Talk:Russia (disambiguation)

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Contents 1 Afd 2 Disambiguating references to "Russia" 2.1 Some Examples 3 WP:DAB

[edit] Afd

Survived: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Russia (disambiguation). `'mikka (t) 00:26, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguating references to "Russia"

Before the fall of the Soviet Union, there where millions of written references in billions of printed copies referring to "Russias" other than the Russian Federation. It was common to refer to the Soviet Union simply as “Russia”. The distinction between Rus' and Russia, so carefully maintained the article on the etymology of Rus and derivatives was largely unknown outside academic circles. Thousands of these references are inherited by Wikipedia articles.

I believe, that for historical articles the reference should be to the “Russia” or Russian State of the time period. In some cases it may be advisable to replace Russia with the name of the corresponding article. In some cases it may be better to leave the visible link as “Russia” and disambiguate the hidden link to the appropriate article. (This comment naturally applies to all countries with long histories. See for example Saxony (disambiguation))

Disambiguating may result in a situation where the user presses the link labeled “Russia” and arrives at Novgorod Republic without really knowing why he got there. A remedy could be labeling the disambiguated page with the template {{Previously|Russia}}, rendered as something like

The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. For other uses, see Russia (disambiguation)

[edit] Some Examples

• Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile appeared on DYK today. The article states ”that the mother of St. Margaret was of Russian royal blood”. I have disambiguated this to Rus' (people).
• The article on Viborg blast stated that ”Vyborg Castle when it was besieged by Russians”. I have disambiguated this to Muscovy.

-- Petri Krohn 09:06, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WP:DAB

Petri, your obstinate edits are in contradiction of WP:DAB. There is no ambiguity between Russia and Rugians. Noone would search for Novgorod Republic under Russia. You've been told as much on AfD. Removal of such entries was the reason why the article escaped deletion. You should check Italy (disambiguation) to see how disambiguation pages are usually done. By the way, there is no Germany (disambiguation), although its this country's name that needs the heaviest disambiguation efforts (following your logic). --Ghirla ^-трёп- 09:26, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

In your own article from friday, Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile you have translated Rugorum as Russia, (or was it René Jetté?) A use of the word "Russia" in the English language can thus be a reference to Rugians in the original source. -- Petri Krohn 19:37, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

I asked the opinion of wikipedians well versed in WP policies on WP:VPP. Here's the answer: One can create something like "list of Russian states throughout history". It could be linked to from the DAB page but even that is not really part of the intended use of DAB pages. Since your efforts do not conform to WP guidelines, your list of historical Russian states will be split from the disambiguation page. --Ghirla ^-трёп- 06:23, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

I did notice that you where seeking support elsewhere, but I have not had the time to responde there. I do contest your conclusions and will respond in time. -- Petri Krohn 09:33, 11 October 2006 (UTC)