Why Do Russians See Themselves as Victims? A Historian Explains “Imperial Innocence”
Yev_kopiika | Aug 27, 2024 | 16:08
Many Russians, even among those who oppose Russia’s war against Ukraine, still hesitate to take responsibility, blaming the invasion on NATO provocation or conspiracy theories about US meddling and a coup. Experts say that this is because the “victim” mentality persists in Russian society today. But why is that?Some point to the historical brutality of Russian regimes or even the difficult situation in the 1990s. But some oppose this notion, reasonably pointing out that not only Russia but Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia experienced a brutal Soviet regime and even more difficult 1990s. While Russia was aided by the West to recover from collapse, these countries were not or much less so. Yet, neither Ukraine nor Kazakhstan initiated brutal wars while portraying themselves as victims.
So, for some experts, the difference between Ukraine and Kazakhstan, as opposed to Russia, is clear: Ukraine and Kazakhstan were colonies of an empire, while Russia was the empire. But what about today? Is Russia still an empire?
That was the first question that I asked Dr. Botakoz Kassymbekova, an Assistant Professor in Modern History at the University of Basel, specializing in Soviet and Russian imperial history.
“There is a consensus that the Russian Empire before 1917 was a colonial empire. Simply because there were concepts like ‘others’ and ‘legal others,’ which means that those who were considered as ‘aliens’ (inorodtsy) were subject to a different legal regulation. However, during the Soviet period, nominally, there was one constitution for everyone. This led many to conclude that the Soviet empire was not colonial,” she says.
That’s what Dr. Kassymbekova’s work is about: explaining why this is not true and why we cannot apply Western concepts to understand the Soviet Union.
“We know that in January 1991, when Lithuania was the first republic to actually proclaim its independence, it did so based on the Soviet Constitution, which granted all republics the right to leave the Union. Yet, when Lithuania declared independence, the military violently suppressed this decision. So, what was written in the Constitution had little to do with reality. Therefore, we need a different analysis and explanation for the coupling of a dictatorship, totalitarian regime . .
https://united24media.com/world/why-do-russians-see-themselves-as-victims-a-historian-explains-imperial-innocence-1935
