Prison of peoples

Prison of peoples or prison of nations (Russian: тюрьма народов) is a phrase popularized by Vladimir Lenin in 1914. He applied it to Russia, describing the national policy of that time. According to the historian K.V. Dushenko, Lenin was probably inspired by Ukrainian and Polish journalism of the early 20th century.

Engels had used the phrase in his writing in related context. It is also associated with Soviet historian Mikhail Pokrovsky's criticism of "Russia—prison of the peoples" and "Russia—international gendarmerie".

The main meaning of the phrase was the general idea of the Russian Empire as a backward authoritarian state. This definition was also sometimes used in relation to other multinational states that suppressed the desire of peoples for self-determination (Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and others).