the position of national minorities, 1894 to 1917

the position of national minorities

- in the middle of the nineteenth century the russian empire consisted of great russia and 'national minorities' (that is, those who did not originate from the russian peoples). the main national minority groups were from poland, finland, the caucasus and central asia and the baltic provinces. russian jews stand out as a unique national minority in that their geographical location was one that was artificially created and crossed the boundaries of other groups. - not all national minorities opposed the ruling elites during nicholas ii's rule. in general, the finns, baltic germans and christian armenians remained fairly loyal. whereas the poles, ukranians and tartars were a constant thorn in the side of nicholas ii. 

the position of national minorities

- the main objective of the 'unco-operative' national minorities was to gain autonomy or even to break away from central russian rule and gain independence. subsequently, many of the minorities were made subject to a policy of russification in order to keep them in check. - russification was the process whereby non-russian regions were drawn more securely into the framework of the empire. this involved administrative integration and the transmission of russian language, religion and culture to the peoples of national minorities. such 'social russification' was linked to economic integration especially developments telecommunications and transport. russification started with the polish revolt of 1863 and was continued by lenin, stalin and khrushchev mainly through constitutional changes and repression. 

the poles

- as a result of industrialisation in poland, a distinct proletariat emerged that showed an interest in marxism. also of prominence were nationalists who formed the national democrats group. polish politicians elected from these parties went on to make important contributions to the first and second dumas. 

the ukrainians

- although nationalism was not the same force as it was in poland, the ukranians looked to build a separate cultural identity, as reflected in literature and the arts in general. in response the tsar continued the policy of russification in ukraine. 

the caucasians

- those living in the caucasus region of russia were divided along religious lines. some, such as the armenians, were christians while others, such as the chechens were muslims. these divisions, coupled with the high level of illiteracy in the region, made russification relatively easy. nevertheless, populist movements (such as the dashnaks and the georgian mensheviks) emerged to oppose nicholas ii's repressive measures. 

the finns

- the appointment by nicholas ii of nikolai bobrikov as governor general marked a change in fortune for the finns. under bobrikov, finland was fully integrated into the russian empire and russified. this provoked much opposition and, as a result, in 1905 finland was given full autonomy. but this was quickly reneged on by stolypin in the same year. 

peoples from the baltic provinces

- at the start of the period, the baltic provinces were strongly influenced by its links with germany and its earlier rulers. the states were relatively stable and prosperous, especially given the abundant supplies of raw materials that were essential to a range of industrial activities. riga (in latvia), became a very important commercial and business centre for russia. as the russian economic influence increased in the area, russification followed naturally. but as german influence waned by the end of the century there was a rise in nationalism among native estonians, latvians and lithuanians. 

the jews

- jews never seemed to pose much direct opposition to nicholas ii. it was a perceived threat that resulted in them being treated so badly. nicholas ii continued to the anti-jewish position taken by his father. jews were accused of being 'revolutionaries' as some were affiliated to the sd's. despite nicholas' dislike of jews, he made some important concessions by allowing them to sit on the duma.