Limits Of Nationalism Flashcards
Were there more significant nationalist movements in other republics
No- the only other republic where there was a significant nationalist movement was in Georgia (huge demonstrations 1989). Elsewhere there was little demand for breaking away from the Soviet Union.
Why was nationalism limited
Limited experience of independence, the Soviet Union had allowed a degree of autonomous control, the republics had been met gainers of Soviet economic investment, loyalty to local and tribal gatherings stronger, the role of ethnic Russians
Limited experience of independence example
Ukraine- nationalist organisation Rukh founded but had little support in the eastern half of the republic. Belarusia and the Central Asian republics had less experience of independence in their history
The Soviet Union had allowed a degree of autonomous control example
Accommodated the wishes of its national peoples through supporting their languages in schools
Who gained the most from Soviet economic investment
Central Asian republics. This was an advantage of them retaining the Union
Example of loyalty to local and tribal groupings being stronger than nationalist sentiment
Violence between different Muslim groups, such as Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, and Uzbeks and Turkmens. Any wider national identity was superficial
The role of ethnic Russians
60 million Russians lived in the other republics of the SU not in Russia.
What did a referendum held in March 1991 indicate
Popular support for maintaining the Soviet Union in all of the republics outside Georgia and the Baltic republics
What also kept support for a continued union alive?
Gorbachev’s new Union Treaty of 1991- contained enough concessions for preserving language and customs in each republic to keep support alive.
Another limit of nationalism which criticised the main arguments that it was the reason for collapse
There was plenty of evidence to indicate that the Soviet Union could survive without the Baltic republics and Georgia, and the collapse of the Communist Party did not necessarily mean the collapse of the Soviet Union
