Abstract
<jats:p>The work is devoted to the discussions that unfolded in the 30s of the 20th century among the Russian diaspora, dedicated to the attitude of Russian refugees to the problem of choosing a position, in the context of the upcoming Great War against the Soviet Union. In 1934, the pages of the journal of the Republican-Democratic Association “Our Word” saw the development of major debates between representatives of left-liberal circles of the Russian diaspora on the issue of defending their Fatherland from external enemies, given that Russia was represented by the Bolshevik, Stalinist Soviet Union. The Russian diaspora categorically did not accept Stalin&#x27;s political practice. During the discussions, the position of P.N. Milyukov, a leading figure in the Russian liberal diaspora, clearly emerged. He saw the Soviet Union as threatened by an attack by the world&#x27;s greatest aggressors - Nazi Germany and Japan. He categorically rejected the theory and practice of Bolshevism and Stalinism, but he clearly stated that the Soviet authorities were pursuing a national foreign policy that every honest Russian, even one who had suffered under the Bolshevik regime, must support. Moreover, a patriot must rise to the defense of his Fatherland, despite his rejection of Stalin&#x27;s dictatorship. Any suggestion of a possible alliance with the country&#x27;s enemies to eliminate Soviet power was met with sharp rejection by P.N. Milyukov. Even A.I. Denikin&#x27;s proposal to overthrow Bolshevism and then defend the Motherland seemed, in P.N. Milyukov&#x27;s eyes, a complete utopia, capable only of harming the country and weakening its defense capability. He was no less vocal in his op-position to separatists of all stripes, especially Ukrainian nationalists who sought to split Russia in any form and who wanted to “enter Russia on enemy equipment”. Continuing this theme, P.N. Milyukov envisioned a future Russia within the borders of the USSR, but as a free federation of peoples. He rejected the possibility of transforming post-Soviet Russia into something resembling a confederation, as happened in 1991. Only a federal form of Russian government could prevent fratricidal wars between the peoples of the former USSR, as if anticipating the situation of the 2020s, wrote P.N. Milyukov.</jats:p>