Eine Russifizierung durch Sprachpolitik lässt sich bis weit ins 20. Jahrhundert nachverfolgen.

Since the beginning of the Modern Age, the Principality of Moscow was eager to expand toward the West and South of Europe. During the Romanov Dynasty Russia included broad swaths of populations that did not speak Russian and even had various different religions. After Poland was divided up and the Caucasus and parts of Central Asia had been conquered in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Czar obtained full control of very expansive cultural areas, which Russia attempted to assimilate as part of their colonization from the mid-1800s on. Such efforts were also undertaken with the weapons of language: speaking Polish, Ukrainian and Lithuanian was forbidden, and only Russian was allowed in schools and official public offices.

Autorentext

Dr. phil. Kerstin Armborst-Weihs ist Historikerin und Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz.

Prof. Dr. Jan Kusber ist Leiter des Arbeitsbereichs Osteuropäische Geschichte an der Universität Mainz.

Dr. Zaur Gasimov ist Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz.