Monday, 23 May 2016

Nationalities Synoptic Question

The following is a (kind of) plan for a synoptic question on nationalist discontent, exploring the growth of discontent under each leader from Stalin to Gorbachev. It’s not enough just to state what types of nationalist discontent there were, but how they came about and create synoptic links.

Stalin
Deportations – 400,000 Crimean Tartars deported in 1944 for supporting German invasion (around 1 million Soviets defected to Germans)
Baltic States – the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact entailed the Soviet annexation of the Baltic States, including Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, etc.
Ukraine – taken advantage of in collectivisation drive of 1930s, resulted in famine across regions of Ukraine
Zhdanovism – the russification of culture, included anti-Cosmopolitanism (anti-Western influence) and Russian Nationalism
Anti-Semitism – a result of the surge in Russian nationalism was a surge in anti-semitism shown most explicitly in the Doctor’s Plot

Khrushchev
Virgin Lands Scheme – 13,000 m2 of topsoil eroded by over-working the ground. Was seen as exploiting Kazakhstan region for own interests
Khrushchev Thaw – could be viewed as encouraging greater nationalism, but Khrushchev intended to give them more freedoms so they would complain less. It gave a certain amount of nationalist identity in culture, but not politics.
Decentralisation – power was given to regional ministries while Russian representatives were given “second in command”

Brezhnev
“let sleeping dogs lie” – nationalities didn’t present a danger, so he let them keep going
Second in command – Brezhnev continues to place Russians second in command, but many Russians were encouraged to “go native”
Environmental concerns – the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan was dried up through irrigation systems, leading to collapse of the fishing industry, as well as strains of typhoid and hepatitis developing
Russification – 10/14 members of the Politburo were Russian, Non-russian members were often Republican leaders and not a part of the decision-making, meaning they weren’t concerned with all-Union issues, but own Republican issues
Investment – greater investment in Kazakhstan and there were attempts to correct economic disparities in regions

Andropov and Chernenko
Anti-Corruption – Andropov attempted to get rid of corruption which caused discontent since nationalities relied on corruption for consumer goods and income as Moscow didn’t provide that
Chernenko reversed that

Gorbachev
*Glasnost – lead to hopes of national freedom, allowed the Baltic States to openly question the legality of their annexation. Independence movements developed that Gorbachev tried to control by sending tanks in, only further riling them up.
Democratisation – “people power” was extended, and Republics with existing grievances and national identity adopted “popular fronts”. Laver: “end of coercion and conformity”
Perestroika – failed perestroika and “left over” dissatisfaction led to increased growth in nationalism


*= when nationalist movements became an issue in the 1980s, this was more of a threat in the Baltic States and the Ukraine and Transcaucasia than in the Asian Republics. This was because they had a history of national independence, and a fiercer resistance to Russification.

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