Lenin’s concept of world socialist revolution and international education of students in Soviet pedagogical high schools in the 1920s and 1930s

V.I. Lenin for many years developed Marx’s concept of world socialist revolution, particularly with regard to his formulation of. This concept underwent continuous refi nement, with adjustments made to align with the evolving political and economic landscape of Russia and other nations. The Leninist notion served as the foundation for the Bolshevik Party’s strategic approach. Following the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power in Russia, Lenin continued to refine and evolve his concept until 1922. However, the majority of the party and state leaders of the Soviet Union did not accept Lenin’s views on the rapidly changing events of 1918–1922, perceiving his theory as a defi nitive dogma. His concept of the transition of the world revolution into an economic competition between communist and capitalist systems was not appreciated during Lenin’s lifetime or after his death. The Soviet state leaders, having divested the scientific essence from the concept of world revolution, transformed it into a propaganda poster, “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”. This appeal served to unify the Soviet populace, particularly the youth, but lacked a political perspective. This is exemplifi ed by the international education of students in the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s. The internationalist ethos of these institutions was complemented by their practical involvement in the training of qualifi ed personnel for the USSR, a feat that can be largely attributed to the success of Soviet educators. However, as the global revolutionary movement began to wane in the second half of the 1920s, and the USSR transitioned towards independent socialist construction, the international dimension of the international education of students at pedagogical high schools gradually lost its signifi cance. The objective of this article is to examine the evolution of international education at pedagogical high schools in the USSR during the 1920s and 1930s. This st udy introduces a novel approach by making use of data from numerous newspaper publications of that period, as well as archival documents that facilitate the analysis of the primary directions of international education for Soviet students.