Russia is the only colonial power that never even formally gave independence to its colonies. They are still officially part of Russia and have always been exploited even tho in different ways under the tsar, the bolsheviks and now in post bolshevik times.
Never forget that Russia ends at the Ural, everything east of it are land colonies. Oppressed too much to fight for independence.
I think all nation states have stories like this to a degree which doesn’t make it ok obviously. Some argue that nation states are internalized colonialism. But the real reason I stick to my version is that it’s more catchy. We need narratives to boil things down for the beginning and later we can say “actually it’s even worse”
Russia is the only colonial power that never even formally gave independence to its colonies. They are still officially part of Russia and have always been exploited even tho in different ways under the tsar, the bolsheviks and now in post bolshevik times.
Never forget that Russia ends at the Ural, everything east of it are land colonies. Oppressed too much to fight for independence.
South “russia” was also colonized after native populations were exterminated. But that’s just me being pedantic, don’t need to over load the audience
I think all nation states have stories like this to a degree which doesn’t make it ok obviously. Some argue that nation states are internalized colonialism. But the real reason I stick to my version is that it’s more catchy. We need narratives to boil things down for the beginning and later we can say “actually it’s even worse”