. The main factor confirming the “great power” status is the country’s internal successes.

Keywords: международные отношения, international relations, история понятий, conceptual history, советская внешняя политика, Soviet foreign policy, great power, великая держава

Publication based on the results of: Regional Status in Russia in 18th – 20th centuries: Dynamics and Social Reflection (2022)