74 SOCIAL SCIENTIST of direct suppression of all languages other than Russian. It was the only language used in the law-courts, in administration and as the medium of instruction in the few schools that existed. The racist theory, i.e., the theory of the superiority of the white races propagated by the imperialist circles, dominated the outlook of the Tsarist government. The non-Russian nationalities were treated as inferior beings. This was all the more so in the case of the Asian nationalities. Their right to exist as distinct linguistic-cultural entities was not recognised. The Tsarist government crushed all attempts to develop non-Russian languages. It was prohibited to publish books in any one of the national languages. Not content with this cruel policy of exploitation and suppression the Tsarist government sought to divert the anger of the oppressed peoples and to prevent co-operation between the different nationalities. The government deliberately fomented national enmity and instigated national strife in every possible way. Very vividly he describes the experience in the history of the international communist movement—how the toiling millions of workers and those of the oppressed nationalities merged in one great revolutionary upsurge, how they waged a joint struggle for national freedom and socialism under the leadership of Lenin and the Bolshevik Party in the Great October Socialist Revolution which swept away the exploiting oppressing classes, and paved the way for a new life for all oppressed nationalities, the peasantry and working class. This was a new era in the history of humanity. ^ Among the various lessons to be learnt from the Great October Socialist Revolution and the subsequent period of socialist construction under Lenin and Stalin is the way in which they have resolved the national question in a multinational state. Based on the Marxist principle "no nation can be free if it oppresses other nations", Lenin concretely assessed and enriched the national and colonial question in the epoch of imperialism and eve of world socialist revolution. His writings during the pre-revolutionary period 1913-1916 were devoted to this question. He had to combat Great Russian nationalism, the opportunism of Social Democratic parties in the imperialist countries as well as the erroneous conception among Marxists like Rosa Luxembourg on the issue. Investigating the national question within definite historical limits Lenin insisted that the Marxist presentation of the national question "must postulate the division of nations into oppressor and oppressed as basic, significant and inevitable under imperialism." Defining the rights of nations to self determination as a right to free political separation from the oppressor nation he declared that "the Social Democrats of the oppressor nations must demand the oppressed nations must have the right of secession55. Then only, he maintained, there would be recognition of equal rights of nations and of the international solidarity of the working class. The proletarian party was^