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Soviet Union [USSR] Chapter 1. Historical Setting: Early History to 1917
THE SOVIET UNION is inhabited by many nationalities with complex
origins and different histories. Its historical roots, however, are
chiefly those of the East Slavs, who evolved into the Russian,
Ukrainian, and Belorussian peoples. The major pre-Soviet political
formations of the East Slavs were, in order, medieval Kievan Rus',
Muscovy, and the Russian Empire. Three other states--Poland,
Lithuania, and the Mongol Empire--also played crucial roles in the
historical development of the Soviet Union.
The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', emerged along the
Dnepr River Valley, where it controlled the trade route between
Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire. By adopting Christianity from
Constantinople, Kievan Rus' began a synthesis of Byzantine and
Slavic cultures. Kievan Rus' was the collective possession of a
princely family, a fact that led to armed struggles between princes
and ultimately to the territorial disintegration of the state.
Conquest by the Mongols was the final blow, and, subsequently, a
number of states claimed to be heirs of Kievan Rus'. One of these
was Muscovy, located on the northeastern periphery of Kievan Rus'
and populated primarily by Russians. Muscovy gradually dominated
neighboring territories and expanded into the Russian Empire.
The historical characteristics that emerged in Muscovy
subsequently affected both Russia and the Soviet Union. One such
characteristic was the state's dominance over the individual.
Mongol, Byzantine, and native Russian roots all contributed to what
was referred to as Russian autocracy: the idea that Russian rulers,
or tsars, were unlimited in their power. All institutions,
including the Russian Orthodox Church, were subordinated to the
state and the autocrat. The idea of autocracy survived until the
fall of the last tsar.
Continual territorial expansion was another characteristic of
Russian history. Beginning with Muscovy's "gathering of the Russian
lands," expansion soon went beyond ethnically Russian areas. As a
result, Muscovy developed into the huge Russian Empire, eventually
stretching from the border with Poland to the Pacific Ocean.
Because of its size and military might, Russia became a major
power, but acquisition of non-Russian lands and peoples posed
continuing nationality problems.
Expansion westward forced Russia to face the perennial
questions of its backwardness and its relationship to the West.
Muscovy had grown in isolation from the West, but Russia had to
adopt Western technology to compete militarily in Europe. Thus
Peter the Great attempted to modernize the country, as did
subsequent rulers who struggled, largely unsuccessfully, to raise
Russia to European levels of technology and productivity. With the
acquisition of technology came Western cultural and intellectual
currents that disrupted the development of an independent Russian
culture. Native and foreign cultural values were often in
contention, and questions of Russia's relationship to the West
became an enduring obsession of Russian intellectuals.
Russia's defeat in the Crimean War triggered another attempt at
modernization, including the emancipation of the serfs--peasants
bound to the land they tilled. Despite major reforms, agriculture
remained inefficient, industrialization proceeded haltingly, and
new problems emerged. In addition to masses of land-hungry
peasants, a budding industrial proletariat and a small but
important group of middle-class professionals were becoming
dissatisfied. Non-Russians, resentful of
Russification (see Glossary), struggled for autonomy. In response
to these continuing
problems, successive regimes vacillated between repression and
reform. The tsars were unwilling to give up autocratic rule or to
share power. They, their supporters, and government bureaucrats
became more isolated from the rest of society. Intellectuals became
more radical, and some became professional revolutionaries.
Despite its internal problems, Russia continued to play a major
role in international politics. Its defeat in the Russo-Japanese
War, however, sparked a revolution in 1905. Professionals, workers,
peasants, non-Russians, and soldiers demanded fundamental reforms.
Reluctantly, the last tsar granted a limited constitution, but for
a decade he circumvented it and continued autocratic rule.
When World War I began, Russian patriotism at first compensated
for the war's disruption and suffering. The government, however,
proved incompetent in pursuing the war, and as war-weariness and
revolutionary pressures increased, fewer and fewer defended
autocracy.
Data as of May 1989
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