Lenin actually wrote a fair bit about it and it contains some of the most pronounced criticism expressed towards ‘the Georgian’. He felt the chauvinism of ‘Great’ Russia needed to be countered specifically by deferring to indigenous minorities across the former Russian Empire.

One of the things Lenin grappled with the most was the direct inheritance of the backwards and corrupt institutions of the Russian Empire. And probably more than that he did not want Stalin to inherit power, especially for his excessive chauvinism.