russification

Question 1

what was russification?

Answer 1

Russification meant enforcing Russian culture on the vast numbers of ethnic minorities who lived in the Russian empire. Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians were particularly affected by Russification.

Question 2

what did russification look like in russia?

Answer 2

Russian was made the official first language of the Russian Empire, and all government business and law enforcement was to be conducted in Russian.

-Children were taught only in Russian: In Poland, for example, it was illegal to teach children in Polish.

-Russian officials were brought in to run the government of non-Russian areas of the Empire such as Finland, Poland and Latvia. Russians were also given important jobs in non-Russian areas.

-The Orthodox Church supported Russification as they wanted all Russians to join their church. Religious persecution was also, therefore, an aspect of Russification. Catholic monasteries were closed and Catholic churches were taken over by the Russian Orthodox Church.

-Perhaps the worst victims of Russification were the Jews. They were denied the same job or educational opportunities as others. The Tsarist government used Jews as scapegoats for Russia’s problems, leading to violent pogroms (a pogrom is an organised attack on Jews which saw homes set on fire and Jews murdered). Russian nationalist groups like the ‘Black Hundreds’ were well known for their attacks on Jews but the government did little to stop them.

Question 3

what was russification designed to do?

Answer 3

Russification was designed to wipe out the individual cultures of the minority groups in the Russian Empire and unite everyone behind the Tsar. In reality, it did the opposite. Many people from these national minority groups left Russia to escape persecution, while others formed or joined opposition groups to show their dissatisfaction.