Russian nationalism (Russian:Русский национализм) is a form ofnationalism that promotesRussiancultural identity and unity.[citation needed] Russian nationalism first rose to prominence as aPan-Slavic enterprise during the 19th centuryRussian Empire, and was repressed during the earlyBolshevik rule. Russian nationalism was briefly revived through the policies ofJoseph Stalin during and after theSecond World War, which shared many resemblances with the worldview of earlyEurasianist ideologues.[1]
The definition of Russian national identity within Russian nationalism has been characterized in different ways. One characterisation, based onethnicity, asserts that the Russian nation is constituted byethnic Russians, while another, theAll-Russian nation, which developed in theRussian Empire, views Russians as having three sub-national groups within it, includingGreat Russians (those commonly identified as ethnic Russians today),Little Russians (Ukrainians), and White Russians (Belarusians). In the Eurasianist perspective, Russia is a distinctive civilization separate from both Europe and Asia, and includes ethnic non-Russians ofTurkic and otherAsiatic cultures.
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The Russian motto "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality" was coined by CountSergey Uvarov and it was adopted as the official ideology byEmperorNicholas I.[2] Three components of Uvarov's triad were:
Many works concerningRussian history,mythology andfairy tales appeared. Operas byNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,Mikhail Glinka andAlexander Borodin; paintings byViktor Vasnetsov,Ivan Bilibin andIlya Repin; and poems byNikolay Nekrasov,Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, among others, are considered[by whom?] masterpieces of Russianromantic nationalism.
Pan-Slavism and theSlavophile movement of the 19th century, led by such figures asAleksey Khomyakov,Sergey Aksakov, andIvan Kireyevsky drew a line between Western Europe and Russia, emphasizing Russia as a dominant regional power as well as spiritual unity among Slavs in their Orthodox religion, of which the Russian autocratic regime was the ultimate expression. However, their movement was suppressed byTsar Nicholas I, a law and order royalist, who surveilled and suppressed the Slavophiles. The movement was revived in the 1870s byKonstantin Leontiev andNikolay Danilevsky.[4]
In the beginning of 20th century, new nationalist and rightist organizations and parties emerged in Russia, such as theRussian Assembly, theUnion of the Russian People, theUnion of Archangel Michael ("Black Hundreds") and others.
Under the outlook ofinternational communism that was especially strong at the time,Vladimir Lenin separated patriotism into what he defined asproletarian, socialist patriotism frombourgeois nationalism.[5] Lenin promoted the right of all nations toself-determination and the right to unity of all workers within nations, but he also condemnedchauvinism and claimed there were both justified and unjustified feelings of national pride.[6] Lenin explicitly denounced conventional Russian nationalism as "Great Russian chauvinism", and his government sought to accommodate the country's multiple ethnic groups by creating republics and sub-republic units to provide non-Russian ethnic groups with autonomy and protection from Russian domination.[7] Lenin also sought to balance the ethnic representation of leadership of the country by promoting non-Russian officials in theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union to counter the large presence of Russians in the Party.[7] However, even during this early period of Soviet history, the Soviet government appealed to Russian nationalism when it needed support - especially on the Soviet borderlands in the Soviet Union's early years.[7]
Since Russian patriotism served as a legitimizing prop of old order, Bolshevik leaders were anxious to suppress its manifestations and ensure its eventual extinction. They officially discouraged Russian nationalism and remnants of Imperial patriotism, such as the wearing of military awards received before the Civil War. Some of their followers disagreed; in non-Russian territories, Bolshevik power was often regarded as renewed Russian imperialism during 1919 to 1921. In 1922, the Soviet Union was formed with its members combined, but Russia was the largest and most populous member. After 1923, following Lenin's ideas, a policy ofkorenizatsiya, which provided government support for non-Russian culture and languages within the non-Russian republics, was adopted.[8] However, this policy was not strictly enforced due to domination of Russians in Soviet Union.[9][10]: 394 [11]: 24 This domination had been formally criticized in the tsarist empire by Lenin and others asGreat Russian chauvinism.[12][10]: 8 Thomas Winderl wrote "The USSR became in a certain sense more aprison-house of nations than the old Empire had ever been. [...] The Russian-dominated center established an inequitable relationship with the ethnic groups it voluntarily helped to construct."[12] Various scholars focused on the nationalist features that already existed during the Leninist period.[12]: 43 : 48 [13][11]: 24 Korenizatsiya's multinational construction weakened during Stalin's rule. Stalin's policies established a clear shift to Russian nationalism, starting from the idea that Russians were "first among equals" in the Soviet Union, escalating through the "nationalities deportations".[10]: 453 [14] According to scholar Jon K. Chang, the Bolsheviks "never made a clean break from Tsarist-era nationalist, populist and primordialist beliefs".[14]: 7 Russian historian Andrei Savin stated that Stalin's policy shifted away from internationalism towardsNational Bolshevism in the 1930s. In a marked change from elimination of the class enemies, the nationality-based repressions declared entire ethnicities counter-revolutionary enemies, although "class dogmas" declaring targeted nationalities to be ideologically opposed to the Soviets were usually added.[15]
Stalin reversed much of his predecessor's previous internationalist policies, signing orders for theexiling multiple distinct ethnic-linguistic groups which were branded as "traitors", including theBalkars,Crimean Tatars,Chechens,Ingush (seeDeportation of the Chechens and Ingush),Karachays,Kalmyks,Koreans, andMeskhetian Turks, who were collectively deported to Siberia or Central Asia, where they were legally designated as "special settlers", which officially meant that they weresecond-class citizens with few rights and they were also confined within a small perimeter.[16][page needed][14] Various historians see Stalin's deportations of minority and diaspora nationalities as evidence of the Russian nationalism of the Soviet state under Stalin.[16][page needed][10][page needed][17]: 143 Chang wrote that theSoviet deportations of Koreans (and other diaspora,deported peoples such as Germans, Finns, Greeks and many others) illustrated the fact that in whole, essentialized views ofrace, that is,primordialism was carried over from the Russian nationalism of theTsarist era. These Soviet tropes and biases produced and converted the Koreans (and the Chinese) into a decidedly, un-Marxist Soviet "yellow peril". The existence ofracism lay in the fact that others could occasionally be seen or judged in accordance with a class line or they could be seen or judged on an individual basis but the Koreans could not.[14]: 32–34 Norman M. Naimark believed that the Stalinist "nationalities deportations" were forms of national-cultural genocide. The deportations at the very least changed the cultures, way of life and world views of the deported peoples as the majority were sent to Soviet Central Asia and Siberia.[18] According to historianJeremy Smith, "As long as Stalin was alive... nationality policy was subject to arbitrary swings. The most disturbing feature of this period was the growth ofofficial Anti-Semitism" including the campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans". Smith observed that "Speeches and newspaper articles raised the spectre of an international Jewish conspiracy to overthrow Soviet power" leading to thepurges of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee and theDoctors' plot which was associated with the persecution of Jewish Moscow doctors in planned show trials. If Stalin had not died when he did, the alleged Doctors' plot would have led to the deportation of Jews to Siberia. Meanwhile, the defense of the country during World War II had led to the emergence of a new wave of national pride in the non-Russian republics which led to purges in those republics.[17]: 143–145
According toEvgeny Dobrenko, "Late Stalinism" after World War II was the transformation of Soviet society away from Marxism to demonize the idea ofcosmopolitanism. He argued that Soviet actions up to 1945 could still in some way be explained by Leninist internationalism, but that the Soviet Union was turned into a Russian nationalist entity during the postwar years. Through a widespread study of Soviet literature, he found a vast increase in nationalist themes, cultural puritanism, and paranoia in publications during this eight year period making "Stalinism the heart of Sovietness" well after Stalin's death.[19]: 9–14 [20] Historian David Brandenberger contrasts russocentrism characteristic of this era with Russian nationalism. In his view, ethnic pride and promoted sense of Russian national identity didn't cross the threshold of nationalism as "the party hierarchy never endorsed the idea of Russian self-determination or separatism and vigorously suppressed all those who did, consciously drawing a line between the positive phenomenon of national identity formation and the malignancy of full-blown nationalist ambitions." To define the "pragmatic" combination of Russian national identity promotion in Marxist–Leninist propaganda and "symbolically abandoned" earlier proletarian internationalism, Brandenberger describes Stalin's regime with the term "National Bolshevism".[21]: 2, 6
The creation of aninternational communist state under control of the workers was perceived by some as accomplishment of Russian nationalistic dreams.[22] PoetPavel Kogan described his feelings of the Soviet patriotism just beforeWorld War II:[23]
I am a patriot. I love Russian air and Russian soil.
But we will reach the Ganges River,
and we will die in fights,
to make our Motherland shine
from Japan to England
According toNikolai Berdyaev:
The Russian people did not achieve their ancient dream ofMoscow, the Third Rome. The ecclesiastical schism of the 17th century revealed that the Muscovite tsardom is not the Third Rome... The messianic idea of the Russian people assumed either an apocalyptic form or a revolutionary; and then there occurred an amazing event in the destiny of the Russian people. Instead of the Third Rome in Russia, theThird International was achieved, and many of the features of the Third Rome pass over to the Third International. The Third International is also a holy empire, and it also is founded on an orthodox faith. The Third International is not international, but a Russian national idea.[24]
In 1944, the Soviet Union abandoned itscommunist anthemThe Internationale and adopted anew national anthem conveying a Russian-centered national pride in its first stanza, "An unbreakable union of free republics,Great Russia has sealed forever."[25][26]
Although Khrushchev had risen up during Stalinism, his speechOn the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences andde-Stalinization signified a retreat from official anti-Semitism and Great Russian Chauvinism. Most, though not all nationalities deported by Stalin were allowed to return during Khrushchev, and the Soviet Union to a degree, resumed a policy of cultivating local national developments.[11]: 46 Among the nationalities not allowed to return were Koreans[16] andCrimean Tatars.[17]: 162 The Kremlin during Khrushchev, generally favoring Russification overall, would attempt several variations of nationalities policy, favoringkorenizatsiya (indigenization) in Central Asia without extending privileges to Russians. In Latvia however, regional communist elites tried to reinstate localkorenizatsiya 1957-1959, but Khrushchev cracked down on these efforts, exilingEduards Berklavs, and extended privileges to Russians in Latvia.[27] Nonetheless, during Khrushchev's relatively more tolerant administration, Russian nationalism emerged as a slightly oppositional phenomenon within the Soviet elites.Alexander Shelepin, a Communist Party hardliner and KGB chairman, called for a return to Stalinism and policies more in line with Russian cultural nationalism, as did conservative writers likeSergey Vikulov. TheKomsomol leadership also hosted several prominent nationalists such asSergei Pavlovich Pavlov, an ally of Shelepin, while theMolodaya Gvardiya published numerous neo-Stalinist and nationalist works.[11]: 52–53
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Many nationalist movements, both radical and moderate, have arisen after thedissolution of the Soviet Union. One of the oldest and most popular isVladimir Zhirinovsky'sright-wing populistLiberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union and thenLiberal Democratic Party of Russia, which had been a member of theState Duma since its creation in 1993.Rodina was a popularleft-wing nationalist party underDmitry Rogozin, which eventually abandoned its nationalist ideology and merged with the larger Russian socialist nationalist partyA Just Russia.[citation needed]
One of the more radical,ultranationalist movements wasRussian National Unity, a far-right group that organised paramilitary brigades of its younger members before it was banned in 1999.[28][29] Before its breakup in late 2000 the Russian National Unity was estimated to have had approximately 20,000 to 25,000 members.[30] Others includeBattle Organization of Russian Nationalists which was involved in the murder ofStanislav Markelov,[31] the neo-monarchistPamyat, theUnion of Orthodox Banner-Bearers, and theMovement Against Illegal Immigration, which revived the slogan "Russia for Russians." These parties organised an annual rally called theRussian March.[citation needed]
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The Kremlin conducted a campaign against radical nationalists in the 2010s, and as a result, many of them are currently imprisoned, according to a Russian political scientist and a senior visiting fellow at theGeorge Washington University Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian StudiesMaria Lipman.[32] At the same time,Eurasianism has emerged as the dominant nationalist narrative inPutinist Russia.[citation needed] In a poll conducted byLevada Center in 2021, 64% of Russian citizens identify Russia as a non-European country; while only 29% regarded Russia to be part of Europe.[33]
Sociologist Marcel Van Herpen wrote thatUnited Russia increasingly relied on Russian nationalism for support following the2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine.[34] Nationalist political partyRodina cultivated ties withEurosceptic, far-right andfar-left political movements, supporting them financially and inviting them toEurasian conferences in Crimea and Saint Petersburg.[35]
However, the Kremlin scaled nationalism down out of fears that prominent figures such asIgor Girkin began to act independently, following a brief period of stirring activism that resulted in Russian men volunteering to fight inDonbas in 2014 and 2015, according to Lipman. In Lipman's view, the Kremlin's aim is to prevent emotions that "might get out of control and motivate people to act independently".[32]
Academics Robert Horvath andAnton Shekhovtsov described how the Kremlin uses far-right groups to promote Russian nationalist or anti-western views in Russia and abroad. According to Horvath, the Kremlin cultivated neo-Nazis who reject democratic institutions and imposed restrictions on mainstream nationalists who may support free elections.[36][37](See alsoPutinism § Relation to far-right.)
In November 2018, Vladimir Putin described himself as "the most effective nationalist", explaining that Russia is a multiethnic and multireligious state and preserving it as such serves the interests of the ethnic Russians. He remarked that Russian ethnicity didn't exist at some point and it was formed by multipleSlavic tribes.[38]
According toMichael Hirsh, a senior correspondent atForeign Policy:
Graham and other Russia experts said it is a mistake to view Putin merely as an angry formerKGBapparatchik upset at thefall of the Soviet Union andNATO’s encroachment after theCold War, as he is often portrayed by Western commentators. Putin, himself, made this clear in his Feb. 21 speech, when he disavowed the Soviet legacy, inveighing against the mistakes made by former leadersVladimir Lenin andJoseph Stalin to grant Ukraine even partial autonomy. ... Putin is rather a messianic Russian nationalist andEurasianist whose constant invocation ofhistory going back toKievan Rus, however specious, is the best explanation for his view that Ukraine must be part of Russia’s sphere of influence, experts say. Inhis essay last July, Putin even suggested that the formation of a separate, democratic Ukrainian nation “is comparable in its consequences to the use ofweapons of mass destruction against us.”[39]
Putin's views evolved over time. In his speech on 18 June 2004 at the international conference"Eurasian Integration: Trends of Modern Development and Challenges of Globalization", Putin said about the problems hindering integration: "I would say that these problems can be formulated very simply. This is great-power chauvinism, this is nationalism, this is the personal ambitions of those on whom political decisions depend, and, finally, this is just stupidity, ordinary cavemen's stupidity".[40]
Since around 2014, the Putin regime has adopted Russian nationalism and great-power chauvinism as its main policy.[42][43] In July 2021, Putin published an essay titledOn the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, in which he states that Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians should be in oneAll-Russian nation as a part of theRussian world and are "one people" whom "forces that have always sought to undermine our unity" wanted to "divide and rule".[44]
In 2020Russian Constitution went through a significant reform which, among other changes, added a notion of Russians being "state-forming nation" of the Russian Federation, gaining a dominating role over other ethnic groups.[45]
Ina speech on 21 February 2022, following the deployment of Russian troops in theDonetsk andLuhansk People's Republics,[46] Putin made a number of claims about Ukrainian and Soviet history, including stating that modern Ukraine was created by theBolsheviks in 1917 as part of a communistappeasement of nationalism of ethnic minorities in the formerRussian Empire, specifically blamingVladimir Lenin for "detaching Ukraine from Russia".[47] Putin spoke of the "historic, strategic mistakes" that were made when in 1991 the USSR "granted sovereignty" to otherSoviet republics on "historically Russian land" and called the entire episode "truly fatal".[48] He described Ukraine as being turned into the "anti-Russia" by the West.[49]
In his speech in November 2023, Putin claimed that theMongol-Tatar yoke resulting from theMongol invasion of Kievan Rus' was better for the Russian people than Western domination, saying: “Alexander Nevsky received ajarlyk [permission] from the khans of theGolden Horde to rule as a prince, primarily so that he could effectively resist the invasion of the West." According to Putin, the decision to submit to theTatar khans preserved "the Russian people - and later all the peoples living on the territory of our country."[50]
Extremist nationalism in Russia is used in reference to manyfar-right and a fewfar-leftultra-nationalist movements and organizations. In Russia, the termnationalism is frequently used in reference to extremist nationalism. However, it is frequently conflated with "fascism" in Russia. While the meaning of this terminology does not exactly match the formaldefinitions of fascism, the common denominator ischauvinism. In all other respects, the positions vary over a wide spectrum. Some movements hold a political position in which they believe that thestate must be an instrument of nationalism (such as theNational Bolshevik Party, headed byEduard Limonov), while others (for example,Russian National Unity) promote the use ofvigilantist tactics against the perceived "enemies of Russia" without participating in politics.[citation needed]
In the 1990s and the early 2000s ultranationalist/xenophobic movement was represented byneo-Nazi skinheads, Orthodox–Christian nationalists and national-Imperial forces such asLiberal Democratic Party of Russia headed byVladimir Zhirinovsky.[51]
In 1997, the Moscow Anti-Fascist Center estimated that 40 (nationalist) extremist groups were operating in Russia.[52] The same source reported 35 extremist newspapers, the largest among these beingZavtra. In spite of repression by governmental authorities, a far-right extremist movement has established itself in Russia.[53]
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, theAryan myth has gained publicity in Russia. Numerous series of collections of works by popularizers of the Aryan idea are published (Secrets of the Russian Land,The True History of the Russian People, etc.). They are available in Russian bookstores and municipal and university libraries. These works are not marginal: they have a circulation of tens of thousands of copies (or millions, for example, for books byAlexander Asov), their content is involved in the formation of the worldview basis of a stratum of the population regarding ancient history.[citation needed]
Authors who develop the Aryan theme are often employees of new amateur academies and geopolitical institutions. Only a small number of them have a history degree. Most of them were educated in the field of technology and exact sciences.[54]
The "Aryan" idea in the version of Slavic neo-paganism (the origin of the Slavs from the "Aryans" fromHyperborea or Central Asia, also called the "race of white gods"; the connection of the Slavs with India; ancient pre-Christian Slavic "runic" books; origin from the "Slavic-Aryans" of the ancient civilizations; the neo-pagan symbol "Kolovrat" as an ancient Slavic symbol; a variant of the alien origin of the "Aryan-Hyperboreans") was popularized in the "documentary" programs of theREN TV television network, including broadcasts by Igor Prokopenko and Oleg Shishkin.[55]
In a number of areas of Russian nationalism, the "Aryan" idea is used to justify the right to the territory of modern Russia or the former Soviet Union, which is declared to be the habitat of the ancient "Slavo-Aryans". In a number of post-Soviet countries, "Aryanism" is cultivated by neo-pagan movements that are not satisfied with the real history of their peoples. The pre-Christian past is idealized, allowing one to present one's ancestors as a great victorious people. The choice falls on paganism, since, according to these ideologists, it is endowed with an "Aryan heroic principle" and is not burdened by Christian morality, calling for mercy and ignoring the idea of the priority of "blood and soil".[citation needed]
Christianity is seen by neo-pagans as a hindrance to a successful "racial struggle". The rejection of Christianity and the return to the "ethnic religion", the "faith of the ancestors", according to neo-pagans, will help overcome the split of the nation and return to it the lost moral "Aryan" values that can lead it out of the crisis. Neo-pagans call for a return to the "Aryan worldview" in the name of public health, which is being destroyed by modern civilization. Within this discourse, the slogans of theConservative Revolution of the 1920s are once again becoming popular. Declaring themselves "Aryans", the radicals seek to fight for the "salvation of the white race", which results in attacks on "migrants" and other representatives of non-titular nationalities.[56][page needed]
In many areas ofSlavic neo-paganism (rodnovery), Slavs or Russians are credited with historical and cultural orracial superiority over other peoples. This ideology includes Russian messianism, with the Russian people being considered the only force capable of resisting world evil and leading the rest of the world.[56][page needed] The "Aryan" idea sets before Russia the task of building an analogue of the "Fourth Reich", a new "Aryan" empire on a global scale.[54] The Russian Aryan myth rejects any territorial disputes, since the Russian people are depicted as absolutely autochthonous throughout Eurasia.[citation needed]
Less common is the model of an ethno-national state associated with theseparatism of certain Russian regions. The fragmentation of Russia into several Russian national states,devoid of ethnic minorities, is supposed. In both cases, it is believed that the cohesion of society in the new state should be built on a single "native faith".[56][page needed]
ModernRussian neo-paganism took shape in the second half[57] of the 1970s and is associated with the activities of antisemitic supporters of the Moscow ArabistValery Yemelyanov (neopagan name - Velemir) and the former dissident and neo-Nazi activistAlexey Dobrovolsky (neopagan name - Dobroslav).[58][59]
The issue of Russian nationalism with regard to Russia's relationship with its ethnic minorities has been extensively studied since the rapid expansion of Russia from the 16th century onward.[60] While there is no English word which differentiates the meaning of the word "Russian", in the Russian language, the term is used to refer either to ethnic Russians ("Русские") or to Russian citizens ("Россияне").[61]
TheRussian conquest of Muslim Kazan is considered the first event which transformed Russia from a nearly homogenous nation into a multi-ethnic society.[62][63] Over the years and from the territorial base which it gained in Kazan, Russia managed to conquerSiberia andManchuria and it also expanded into theCaucasus. At one point, Russia managed to annex a large territory ofEastern Europe,Finland,Central Asia,Mongolia and, on other occasions, it encroached into Turkish, Chinese, Afghan and Iranian territories. Various ethnic minorities have become increasingly viral and integrated into mainstream Russian society, and as a result, they have created a mixing picture of racial relationships in the modern Russian nationalist mindset. The work of understanding different ethnic minorities in relation to the Russian state can be traced back to the work ofPhilip Johan von Strahlenberg, a Swedish prisoner of war who settled in Tsarist Russia and became a geographer.
The concept is strongly understood by various minorities in Russia. TheVolga Tatars and theBashkirs, the two main Muslim peoples in Russia, have long been lauded as model minorities in Russia, and historically, they have been viewed more positively by the Russian nationalist movement. Furthermore, Tatar and Bashkirimams have worked to spread the Russian nationalist ideology in a way which is in accordance with theirIslamic faith.[64][65]
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In the Caucasus, Russia gained a significant amount of support from theOssetians, one of the few Christian-based peoples which live in the mountainous region.[66] There was also a strong amount of support for Russia amongArmenians andGreeks, a sentiment which was largely due to the fact that the Armenians, the Greeks and the Orthodox government of Russia all adhered to similar religions.[67][68]
TheKoryo-saram (Koreans) have also been regarded as a model minority in Russia, and as a result, they have been encouraged to colonize sparsely populated parts of Russia, this policy was first implemented during the Tsarist era and it continues to be implemented today, because Koreans were not hostile to Russian nationalism. Although the Korean diaspora in the Russian Far East was loyal to the Soviet Union and also underwent cultural Russification, Koreans weredeported to Central Asia by the Soviet government (1937–1938), based on the erroneous charge that they were aligned with the Japanese. When Khrushchev allowed deported nationalities to return to their homelands, the Koreans remained restricted and they were not rehabilitated.[69] On 26 April 1991 the Supreme Soviet of theRussian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, under its chairmanBoris Yeltsin, passed the lawOn the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples with Article 2 denouncing all mass deportations as "Stalin's policy of defamation andgenocide".[70]
Ukrainians in Russia have been largely integrated and the majority of them pledged loyalty over Russia, while some Ukrainians managed to occupy significant positions in Russian history.Bohdan Khmelnytsky is one of Russia's most celebrated figures who brought Ukraine to theTsardom of Russia throughout thePereyaslav Council.[71] Ukrainian PrinceAlexander Bezborodko was responsible for manifesting the modern diplomacies of Russia under the reign ofCatherine the Great.[72] Soviet leadersNikita Khrushchev,Leonid Brezhnev,Konstantin Chernenko andMikhail Gorbachev also had some ancestral connections to Ukraine.[73][74][75] In addition, Russia's biggest opposition leader,Alexei Navalny, is also of paternally of Ukrainian origin as well as being a potential Russian nationalist.[76]
Akhmad Kadyrov and his sonRamzan defected to Russia during theSecond Chechen War, pledging loyalty to Putin while maintaining a degree of autonomy for theChechen Republic, while using this opportunity for securing funds for their regime from Russian federal money.[78]Vladislav Surkov, who is of Chechen origin, was the chief figure who initiated the idea of Russianmanaged democracy, in which nationalism is a part of the ideology.[79]
Georgians in Russia do not have a positive view of Russian nationalism, and as a result, vast majority of them maintain a neutral or negative opinion.[80] However, Russian expansion into the Caucasus mountains has been driven by Georgian figures such asPavel Tsitsianov, who initiated the conquest of the Caucasus.[81]Pyotr Bagration was another Georgian who went on to become one of Russia's most celebrated heroes.Soviet Union's transformation into a superpower was the work of yet another Russified Georgian,Joseph Stalin, who had a complex relationship with Russian nationalism.[82]
Some of Dagestan's revered figures have long been respected by Russian nationalists, such asRasul Gamzatov, who is one of Russia's most respected poets despite his Avar origin.[83]Khabib Nurmagomedov's rise to popularity and fame has earned a divisive opinion among Russians and Dagestanis.[84] Putin loyalist Ramzan Kadirov has made controversial statements attacking the legendaryDagestani leaderImam Shamil, who led thearmed resistance ofCaucasian Imamate againstRussian imperialism during theMurid War. This has resulted in an outpouring of criticism in Dagestanis, who fear thatKadyrovites seek to control theKizlyarsky andBotlikhsky districts in Dagestan. The comments by Kadyrov are widely seen as part of government attempts to demean religious and national leaders of Russia's Muslim minority who defended their homeland fromImperial Russia.[85]
Germans in Russia have long been treated with privileges under the Tsarist government and many Germans became prominent in Russian politics, education and economy, including the TsaristHouse of Romanov, which also included many German-based figures, most notablyCatherine the Great.[86][87][88] Many Germans fought in theRussian Civil War and regarded themselves as Russian nationalists.[citation needed] TheBaltic German nobility were significantly loyal to the Russian Empire, but were resistant to nationalism until the Russian Revolution, identifying mainly as members of theRussian nobility.[89]
A number of critics believe the rise of Russian nationalism is belated. The reason is the passive attitude of Russians towards other peoples inhabiting Russia. Passivity arose because of the huge number of peoples of Russia, which were much smaller in number than Russians. They were easy to dominate and subdue.[90]: 251 [91]
| Political Party | Type | Status | Years of existence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | Ultranationalist, Xenophobic | Registered, Part ofState Duma | 1989–present |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | Left-wing nationalism | Registered, Part of State Duma | 1993–present |
| National Sovereignty Party of Russia | Nationalist | Denied Registration | 2000–2012 |
| Great Russia | Nationalist | Denied Registration | 2007–present |
| The Other Russia | Ultranationalist, Irredentist | Denied Registration | 2010–present |
| Pamyat | Ultranationalist, Monarchist | Defunct | 1980–1990s |
| Front of National Revolutionary Action | Neo-Nazi | Defunct | 1991-1999 |
| Russian All-People's Union | Nationalist | Defunct | 1991–2001 |
| Russian National Union | Neo-Nazi | Defunct | 1993–1998 |
| People's National Party | Neo-Nazi | Defunct | 1994–2006 |
| Rodina | Nationalist | Defunct | 2003–2006 |
| Russian National Socialist Party | Neo-Nazi | Defunct | N/A |
| Russian National Unity | Neo-Nazi | Banned | 1990–2000 |
| Russian All-National Union | Ultra-Nationalist | Banned | 1990–2011 |
| National Salvation Front | Left-Wing Nationalism, Right-Wing Nationalism | Banned | 1992–1993 |
| National Bolshevik Party | Ultranationalist, Xenophobic | Banned | 1994–2007 |
| National Liberation Movement | Nationalist | ||
| Slavic Union | Neo-Nazi | Banned | 1999–2010 |
| Movement Against Illegal Immigration | Neo-Nazi | Banned | 2002–2011 |
| National Socialist Society | Neo-Nazi | Banned | 2004–2010 |
| Northern Brotherhood | Neo-Nazi | Banned | 2006–2012 |
| Russians | Nationalist, Xenophobic | Banned | 2011–2015 |
| National Bolshevik Front | Nationalist | 2006–present | |
| Derzhava (Russian party) | Nationalist | Banned | |
| Eurasia Party | Nationalist | Banned | |
| Labour Russia | Left-Wing Nationalism | Banned | |
| National Republican Party of Russia | Nationalist | Banned | 1991 - 1998 |
| Patriots of Russia | Nationalist | Banned | |
| People's Union (Russia) | Nationalist | Banned | |
| Russian Community | Ultranationalist, Xenophobic | 2020–present | |
| Northern Man | Ultranationalist, Xenophobic | 2020–present |
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)The choice of "unreliable nations" as an internal enemy and the "fifth column," as well as the shift in the national policy of the Stalinist regime of the 1930s from internationalism to Russification and "National Bolshevism,"is generally consistent with the theory of the ethnification of Stalinism.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)the RNE was of substantial organizational strength before its breakup in late 2000 and was estimated to have had, on the eve of its fracture, approximately 20,000 to 25,000 members
