Poll! How Russian was Soviet Union?

[Methuselah]

How Russian was SU? It was Russian-Ukrainian-Belorussian mostly if we look at the population, but leaders were of all kinds of background if we look at Stalin and his friends for instance. You could smell some Mongoloid dictatorship in SU, psychedelic northern melancholic vibes in the music and also Jewish influences through literature and science (these are not bad things if we leave dictatorship). But i think it was too modern and new (and crazy) to be called Russian. It was a crazy new system with mostly Russians living in it. How Russian are purges and Soviet architecture and secular Soviet take on life in general? You tell me.

[Art23]

It was Russian-Ukrainian-Belorussian mostly if we look at the population, but leaders were of all kinds of background if we look at Stalin and his friends for instance.

All kinds of background is a wide stretch. Saying that Stalin was Georgian is a manipulation. Yes, he was Georgian who has done everything to become Russian: changed his name to Russian, spoke Russian and felt Russian. As all other leaders of Soviet Union: they refused their national identity and became Russian. Most Jews in Soviet Union changed names to Russian as well.

[Not a Cop]

Soviet Union was very Russian. First of all, Moscow was the capital. But most importantly, Russian language and culture dominated at expense of other languages and cultures which were suppressed.

It used Russian as a tool though, not with specific purpose, Lenin himself was a big russophobe.

[Renekton]

Yes

[PaleoEuropean]

The Union itself was indeed multiethnic. About 55% or so were ethnic Russians and 70% East Slavs (Belarussians, Ukrainians). The rest 30% of non-Slavic peoples were mainly Kazakhs, Caucasus peoples and Western Asians.

But what about RSFSR, the main republic in the Soviet Union? The Russian republic itself, which was by far the largest, was extremely homogeneous. About 90+% of RSFSR's population were ethnic Russians, with the percentage in European Russia, the original русская земля being almost uniformly ethnically Russian.

Not to mention there was Russian settlements in every SSR, they weren't letting other groups into their own state though.

[Art23]

It used Russian as a tool though, not with specific purpose, Lenin himself was a big russophobe.

I can agree that Russian language was a tool to create a new Soviet identity.

[Zeno]

Not to mention there was Russian settlements in every SSR, they weren't letting other groups into their own state though.

Kazakhstan is a mighty example of that. 4 million Russians in Kazakh SSR.

[Bignose Smallhat]

All kinds of background is a wide stretch. Saying that Stalin was Georgian is a manipulation. Yes, he was Georgian who has done everything to become Russian: changed his name to Russian, spoke Russian and felt Russian. As all other leaders of Soviet Union: they refused their national identity and became Russian. Most Jews in Soviet Union changed names to Russian as well.

Yeah, I'm sure the jews changed their names so they could fit in perfectly, because they love to integrate well into an existing culture.

[Rumata]

Yeah, I'm sure the jews changed their names so they could fit in perfectly, because they love to integrate well into an existing culture.

Looking integrated while keeping the core intact.