Contemporary Russian Identity and the Soviet Union: Continuity and Confrontation

Abstract

Over the two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian society has continued to rely upon Soviet history for national pride and identification. Critics have voiced concerns over this reliance, arguing that the prevalence of symbols from Russia’s authoritarian past hampers Russian democratic development and has led to a rehabilitation of Stalinism. This thesis argues that analysis of the relationship between Russia and its Soviet past has more often than not existed in a contextual vacuum. It seeks to rectify this situation by contextualizing the Kremlin’s policy towards its uses of Soviet history. It argues that Soviet and Russian national identity are closely intertwined, making a condemnation of and total separation from the period impossible. It argues that the incorporation of Soviet symbols into the modern Russian Federation has been a policy of pragmatism, seeking to maintain ideological unification in a country lacking a national identity and social divided after the 1991-2000 decade of transition. It works to show that widespread Soviet rehabilitation has not occurred and where nostalgia exists, its nature is benign. The thesis illustrates that important changes have occurred in the Kremlin’s policy towards the Soviet Union under President Dmitri Medvedev, working upon the state consolidation achieved under Vladimir Putin and heralding a more critical stance towards Russia’s past.