Introduction

Context:

Relations between national groups within the Soviet Union were complicated from the nation’s conception, a challenge inherited from the former Russian Empire.
Early nationality policies under Lenin such as korenizatsiya promised a utopian vision for relations between peoples within the Soviet Union, but this initial push for unity was quickly stifled by Stalin’s paranoia.

Years of relocations, imprisonments and executions took their toll on several national groups, particularly within the Union’s borderlands, and set a precedent of unequal treatment for these individuals.
By the 1980s, following decades of mismanagement and repression, many national groups began to reassert claims to independence or, at the very least, autonomy.
The ascension of Gorbachev to power in 1985 only accelerated this process, allowing various national groups within the Soviet Union to finally make their bids for independence in 1991.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse