Ethnicity and Nationhood under Communism

Abstract

The period of Communist control, starting roughly in 1917 in the case of the Soviet lands and around 1945 in the case of Central and Eastern Europe, used to be seen as a time when the differences between nations were suppressed and a determined effort was made to eradicate nationalism. In this view, the course of history was diverted for a half century or more, only to revert to ‘normality’ after 1989 or, in the Soviet case, 1991. But, in fact, as Rogers Brubaker has noted, ‘far from ruthlessly suppressing nationhood, the Soviet regime pervasively institutionalized it’ (1996: 17). That comment was made specifically about the Soviet Union, but one can say the same of Communist Central and Eastern Europe. We shall examine direct measures to promote nationhood in the course of this chapter.