Özet:

This study will first analyze developments in the last period of the Soviet Union, important to understand today's Russian nationalism, changes in Russian nationalism and Russian national consciousness during this period, and the reactions of Russian nationalists to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Later, it will examine the understanding of Russianness in the Yeltsin period after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in Russia which became a nation-state for the first time in its history in this period. Then, this article will discuss the understanding of nationalism during the period of Vladimir Putin in the 2000s. In the Soviet Union, as a result of state policies, a degree of identification was established between the Russians and the Soviet state. The Russians, among the nations in the Soviet Union, were the nation most identified with the state. The events in the perestroika period and the collapse of the Soviet Union had important effects on Russian national consciousness. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, although most Russians distinguished themselves from the Soviet center they saw as highly bureaucratic, oppressive and exploitative, and from the newly independent republics that they perceived as economic burdens; it was not easy for them to leave the lands they considered their own. With some exceptions, a large number of Russian nationalists have adhered to the integrity of the Soviet Union and the integrity of the former Soviet territories. During the 1990s, the Yeltsin administration developed a nation-building project based on the idea that all peoples living in Russia, regardless of their ethnic identity, belong to citizenship-based Russianness. During the Yeltsin period the Russian Federation was built as a nation-state based on citizenship. The understanding that prevailed during the Yeltsin period was a nationalism based on the citizenship of the Russian Federation, other than ethnicity. During the Putin era, especially in the last period, the boundaries between the citizenship - based rossiiskii identity and ethnic based russkii identity have been intentionally blurred. The identity of Russian citizenship was Russianized, and the basis for Russian identity became the Russian language, Russian culture and values. At the same time, Putin also distanced himself from ethnic Russian nationalism. The culture and values were seen more important than the ancestry and genes to define who is included in the Russian identity. The borders of the Russian identity were extended to include members of other ethnic groups who wanted to join the value-based Russian identity. This approach’s Russian identity understanding is not limited to the official borders of the Russian Federation. This approach wants to include also the Russian world (russkii mir), which is defined as a distinct, unique civilization. In this way, a discourse that extends beyond the borders of the Russian Federation and one that can appeal to Russian and Russified groups in neighboring countries was developed. This article will trace the changes from a system where ethnic differences were recognized and strengthened in the period of the Soviet Union, to the nationalism understanding of Yeltsin period emphasizing citizenship. Then, in the period of Putin, we observe a transition to an understanding that extends the borders of Russianness to include all groups this discourse could appeal, who wanted to join this value-based Russian identity both within and outside the Russian Federation. In this approach all these groups were urged to be integrated into the broad and ambiguously defined ethnic Russian identity.

Anahtar Kelimeler: