As perestroika developed, the importance of national problems.

In 1989 and especially in 1990-1991. happened bloody clashes in Central Asia (Fergana, Dushanbe, Osh and a number of other regions). The region of intense ethnic armed conflicts was the Caucasus, primarily South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In 1990-1991 in South Ossetia, in essence, there was a real war in which only heavy artillery, aircraft and tanks were not used.

The confrontation also took place in Moldova, where the population of the Gagauz and Transnistrian regions protested against the infringement of their national rights, and in the Baltic states, where part of the Russian-speaking population opposed the leadership of the republics.

In the Baltic republics, in Ukraine, in Georgia, sharp forms are taken struggle for independence for seceding from the USSR. In early 1990, after Lithuania declared its independence and negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh stalled, it became clear that central authority unable to use economic ties in the process of radical revision of federal relations, which was the only way to prevent, or at least stop the collapse Soviet Union.

The collapse of the USSR. Formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States

Prerequisites for the collapse of the USSR.

1) A deep socio-economic crisis that has engulfed the entire country. The crisis led to the rupture of economic ties and gave rise to the desire of the republics to "save themselves alone."

2) Destruction Soviet system- a sharp weakening of the center.

3) The collapse of the CPSU.

4) Aggravation between national relations. National conflicts undermined state unity, becoming one of the reasons for the destruction of the union statehood.

5) Republican separatism and political ambition of local leaders.

The union center is no longer able to retain power democratically and resorts to military force: Tbilisi - September 1989, Baku - January 1990, Vilnius and Riga - January 1991, Moscow - August 1991. In addition - interethnic conflicts in Central Asia (1989-1990): Fergana, Dushanbe, Osh and etc.

The last straw that prompted the party and state leadership of the USSR to act was the threat of signing a new Union Treaty, which was worked out during the negotiations of representatives of the republics in Novo-Ogaryovo.

The August putsch of 1991 and its failure.

August 1991 - Gorbachev was on vacation in the Crimea. The signing of a new Union Treaty was scheduled for August 20. On August 18, a number of senior officials of the USSR propose to Gorbachev to introduce a state of emergency throughout the country, but they receive a refusal from him. In order to disrupt the signing of the Union Treaty and preserve their power, part of the top party and state leadership tried to seize power. On August 19, a state of emergency was introduced in the country (for 6 months). Troops were brought into the streets of Moscow and a number of other large cities.

But coup failed. The population of the country basically refused to support the State Emergency Committee, while the army did not want to use force against its citizens. Already on August 20, barricades grew around the White House, on which there were several tens of thousands of people, and some military units went over to the side of the defenders. The resistance was led by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The actions of the GKChP were perceived very negatively abroad, from where statements were immediately made about the suspension of assistance to the USSR.

The coup was extremely poorly organized, there was no active operational leadership. Already on August 22, he was defeated, and the members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested. Interior Minister Pugo shot himself. The main reason for the failure of the coup d'état was the determination of the masses to defend their political freedoms.

The final stage of the collapse of the USSR(September - December 1991).

The attempted coup d'etat dramatically accelerated the collapse of the USSR, led to Gorbachev's loss of prestige and power, and a noticeable increase in Yeltsin's popularity. The activity of the CPSU was suspended and then terminated. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU and dissolved the Central Committee. In the days following the putsch, 8 republics declared their full independence, and the three Baltic republics achieved recognition from the USSR. There was a sharp reduction in the competence of the KGB, it was announced about its reorganization.

On December 1, 1991, more than 80% of the population of Ukraine spoke in favor of the independence of their republic.

December 8, 1991 - Belovezhskaya agreement (Yeltsin, Kravchuk, Shushkevich): the termination of the Union Treaty of 1922 and the end of the activities of state structures were announced former Union. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus reached an agreement on the creation Commonwealth Independent States(CIS). The three states invited all former republics to join the CIS.

On December 21, 1991, 8 republics joined the CIS. A Declaration was adopted on the cessation of the existence of the USSR and on the principles of the activities of the CIS. On December 25, Gorbachev announced the resignation of the functions of the president in connection with the disappearance of the state. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Georgia joined the CIS.

During the existence of the CIS, more than 900 fundamental legal acts have been signed. They concerned a single ruble space, open borders, defense, space, information exchange, security, customs policy, and so on.

Review questions:

1. The main reasons that led to the aggravation of interethnic relations in the USSR by the beginning of the 1990s are listed.

2. Name the regions in which hotbeds of tension have developed. In what forms did national conflicts unfold there?

3. How did the USSR collapse?

Education of the USSR. National relations and nation-state construction in the 1920s. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was a multinational empire. The national liberation movement was an important integral part revolutionary movement in the country. Various political forces developed their own solutions national question- from a single indivisible unitary Russia to a federal one, etc.

In November 1917, the Soviet government adopted the "Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia", which proclaimed the equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia, their right to self-determination up to secession, the abolition of national-religious privileges and restrictions. This right was used by Ukraine, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus. The program of the Bolshevik Party on the national question greatly contributed to their victory in the civil war. But, while proclaiming the right of nations to self-determination, the Bolsheviks did not seek to split Russia. On the contrary, they sought to preserve its integrity as much as possible.

In the years civil war and foreign military intervention, a military-political alliance was formed between the Soviet republics. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus also pooled their resources, transport, finances, economic bodies, while maintaining independence in matters relating to the internal life of the republics. This type of national-state structure is called a confederation. The republican communist parties were included in the RCP(b) as regional party organizations.

At the end of the civil war, all Soviet republics concluded bilateral agreements on economic and diplomatic union among themselves and with the RSFSR. The number of all-Union departments has increased. In March 1922 Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia formed the Transcaucasian Soviet Socialist Federation.

The tasks of restoring and developing the economy and socialist reorganization required the improvement of existing treaty-federative relations. The absence of legal norms regulating relations between central and local authorities caused conflicts between them. In the spring of 1922, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and Belarus raised the issue of contractual relations.

The Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) created a commission to prepare a draft law on new form state association. I. Stalin, People's Commissar for Nationalities, became the chairman of the commission. He owned the idea of ​​"autonomization", i.e. occurrences Soviet republics into the RSFSR and subordinating them to a single center. Some republics rejected this idea, because. it infringed on their sovereignty. The proposal of V.I. Lenin on the creation of a federal state.

On December 30, 1922 in Moscow, the First All-Union Congress of Soviets approved the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR as part of the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR and the Transcaucasian SFSR. The Declaration proclaimed the principles of voluntary association, equality of the republics and the right of their free secession from the Union. The treaty defined the system of federal authorities, their competence and relations with the republican administrative structures.

The legal basis of the USSR was the Constitution adopted in January 1924. II Congress of Soviets of the USSR. It proclaimed the creation of a single union state as a federation of sovereign Soviet republics. The republics were in charge of domestic policy, justice, education, health and welfare. Questions foreign policy, transport, communications were decided at the union level. Supreme legislature became the All-Union Congress of Soviets, and in the intervals between congresses - the bicameral Central Executive Committee: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities. Executive power belonged to the Council People's Commissars THE USSR. Moscow was declared the capital of the USSR. The Constitution of the USSR retained the principles of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 in the field of electoral law. The multi-stage system of elections was preserved, open vote, the benefits of the working class, the disenfranchisement of exploitative elements and ministers of religious worship.

The national policy in the USSR was aimed at overcoming the historically established inequality of peoples in the economic, social and cultural spheres.

The Union included new republics: in 1924-1925. on the territory of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Bukhara and Khorezm People's Republics, the Uzbek and Turkmen SSRs were created. In 1929, the Tajik ASSR was transformed into a union republic.

The territorial and administrative division of the country has changed: provinces, counties, volosts were transformed into regions, districts, village councils. National regions, districts, districts were created. Boundaries were clarified. The not always well-thought-out national-state delimitation carried out in the 1920s gave rise to hotbeds of future ethnic conflicts.

At the moment, there is no consensus on what are the prerequisites for the collapse of the USSR. However, most scientists are unanimous in the fact that their beginnings were laid in the very ideology of the Bolsheviks, who, albeit in many respects formally, recognized the right of nations to self-determination. The weakening of the central government provoked the formation of new power centers on the outskirts of the state. It is worth noting that similar processes took place at the very beginning of the 20th century, during the period of revolutions and the collapse of the Russian Empire.

In short, the reasons for the collapse of the USSR are as follows:

The crisis provoked by the planned nature of the economy and led to a shortage of many consumer goods;

Unsuccessful, largely ill-conceived, reforms that led to a sharp deterioration in living standards;

Mass dissatisfaction of the population with interruptions in food supplies;

The ever-increasing gap in the standard of living between the citizens of the USSR and the citizens of the countries of the capitalist camp;

Aggravation of national contradictions;

Weakening of the central authority;

The processes that led as a result to the collapse of the USSR were identified already in the 80s. Against the background of the general crisis, which only deepened by the beginning of the 1990s, there is an increase in nationalist tendencies in almost all union republics. The first to leave the USSR are: Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. They are followed by Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine.

The collapse of the USSR was the result of the events of August - December 1991. After the August coup, the activity of the CPSU party in the country was suspended. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Congress of People's Deputies lost power. The last Congress in history took place in September 1991 and announced its self-dissolution. During this period, the supreme authority was State Council The USSR was headed by Gorbachev, the first and only president of the USSR. His attempts to prevent both the economic and political collapse of the USSR, undertaken by him in the autumn, did not bring success. As a result, on December 8, 1991, after the signing of the Belovezhskaya Agreement by the heads of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. At the same time, there was the formation of the CIS - the Commonwealth of Independent States. The collapse of the Soviet Union was the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, with global consequences.

Here are just the main consequences of the collapse of the USSR:

Sharp decline in production in all countries former USSR and a decline in the standard of living of the population;

The territory of Russia has shrunk by a quarter;

Access to seaports became more difficult again;

The population of Russia has decreased - in fact by half;

The emergence of numerous national conflicts and the emergence of territorial claims between the former republics of the USSR;

Globalization began - the processes gradually gained momentum that turned the world into a single political, informational, economic system;

The world became unipolar, and the United States remained the only superpower.

Political reforms 90s 20th century in Russia

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, changes took place in Russia in all areas of life. One of the most important events of the last decade of the XX century. became the formation of a new Russian statehood.

presidential power. Central position in the system of government modern Russia occupies the institution of the President, who, according to the Constitution of 1993, is the head of state, and not the executive (as it was before December 1993).

Almost no important issue in the life of the state and society can be resolved without the consent and approval of the head of state.

The President is the guarantor of the Constitution and may take any measures to protect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Russia. The President is accountable to the Government of the country, the composition and main activities of which he determines and whose work he actually manages. The head of state also heads the Security Council. He is Supreme Commander The armed forces of the country, may, if necessary, introduce a state of emergency, martial law and a special situation.

Such scope of powers of the President is quite consistent with historical traditions supreme power in Russia. Some opponents of strong presidential power sometimes refer to this regime as an elective monarchy. However, with all the full powers of the head of state, his power is sufficiently limited by a system of checks and balances.

From the Soviets to parliamentarism. The main political event of the 90s. was the dismantling of the Soviet system of power and its replacement by the separation of powers - legislative, executive, judicial.

Using the historical experience of parliamentarism in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, the Constitution of 1993 completed the process of the formation of a new Russian parliamentarism that began back in the years of perestroika.

The Russian parliament is the Federal Assembly, which consists of two chambers - the Federation Council (upper) and State Duma(lower). The upper chamber calls for the election of the President and decides, if necessary, the issue of his removal from office; approves the decision of the head of state on the introduction of martial law or a state of emergency; appoints and dismisses the Prosecutor General and members of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia. The main subjects of the State Duma are the approval of the composition of the Government and the adoption of laws of the country. Both houses of parliament approve the federal budget and state taxes and fees; ratify international agreements signed by Russia; declare war and make peace. All these decisions are subject to the approval of the President.

Government. Executive power in the country is exercised by the Government of Russia. It develops and implements the federal budget after approval; ensures the implementation of a unified state financial, credit and monetary policy in the country; determines the parameters for the development of culture, science, education, healthcare, social security, and ecology; ensures the implementation of the country's defense and foreign policy; takes care of the observance of law and order, the rights and freedoms of citizens. He is also in charge of disposing of federal property.

The activities of the Government, in contrast to the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods in the history of Russia, are not only directly dependent on the instructions and orders of the head of state, but also under significant control by the parliament.

Judicial branch. Judicial power in the country is exercised through constitutional, civil, administrative and criminal proceedings. The Constitutional Court, at the request of the authorities, makes a final decision on the compliance with the Constitution of the country of federal and regional laws and regulations; decrees of the President of the country, heads of subjects of the Federation. At the request of citizens, he resolves the issue of violation of their constitutional rights and freedoms. If necessary, he gives an interpretation of those provisions of the Constitution that are not regulated by special laws and other documents.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in civil, criminal and administrative cases.

The Supreme Arbitration Court is the highest court for resolving economic disputes.

The prosecutor's office exercises control over the observance of the laws of the country by both citizens and state and public bodies.

Center and regions. Russia is a federation consisting of 88 subjects. The political and economic rights granted by the federal authorities to the regions in the early 1990s led to a significant weakening of the role of the Center. Locally adopted laws and even their own constitutional acts were in conflict with the federal Constitution and the laws of the federation. The creation of a network of provincial banks and even their own "gold reserves" of the subjects of the Federation began. In some regions of the country, not only the transfer of funds to the federal budget was stopped, but also a ban on the export of various kinds products outside the edges and regions. There were voices about giving administrative boundaries (especially national regions) state status. The Russian language in a number of republics has ceased to be recognized as the state language. All this gave rise to a dangerous trend of transformation of the federation into a confederation and even the possibility of its collapse.

Especially alarming was the situation in Chechnya, where “state independence” was proclaimed, and power, in fact, passed into the hands of criminal and extremist groups. Weakened federal center, unable to political means to enforce federal legislation here, took forceful actions. During the first (1994-1996) and second (since the summer of 1999) military campaigns in Chechnya, the central authorities managed to ensure control over the territory of this subject of the Federation. But the industrial and social sphere of the region was completely destroyed in the course of protracted hostilities. The losses were significant both among the military personnel of the federal forces and among the local population. However, emerging in the 1990s the trend towards Chechnya's withdrawal from the Russian Federation was halted.

Local government. Developing the traditions of local self-government laid down during the zemstvo (1864) and city (1870) reforms, the Constitution of 1993 gave local authorities the right to independent solution issues of local importance, possession, use and disposal of municipal property. The main forms of local self-government are referendums (popular declarations of will) and elections of heads of deputies of municipalities. In the course of referendums of the population, issues of changing the boundaries and belonging of a city or village to a particular district or region are also resolved. Local authorities independently manage municipal property, form and execute the local budget, determine the articles and amounts of local taxes and fees, maintain public order, etc. In 1998, Russia ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government, in which local governments are recognized as one from the basic foundations of democracy. important event was the establishment by the municipalities of the Congress of Municipalities of the Russian Federation to coordinate the efforts of local governments in defending their interests before the regional and central authorities.

Thus, in the 90s. in Russia, a legitimate foundation of Russian statehood was created, built on democratic principles, and a new system of relations between the Center and the regions was tested.

Prerequisites for the collapse of the USSR: Here recognized factors:1) A deep socio-economic crisis that engulfed the entire country. The crisis led to the rupture of economic ties, gave rise to the desire of the republics to "save themselves alone." 2) The destruction of the Soviet system - a sharp weakening of the center 3) The collapse of the CPSU 4). Exacerbation of interethnic relations. National conflicts undermined the state. unity, becoming one of the reasons for the destruction of the union statehood. Factors, presence and role of which are the subject of discussion: 1) The subversive activities of foreign intelligence services and the "fifth column" within the country. 2) Republican separatism and political ambition of local leaders 3) General historical processes - "all empires will one day collapse" - but whether the USSR was an empire in the usual sense of the word is another question. The dynamics of the weakening of the center: the Council pushed the party to the margins political life, the president did not allow the monopoly of the soviets, the national republics ceased to need a union president, the union collapsed

B. The collapse of the CPSU, cementing force political system, the entire union statehood went not only along the ideological, but also along the national line. a) the end of 89-90. - the exit from the CPSU of the Baltic Communist Partiesb) 90 - the creation of the Communist Party of the RSFSR (as part of the CPSU) c) 90-91. - multi-party system. In January 1991, a Democratic Congress (47 parties and movements from 12 republics) was held in Kharkov, which proposed expressing no confidence in the government and the president, boycotting the referendum on March 17 and dissolving the USSR. B. The weakening of the power of the soviets- the next stage of weakening the center (material in ticket 18) D. National conflicts, "scattering" of the republics, a parade of sovereignty) 1988 - the opposition in the Baltic states is heading for an exit from the USSR. "Sajudis" in Lithuania, fronts in Latvia and Estonia (later they will win the elections), b) 1988 - the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh. Great sacrifices, over 800 thousand refugees. The helplessness of the union structures. c) 1990 - the republics adopt the Declaration of Sovereignty (including Russia), declare the superiority of their laws over the union ones. The first was Lithuania - on March 11, 1990, it declared sovereignty in violation of the USSR law on the procedure for the withdrawal of republics from the USSR. The union center is no longer able to retain power democratically and resorts to military force-d) Tbilisi - Sept. 1989, Baku - Jan. 1990, Vilnius and Riga - Jan. 1991, Moscow - August 1991. In addition - interethnic conflicts in Central Asia (89-90 years): Fergana, Andijan, Dushanbe, Osh. D. Novoogorevsky process(by the name of Gorbachev's residence)1) 90-91. - Discussion of a new Union Treaty (first option: broad powers of the republics while maintaining a single state) Discussions on problems: a strong center - strong republics, or vice versa. 2) March 17, 1991 All-Union referendum: 76.4% of voters are in favor of preserving the USSR. 3) A new project of the renewed USSR - SSG (commonwealth of sovereign states - a confederation with the preservation of presidential power) E. Events of 19-21 August 1991("Word to the People")1) August 91 Gorbachev in Faros, the signing of a new Union Treaty is scheduled for August 202) August 18 A number of senior officials propose to Gorbachev to introduce a state of emergency throughout the country. The President refuses. 3) August 19 - The State Emergency Committee takes full power into its own hands (Yanaev, Pavlov, Pugo, Yazov, Starodubtsev, etc.) In an appeal to the country, they talked about preserving the Union and the socialist gains of the people. Troops are brought into Moscow4) August 19-20. The GKChP is inactive. Yeltsin organizes resistance. 5) Arrest of the GKChP, Gorbachev in Moscow. The reasons for the GKChP's indecisiveness, the nature of the "defense" of the White House, and Gorbachev's role in the events remain the subject of discussion. G. The final stage of the collapse of the USSR.(September - December 1991) 1) 5th Congress of People's Deputies (September 5, 91) announces a transitional period and surrenders its powers to the State Council of the USSR (the highest officials of the republics) and the Supreme Council. 2) September 9. - The State Council officially recognizes the independence of the Baltic states.

3) Attempts to revive the Noogorevsky process - 8 republics decided to sign a new union treaty of the republics. The process is delayed4) December 8 - Belovezhskaya agreement (Yeltsyn, Kravchuk, Shushkevich): the USSR ceases to exist, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are united in the CIS. 5) December 21 Alma-Ata meeting of the leaders of 9 republics - Declaration on the cessation of the existence of the USSR and on the principles of the CIS.

Until the end of 1991, Moldova and Azerbaijan joined the CIS, in total there were 11 states in the CIS (3 Baltic republics for 15 minutes) 6) Gorbachev resigned his powers. 7) On December 26, the Council of Republics and the Supreme Council (one of the chambers) officially recognized the dissolution of the USSR and self-liquidated.

As perestroika developed, national problems began to acquire ever greater importance. Moreover, national contradictions and clashes were often artificially inflated by politicians from various camps who tried to use tension to solve certain problems.

With the beginning of democratization and the restoration of historical truth, the accumulated long years the tension was discharged in the rapidly growing centrifugal forces. Thus, the anniversary of the signing of the Soviet-German pact of 1939 (which for the first time in many years was in the center of attention of the press) became an occasion for mass demonstrations on August 23, 1987 in the capitals of the three Baltic republics. These speeches marked the beginning of a process that ended later with the declaration of independence of these republics.

Ethnic tensions arose in almost all the republics. She touched on a variety of issues, from the requirements for the recognition of the state status of the national language (formulated first in the Baltic republics, then in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, and, ultimately, as the movement expanded and deepened, put forward in other republics: RSFSR, Belarus, Azerbaijan and the Muslim republics of Central Asia) until the return of the deported peoples to their historical homeland.

The national problems that came to the center of attention led to an aggravation of conflicts between the Russian "colonizers" and representatives of the "indigenous" nationalities (primarily in Kazakhstan and the Baltic states) or between neighboring nationalities (Georgians and Abkhazians, Georgians and Ossetians, Uzbeks and Tajiks, Armenians and Azerbaijanis). etc.). The conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over Nagorno-Karabakh, which was annexed to Azerbaijan in 1923, took the most tragic forms, despite the Armenian majority of its population. In February 1988, the Armenians of this autonomous region within Azerbaijan officially demanded reunification with Armenia. Due to the ambiguous position of the union government and the resistance of the leadership of Azerbaijan, the conflict escalated, and the pogrom of Armenians carried out by the Azerbaijanis in Sumgayit became a prologue to a real war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In 1989 and especially in 1990-1991. there were bloody clashes in Central Asia (Fergana, Dushanbe, Osh and a number of other regions). National minorities, which included the Russian-speaking population, were especially affected. The region of intense ethnic armed conflicts was the Caucasus, primarily South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In 1990-1991 in South Ossetia, in essence, there was a real war in which only heavy artillery, aircraft and tanks were not used. Clashes, including with the use of firearms, also took place between various mountain peoples.

The confrontation also took place in Moldova, where the population of the Gagauz and Transnistrian regions protested against the infringement of their national rights, and in the Baltic states, where part of the Russian-speaking population opposed the leadership of the republics. These confrontations were supported and provoked by part of the central leadership of the USSR and the CPSU.

In the Baltic republics, in Ukraine, in Georgia sharp forms accepts the struggle for independence, for secession from the USSR. In early 1990, after Lithuania declared its independence and negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh stalled, it became clear that the central government was unable to use economic ties in the process of a radical revision of federal relations, which was the only way to prevent, or even to stop the collapse of the Soviet Union.

National question and national relations

National relations are always associated with the solution of certain ethnic problems concerning the conditions for the survival and development of certain ethnic groups, including the problems of territory, language, traditions, and spiritual life in general.

The objective basis for the emergence and development of national-ethnic relations is the coexistence of individual ethnic groups in a single territory (neighboring territories). As a rule, these relations do not exist in their pure form, they are woven into the existing economic, social, political relations, but their subjects are ethno-social communities.

Economic interethnic relations are aimed at satisfying the economic needs of ethnic groups in work, a certain level of consumption, and property. Social relations between ethnic groups are realized in everyday life, family structure (inclination to interethnic marriages, or, conversely, to their avoidance), in the structure of production teams, etc. Political interethnic relations in a multinational state concern, first of all, the participation of ethnic groups in the implementation political power, in the national-state structure, in the practice of exercising civil rights. Interethnic relations in the region culture characterize the interaction of ethnic groups in spiritual life and are aimed, on the one hand, at preserving national identity, on the other, at mutual enrichment and internationalization.

The interaction of national communities is characterized by the following social processes: migration, integration, consolidation, assimilation, accommodation (adaptation), acculturation.

Under migration refers to the movement of ethnosocial groups within an ethnic territory or resettlement to the territory of other titular ethnic groups. (The titular ethnos gives the name of the territory of the state, to the national-state formation).

Quite often, in Western sociology, ethnography, the term "migration" refers to culture, in which case migration processes are considered as an invasion of a population or cultures into an alien ethnic or cultural area.

Integration characterizes the process of establishing ethnic cultural contacts of heterogeneous ethnic groups within the same socio-economic and political community (for example, the formation in Russia of the same traditions and rituals among different ethnic groups). During the existence of the USSR and the socialist camp, integration was also understood as economic ties developing according to a single plan.

Consolidation - this is the process of merging relatively independent ethnic groups and ethnic groups, usually related in language and culture, into a single ethno-social community. For example, Altai-Kizhi, Telengits, Teleuts, Chelkans, Kumandins in the twentieth century formed into the Altai people.

Assimilation - the process of ethnic interaction of already formed ethno-social communities that differ significantly in origin, culture, language, as a result of which representatives of one ethnic group learn the language and culture of another ethnic group. As a rule, at the same time they lose their former nationality (ethnicity), dissolve in the socio-cultural environment of another ethnic group. Assimilation is natural, voluntary and forced. The latter is accompanied by the oppression of one people by another, socio-economic inequality, violation of civil rights.

Accommodation, or adaptation is the adaptation of people to life in a new ethnic environment or the adaptation of this environment to them for mutual existence and interaction in the economic and social spheres. These terms were borrowed by positivist sociologists from the biological sciences.

acculturation - it is a process of interpenetration of cultures, as a result of which their initial models change. Often in Western ethnosociology, acculturation appears as a synonym for Europeanization, Americanization, i.e. means the process of distribution among the peoples of Asia, Africa, of Eastern Europe, Russian foreign elements of culture, forms of management, social institutions.

The ideology and practice of regulating national relations in the USSR, despite their official internationalist shell, formed the ethnic self-consciousness of citizens both through the official registration of ethnic origin by one of the parents, and through the nationalization of ethnicity in the system of national-state structure.

The Russian Empire, in contrast to Western states, forcibly displacing and destroying indigenous ethnic groups (natives) in the conquered territory, created conditions for the preservation of ethnic groups and provided them with military and political protection. Most peoples became part of Russia voluntarily. However, the level of socio-economic and cultural development most ethnic groups differed significantly, which led to periodic exacerbations of the national question.

Under national question most often they understand the question of the oppression of one nation by another, their inequality and socio-economic inequality, the liberation and self-determination of an ethnic group.

V teaching aids and dictionaries you can find another definition, where the emphasis is on the system of interrelated problems of the development of peoples. In our opinion, the first definition is more correct, since the national question itself is remembered when society encounters certain contradictions, dysfunctions, and injustices.

The problems of national equality and justice are extremely complex and not always amenable to successful resolution even in developed democratic countries. For decades, the Kurdish national question has been preserved in Turkey, the French one in Canada (Quebec), the Irish one in Great Britain (Ulster). Ethnic tension is noted by sociologists in the relationship between Spaniards and Basques, Walloons and Flemings in Belgium, and so on.

Long before October 1917, the Bolsheviks proposed the principle of complete equality of nations for solving the national question. After the Bolsheviks came to power, Stalin replaced the principle of self-determination with the concept of separation, secession from the state (secession).

Self-determined, in the sense of secession, even under the Provisional Government, the Polish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian nations. Self-determination of the Soviet republics through secession, in conditions of military and economic ruin, was tantamount to suicide. By the time of the revolution, Russia, at its core, remained a traditional society with deep communal traditions, a patriarchal Asian mode of production that gravitated toward administrative methods of managing the economy. These reasons significantly influenced the form of self-determination. Stalin - People's Commissar for Nationalities Affairs, then the head of state - actually laid down the tradition of treating self-determination exclusively as a separation, which, in turn, turned out to be illusory, since the right of the working class to strengthen its dictatorship was considered higher than the right to self-determination.

As a result, one type of domination - on behalf of the Great Russian nation was replaced by another - on behalf of the Great Russian proletariat. The Russian nation retained its dominant position in the USSR in the administrative and political aspect. At the same time, in the socio-economic sense, the Russian ethnos lived for decades no better than its politically dependent brothers in socialism.

In words, the inadmissibility of forced assimilation was proclaimed. If assimilation is carried out without coercion, then there is nothing reprehensible in it. In countries Western Europe and America are actively assimilated by immigrants. In practice, a line was pursued for the forced assimilation of small nationalities, the liquidation of organizations involved in national affairs. In the mid-1930s, 250 national districts were liquidated, including the German national district in Altai, and 5,300 national rural Soviets. In Stalin's report on the draft constitution, it was stated that there were 60 ethno-social communities in the country, although even during the 1926 census, 194 ethnic groups were taken into account. In the 1940s, the autonomies of the Volga Germans, Kalmyks, Crimean Tatars, Balkars, Ingush, Chechens-Akins and other peoples were liquidated, and they themselves were deported - forcibly evicted from ethnic territories with deprivation of civil rights.

Elements of "Russification" were clearly traced in the language policy. Today, out of 120 languages ​​spoken in Russia, only four (Russian, Tatar, Bashkir and Yakut) have access to a complete secondary education.

Since the ethnic structure of society was built on the principle of a branching tree ( autonomous regions included in the areas autonomous regions- to the regions, etc.), small ethnic groups were subordinate to larger ones. Therefore, for example, in Tajikistan they ignored the problems of the peoples of the Pamirs, and in Azerbaijan - of Nagorno-Karabakh. Some ethnic groups have become objects of real ethnocide, that is, destruction on the basis of belonging to ethnic communities or the creation of conditions for their narrowed reproduction. This concerns, first of all, the peoples of the North and Siberia, who survived for 5-6 millennia and were undermined in 30-40 years. Their numbers are declining, and the average life expectancy is much lower than the national average.

These sad facts and trends should not obscure the outstanding achievements of the USSR in the economic and cultural fields of most nations. Many of them acquired their own written language and reached a level of education comparable to developed countries world, created national cinema and literature. From 1922 to 1985 the volume of industrial output in Kazakhstan increased 950 times, in Tajikistan - 905 times, in Kyrgyzstan - 720 times. The national outskirts developed at a much higher rate than Russia. The terrible trials of the Great Patriotic War and a nationwide victory over fascism.

We paid great attention to the mistakes made earlier and miscalculations in national policy, because it was they who created the prerequisites for a sharp aggravation of national relations in the late 80s and early 90s. The policy of glasnost stirred up all the old grievances, and the crisis phenomena in the economy of most regions paved the way, first for the spread of nationalism, and then for socio-political movements for secession from the USSR.

Ethnonationalism -it is the proclamation of the priority of ethnic values ​​over personal and group values, propaganda of the exclusivity and superiority of one nation over others.

The rise of national self-consciousness was accompanied by an increase in tension and conflict in interethnic relations, the emergence of strong centrifugal tendencies. The adventurism of politicians completed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sociologists, ethnologists, and lawyers faced new serious questions that required special research. The problem of forms of implementation of the sovereignty of national-state formations - the subjects of the Russian Federation - has become particularly acute. The migration activity of Russian and Russian-speaking national groups in the former republics of the USSR has sharply increased. Social well-being deteriorated. If during the period of stagnation the assimilation of other nationalities by Russians was real, today we can talk about the other extreme - the forced assimilation of Russians, and in some republics - Chechnya, Latvia, Estonia - flagrant violations of civil rights, ethnic cleansing.

In the geopolitical space of the former USSR, the number of ethnic conflicts has sharply increased, that is, those in which the confrontation takes place along the lines of an ethnic community. The disproportions between the ethnic and social structures in the republics intensified. Back in the 70s, while maintaining the mono-ethnicity of the rural population prestigious professions began to turn into a privilege of the titular nationality, and the share of the latter in the working class was reduced. Under the influence of the emigration of the Russian-speaking population in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the national working class almost disappeared. Kazakhs made up no more than 1% of workers in industry in the mid-80s, and today their share has dropped to 0.5%.