Russia

Russia and the earlier Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) are among the societies with the largest number of ethnocultural groups in the modern world. The Soviets claimed more than 150 ethnic peoples, many with distinct languages, cultures, and territorial homelands. Immense size and the historical expansion of the Tsarist Empires account for the startling range of identifiable ethnic groups in modern Russia. Today, the number of labeled groups with distinct linguistic characteristics exceeds 90 and is said to account for 20% of the population. Many of these are remote northern and Asian peoples in sparsely populated regions. This entry discusses the recent history of ethnic relationships in the Soviet Union and present-day Russia, a nation with an estimated population of 141.7 million people in 2007.

The Transition from Communism

Education, science, military service, and professional placement during the Soviet period created sharply varying levels of integration. In the Soviet period, the [Page 1175]official political posture was that nationalisms were threatening to political unity and the pursuit of the revolution's goals, including socialist power. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin used mass deportations and ethnic repression on impulse. In reality, the communist system was unwilling or unable to confront Russian nationalism with its characteristic sense of political entitlement and ethnic arrogance.

Postcommunist Russia faced two immediate problems: Because Soviets had discredited ethnonational groups, many assumed that they should be a credible part of a postcommunist environment. In essence, if communists said they were bad, they must be good. This atmosphere, in a political environment where the public had to set about seeking a new set of political and cultural values, produced a default psychology that brought comfort to the Russian ethnic majority. Global patterns suggest that in the face of a collapsed value system, virulent nationalism often fills the void with its claims to natural identity and legitimacy premised on selective visions of the ethnic past. What passed for democratization in Russia and its emphasis on the wisdom of the majority also comforted ethnic Russians and disquieted non-Russians.

Ethnic group legitimacy continues to be an amorphous concept not expressly addressed in the political or cultural design of the new Russia. Political change brought nationalist groups into the new mainstream competitive environment for political groups. In this new, scrutinized political and cultural atmosphere, many groups found their ideas too extreme for the centrist-seeking Russian citizenry. Framing a meaningful place for ethnic identity somewhere short of emotionally charged nationalism remains a challenge for the system.