Formation of Russian Nationalism and the Russian National Identity under Soviet Rule

Abstract

This article mainly argues that the Russian national identity and the modern form of Russian nationalism were formed during the Soviet period including many nationalistic motifs from the Tsarist period. The study covers the Soviet period beginning from the Lenin to the late Brezhnev years. The first part of the article will explore the transformation of the state's view from the descriptive Great Russian (velikorusskii narod) chauvinism to the acclaimed velikii russkii narod the emergence of the National Bolshevik ideology and the concept of Soviet patriotism. Furthermore, it will discuss how Russian nationalism was controlled, used, and incorporated into the official ideology of the state. In the following section, developments in Russian nationalism in the Brezhnev period will be analyzed. From this period, the rise of the dissident form of Russian nationalism, the thoughts of dissident nationalists, and the tolerance and support that the Soviet state showed to the National Bolsheviks will be discussed. From the Brezhnev era until the early 1990s, Russian nationalism developed on almost the same line.