Russian nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is incomplete and may require expansion and/or cleanup. Please improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Russian nationalism is a form of nationalism that has developed since the beginning of the Russian nation in the Kievan Rus. Russian nationalism has links to Pan-Slavism and Soviet expansionism pursued under Joseph Stalin. In Russia today the term "nationalist" is often used to describe far-right nationalists and neo-fascists. There are a number of individuals and organizations in Russia consisting of both moderate and radical nationalists in Russia today.
[edit] Expansion of Russia and the beginning of nationalism
After the Kievan Rus ended, the powerful successor state, the Tsardom of Russia massively expanded the Russian state from 1300 to 1796, especially under the rule of Ivan IV (a.k.a. "Ivan the Terrible"). By the 1800s, Russia controlled all of the future Soviet republics as well as Poland, Finland, and Alaska. The invasion of Russia by Napoleonic France created nationalist sentiment in Russia and was called the "Patriotic War", which resulted in Russia defeating France as French troops could not hold their position in the extremely cold winter.
As relations between the public and the Tsar's grew worse with the failure of Russia to adapt to the Industrial Revolution and the vast gap of wealth between the rich elite and the mass poor, loyalty to the Russian government declined. Multiple revolutions occurred in Russia in the early 1900s in opposition to the Tsars. In 1914, attitudes briefly changed when Russia went to war with Austria-Hungary over the fate of an ally of Russia, Serbia. The war escalated as Germany supported Austria-Hungary and France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, thus beginning the Great War, later known as World War I. Pan-Slavism had a key role in Russia's entry into World War I, for Russia's enemy Austria-Hungary contained vast minority groups, including large numbers of Slavs such as Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Slavic Muslims. If Russia were to destroy Austria-Hungary in a Slavic alliance with Serbia, Russia would become a dominant power in Europe.
However as the war effort failed on the eastern front, revolutionary activities against the government continued. This culminated in the overthrow of the Tsars and the establishment of a Communist regime led by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. With the Tsar Nicholas overthrown, new nationalism in Russia was focused on overthrowing the Bolsheviks in a counter-revolution. This was attempted during the civil war in which the communist Red Army faced attacks from the conservative anti-Communist forces of the White Army. The communist regime of Lenin had angered nationalists by conceding huge amounts of Russian territory to Germany in 1918, and this helped fuel the conservative-nationalist cause. However the conservative faction was defeated by the Bolsheviks and communism became entrenched in Russia.
[edit] "Soviet Nation"
The concept of Soviet nationalism evolved during Communist rule of the RSFSR and later during World War II. After World War I, Russia lost much of its Baltic territory to the new nations of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania. Shortly after the end of the civil war between communists and reactionaries, the new Soviet Russia faced war with newly independent Poland which had formerly been a part of the Russian Empire. The Polish forces made major gains against Russia, gaining significant portions of Belarussian and Ukrainian territory, and once again the communist regime was forced to make compromise. In World War II during the Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany the war became known as the Great Patriotic War, harkening back to the previous use of the term in the Napoleonic Wars. and Soviet propaganda called for Soviet citizens to defend the "Motherland", a matrilineal term used to describe Russia in the past. Further, under Stalin, the Soviet Union abandoned its international anthem and adopted a national anthem which citizens of the Soviet Union could identify with.
[edit] Modern Russian Nationalism
As economic difficulties and continued social hardship plagued the Soviet Union in the 1980s and early 1990s, nationalism amongst the ethnic groups within the Soviet Union erupted. In the RSFSR, a right-wing nationalist bloc led by Boris Yeltsin called for an end to the Soviet Union and Communism and promised the creation of a democratic Russia. In 1991, the Soviet Union fell apart and a democratic Russian state was formed. However economic and political problems did not cease, and Russia soon found itself at war with Georgia and in civil war with ethnic separatists in Chechnya. Yeltsin became extremely unpopular. After Yeltsin stepped down as Russian President, its new and current President, Vladimir Putin rose to power. Under Putin, the Russian government has attempted to consolidate Russia with a nationalist agenda which includes hardline opposition to Chechnyan independence, and supporting pro-Russian candidates in former Soviet republics such as Belarus and Ukraine. In Belarus the pro-Russian regime has been commencing negotiations with the government of Vladimir Putin to establish a new political and economic union with Russia.
Along with moderate nationalism in Russia today, there is an increasing number of xenophobic nationalist movements including neo-Nazi movements which have engaged in numbers of hate crimes against minorities. These movements still represent only a small, but growing, segment of Russian politics.
