National Self-Determination: Proletarian or Liberal?

The Institute of World Politics

About the lecture: During World War I the idea of national self-determination came into its own. There were two principal proponents of this concept. First, Lenin advanced a theory of "proletarian" national self-determination to serve Communism; then, Wilson championed the liberal internationalist idea of national self-determination to support the cause of parliamentary democracy. Both ideas mattered in theory and practice because their advocates were winners; Wilson won World War I; and Lenin staged a successful Putzsch and prevailed in Russia's Civil War. The idea of national self-determination was a great gift to non-historical folk nationalist groups whose activists all clamored for their own states; and it became a bane of historic nations, and not only Great Powers. About the speaker: About the speaker: Dr. Chodakiewicz currently serves as a Professor of History at The Institute of World Politics, where he holds the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. He also leads IWP’s Center for Intermarium Studies. At IWP, Dr. Chodakiewicz teaches courses on Contemporary Politics and Diplomacy, Geography and Strategy, Mass Murder Prevention in Failed and Failing States, and Russian Politics and Foreign Policy. He was formerly an assistant professor of history of the Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at University of Virginia. He also served as a visiting professor of history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.