Talk:European Russia

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[edit] Explaining the term

Andrew Alexander, are you trying to whitewash Russian history and make it look like this wasn't an empire but a friendly place where all nations were treated like VIPs? The official 1897 census which is quoted in "Ukrainian language" used the term "European Russia" (Jevropejska Rossija) to refer to all the traditional East Slavic lands within the empire. By removing the explanation, you are pretending that this "big brother" attitude (to be kind) didn't exist, implying that achieving Ukrainian self-identity and national status hasn't been a struggle. Get it? Those terms aren't being "revived"; this is a reference. It's a historic fact with very important implications.

Finally, you're removing a valuable reference. When the census was quoted there, the first thing I did was click on the link here to confirm exactly what was meant by "European Russia" in that context. Of course, there was nothing relevant, and I had to use other sources to confirm, but if I had just relied on this article as it stood I wouldn't have realized that Ukraine and Belarus were being tossed in with Russia by that census. —Michael Z. 2006-01-30 04:43 Z

I just thought that that sentence is irrelevant to this article. The reason is, no one currently includes Prussia in "East Germany", Vladivostok in "North-East China", Russia in "West Golden Horde", etc. At least provide some reference for that sentence (and what about Finland, Poland, Moldova? Were they not "European Russia" too?). Best, move it into "History of Russia" or some more relevant article.--Andrew Alexander 04:55, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

The reference is the source of the 1897 census data, which I assume quotes the original census, and divides up the Empire into Европейская Россия, Привислинские губернии, Кавказ, Сибирь, and Средняя Азия. If it includes more parts, they should be mentioned too; maybe I incorrectly assumed that the scope of "Rossija" referred to the ethnic homeland of "all Russians". [1]

This is a case where the exact term "European Russia" had a different meaning than one might expect in its historical Russian context, and was potentially confusing if quoted in another article, so an explanation here would be warranted (in contrast to the examples you present). —Michael Z. 2006-01-30 06:12 Z

[edit] "Asian Russia" (?)

This page starts out: "European Russia refer to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe."
MY QUERY: What is the accepted English-language term for the eastern areas? -- Thanks, Deborahjay 09:46, 21 February 2007 (UTC)