Abstract

As Russia's rulers have searched for meaningful ways to unify their diverse and widely scattered population, they have resorted to the twin ideas of empire and nation. In medieval times, the Orthodox population of Rus' rallied around warrior saints who led the strategic and spiritual fight against infidels and heretics. Peter the Great turned Russia away from the middle ages when he created the image of a modern secular state to which all subjects of the realm were to be subordinated, regardless of ethnicity or creed. The last tsars attempted to restore Orthodoxy and ethnicity to their imperial model which the early Soviets replaced with the ideals of multiculturalism and multinationalism. When the Soviet model finally ran out of steam, the leaders of the new Russia that emerged were again beset by the problem of a unifying identity. The articles in this book consider how the ideas of empire and nation have led to national identities that both encouraged interaction with the rest of Europe and have erected obstacles to freedom and full membership in the Western European tradition.