NATIONAL POLICY IN THE SOVIET ERA AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

The Soviet Union implemented a comprehensive national policy aimed at managing the diversity of its multi-ethnic population. This policy combined elements of centralized governance, cultural promotion, and social engineering with strategies designed to integrate various ethnic groups into the Soviet state. While the official narrative emphasized equality, internationalism, and cultural development, the practical implementation of these policies often resulted in significant social, political, and cultural consequences. The policy included measures such as korenizatsiya (indigenization), the promotion of local languages and elites, territorial delimitation, and later periods of Russification. These policies had both positive and negative effects: they facilitated literacy, urbanization, and economic participation among national minorities but also led to the suppression of local traditions, forced migrations, and social hierarchies favoring certain groups.