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95-578: The city stands near the site of Uvek , a city of the Golden Horde . Tsar Feodor I of Russia likely developed Saratov as a fortress to secure Russia's southeastern border. Saratov developed as a shipping port along the Volga and was historically important to the Volga Germans , who settled in large numbers in the city before they were expelled before and during World War II . Saratov

190-462: A city of the Golden Horde , stood near the site of the modern city of Saratov from the mid-13th century until its destruction by Tamerlane in 1395. While the exact date of the foundation of modern Saratov is unknown, plausible theories date it to ca. 1590, during the reign (1584–1598) of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich , who constructed several settlements along the Volga River in order to secure

285-588: A distinct process. Russianization and Sovietization, for example, did not automatically lead to Russification – a change in language or self-identity of non-Russian people to being Russian. Thus, despite long exposure to the Russian language and culture, as well as to Sovietization, at the end of the Soviet era , non-Russians were on the verge of becoming a majority of the population in the Soviet Union . After

380-483: A double goal. On the one hand, it had been an effort to counter Russian chauvinism by assuring a place for non-Russian languages and cultures in the newly formed Soviet Union. On the other hand, it was a means to prevent the formation of alternative ethnically based political movements , including pan-Islamism and pan-Turkism . One way of accomplishing this was to promote what some regard as artificial distinctions between ethnic groups and languages rather than promoting

475-530: A few reminders remain of the once prominent place for Volga Germans. The Roman Catholic St. Klemens Cathedral, which had been built by the Volga Germans on the main street of Saratov, the then called "German Street" ( German : Deutsche Straße , Russian : Немецкая Улица , romanized :  Nemetskaya Ulitsa ), has its steeples removed and was converted into the Pioneer Cinema by order of

570-599: A historical sense, the term refers to both official and unofficial policies of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union concerning their national constituents and to national minorities in Russia, aimed at Russian domination and hegemony. The major areas of Russification are politics and culture. In politics, an element of Russification is assigning Russian nationals to lead administrative positions in national institutions. In culture, Russification primarily amounts to

665-591: A large scale. Nominally, this process was guided by the principle of "voluntary parental choice." But other factors also came into play, including the size and formal political status of the group in the Soviet federal hierarchy and the prevailing level of bilingualism among parents. By the early 1970s schools in which non-Russian languages served as the principal medium of instruction operated in 45 languages, while seven more indigenous languages were taught as subjects of study for at least one class year. By 1980, instruction

760-468: A music school. Before the opening of the conservatory in 1912, the building was reconstructed by the architect Semyon Akimovich Kallistratov. When Saratov Conservatory opened in September 1912, it immediately had 1,000 students ready to begin their studies. The Saratov Drama Theater was founded in 1802, making it one of Russia's oldest. It is ranked as one of Russia's National Theaters. In Soviet times,

855-548: A people totalling less than one million in number. On 19 June 2018, the Russian State Duma adopted a bill that made education in all languages but Russian optional, overruling previous laws by ethnic autonomies , and reducing instruction in minority languages to only two hours a week. This bill has been likened by some commentators, such as in Foreign Affairs , to the policy of Russification. When

950-469: A second language but they also adopted it as their home language or mother tongue – although some still retained their sense of ethnic identity or origins even after shifting their native language to Russian. This includes both the traditional communities (e.g., Lithuanians in the northwestern Belarus ( see Eastern Vilnius region ) or the Kaliningrad Oblast ( see Lithuania Minor )) and

1045-1176: A second language or using it as a primary language. In the last decades of the Soviet Union, ethnic Russification (or ethnic assimilation ) was moving very rapidly for a few nationalities such as the Karelians and Mordvinians . Whether children born in mixed families to one Russian parent were likely to be raised as Russians depended on the context. For example, the majority of children in North Kazakhstan with one of each parent chose Russian as their nationality on their internal passport at age 16. Children of mixed Russian and Estonian parents living in Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia ), or mixed Russian and Latvian parents living in Riga (the capital of Latvia ), or mixed Russian and Lithuanian parents living in Vilnius (the capital of Lithuania ) most often chose as their own nationality that of

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1140-422: A single common language would be adopted by all nationalities in the Soviet Union, "the obliteration of national distinctions, and especially language distinctions, is a considerably more drawn-out process than the obliteration of class distinctions." At the time, Soviet nations and nationalities were further flowering their cultures and drawing together (сближение – sblizhenie) into a stronger union. In his Report on

1235-485: Is July with daily mean temperature near +23 °C (73 °F); the coldest is February, at −8 °C (18 °F). Summers are hot and in Saratov daytime temperatures of +30 °C (86 °F) or higher are commonplace, up to +40.9 °C (105.6 °F) during a heat wave in 2010 . Snow and ice are dominant during the winter season. Days well above freezing and nights below −25 °C (−13 °F) both occur in

1330-461: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Russification Russification ( Russian : русификация , romanized :  rusifikatsiya ), Russianisation or Russianization , is a form of cultural assimilation in which non- Russians , whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian culture and the Russian language . In

1425-515: Is a general aviation airfield. The aerospace manufacturing industry is served by the Saratov South airport. Nearby Engels-2 (air base) is the main base for Russian strategic Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers. Motorways link Saratov directly to Volgograd, Samara, and Voronezh. The railways also play an important role. The Privolzhskaya Railway is headquartered in Saratov. The Volga itself is an important inland waterway. Buses and trolleybuses form

1520-980: Is home to a number of cultural and educational institutions, including the Saratov Drama Theater , Saratov Conservatory , Radishchev Art Museum , Saratov State Technical University , and Saratov State University . The name Saratov may have been derived from, Sary Tau (Сары Тау), meaning "Yellow Mountain" in the Tatar language. Another version of the name originates from the words, Sar Atau , which means [the] "Boggy Island". [REDACTED] Tsardom of Russia ca. 1590–1721 [REDACTED] Russian Empire 1721–1917 [REDACTED] Russian Republic 1917–1918 [REDACTED] Russian Democratic Federal Republic 1918 [REDACTED] Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 1918–1922 [REDACTED] Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 1918–1991 [REDACTED] Russian Federation 1991–present Uvek ,

1615-802: The Caucasus , and in the Volga region (including Tatarstan ). This detached the local Muslim populations from exposure to the language and writing system of the Quran . The new alphabet for these languages was based on the Latin alphabet and was also inspired by the Turkish alphabet . By the late 1930s, the policy had changed. In 1939–1940, the Soviets decided that a number of these languages (including Tatar , Kazakh , Uzbek , Turkmen , Tajik , Kyrgyz , Azerbaijani , and Bashkir ) would henceforth use variations of

1710-510: The Cyrillic script (see Cyrillization in the Soviet union ). Not only that, the spelling and writing of these new Cyrillic words must also be in accordance with the Russian language. Some historians evaluating the Soviet Union as a colonial empire , applied the " prison of nations " idea to the USSR. Thomas Winderl wrote "The USSR became in a certain sense more a prison-house of nations than

1805-474: The Cyrillic script . Before and during World War II, Joseph Stalin deported to Central Asia and Siberia many entire nationalities for their alleged and largely disproven collaboration with the German invaders: Volga Germans , Crimean Tatars , Chechens , Ingush , Balkars , Kalmyks , and others. Shortly after the war, he deported many Ukrainians , Balts , and Estonians to Siberia as well. After

1900-672: The Saratov State Socio-Economic University , the Saratov State Technical University , and many scientific and technological laboratories attached to some of the city's large industrial enterprises. Saratov is served by the Saratov Gagarin Airport (opened in 20 August 2019 replacing Saratov Tsentralny Airport ). The airport serves flights to both international and domestic destinations. Saratov West

1995-525: The 10th class), the pattern of using the Russian language as the main medium of instruction accelerated after Khrushchev's parental choice program got underway. Pressure to convert the main medium of instruction to Russian was evidently higher in urban areas. For example, in 1961–62, reportedly only 6% of Tatar children living in urban areas attended schools in which Tatar was the main medium of instruction. Similarly in Dagestan in 1965, schools in which

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2090-439: The 1459 map by Fra Mauro . Timur 's troops sacked the city in 1395. The ruins of Ukek were described by Anthony Jenkinson in 1558. In 2014, archaeologists associated with the Saratov museum unearthed what they believed to be the remains of two Christian temples, along with artefacts identified as being imported from Rome, Egypt, Iran and China, indicating the wealth of the city. This Russian history –related article

2185-683: The 1970s schooling was offered in at least seven languages in Uzbekistan : Russian, Uzbek , Tajik , Kazakh , Turkmen , Kyrgyz , and Karakalpak . While formally all languages were equal, in almost all Soviet republics the Russian/local bilingualism was "asymmetric": the titular nation learned Russian, whereas immigrant Russians generally did not learn the local language. In addition, many non-Russians who lived outside their respective administrative units tended to become Russified linguistically; that is, they not only learned Russian as

2280-453: The 19th century, Russian settlers on traditional Kazakh land (misidentified as Kyrgyz at the time) drove many of the Kazakhs over the border to China. Russification was extended to non-Muscovite ethnographic groups that composed former Kievan Rus , namely Ukrainians and Belarusians , whose vernacular language and culture developed differently from that of Muscovy due to separation after

2375-648: The 19th century. Russian Imperial authorities as well as modern Russian nationalists asserted that Russification was an organic national consolidation process that would accomplish the goals of homogenizing the Russian nation as they saw it, and reversing the effects of Polonization . After the 1917 revolution , authorities in the USSR decided to abolish the use of the Arabic alphabet in native languages in Soviet-controlled Central Asia, in

2470-564: The 2021 Census, the following ethnic groups were listed: Saratov is host to a number of colleges and universities. These include the Saratov State University (1909), Saratov State Technical University , Saratov State Medical University , Saratov State Academy of Law and Saratov State Agrarian University . In 2014 a newly renovated campus for the Saratov Regional College of Art was opened. One of

2565-603: The Caucasus called for the legislation to be blocked. On 10 September 2019, Udmurt activist Albert Razin self-immolated in front of the regional government building in Izhevsk as it was considering passing the controversial bill to reduce the status of the Udmurt language . Between 2002 and 2010 the number of Udmurt speakers dwindled from 463,000 to 324,000. Other languages in the Volga region recorded similar declines in

2660-588: The Communist Party's socialist project for the Soviet society as a whole but have active participation and leadership by the indigenous nationalities and operate primarily in the local languages. Early nationality policies shared with later policy the object of assuring control by the Communist Party over all aspects of Soviet political, economic, and social life. The early Soviet policy of promoting what one scholar has described as "ethnic particularism" and another as "institutionalized multinationality", had

2755-610: The Duma representatives from the Caucasus did not oppose the bill, it prompted a large outcry in the North Caucasus with representatives from the region being accused of cowardice. The law was also seen as possibly destabilizing, threatening ethnic relations and revitalizing the various North Caucasian nationalist movements. The International Circassian Organization called for the law to be rescinded before it came into effect. Twelve of Russia's ethnic autonomies, including five in

2850-475: The North Caucasus is nearly devoid of schools that teach in mainly their native languages, with the exception of one school in North Ossetia, and a few in rural regions of Dagestan; this is true even in largely monoethnic Chechnya and Ingushetia. Chechen and Ingush are still used as languages of everyday communication to a greater degree than their North Caucasian neighbours, but sociolinguistics argue that

2945-617: The Program to the Congress, Khrushchev used even stronger language: that the process of further rapprochement (sblizhenie) and greater unity of nations would eventually lead to a merging or fusion (слияние – sliyanie) of nationalities. Khrushchev's formula of rapprochement-fusing was moderated slightly when Leonid Brezhnev replaced Khrushchev as General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1964 (a post he held until his death in 1982). Brezhnev asserted that rapprochement would lead ultimately to

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3040-551: The RSFSR, whereas 27% of children in classes I-IV (primary school) studied in Russian-language schools, 53% of those in classes V-VIII (incomplete secondary school) studied in Russian-language schools, and 66% of those in classes IX-X studied in Russian-language schools. Although many non-Russian languages were still offered as a subject of study at a higher class level (in some cases through complete general secondary school –

3135-403: The Russian language gained greater emphasis. In 1938, Russian became a required subject of study in every Soviet school, including those in which a non-Russian language was the principal medium of instruction for other subjects (e.g., mathematics, science, and social studies). In 1939, non-Russian languages that had been given Latin-based scripts in the late 1920s were given new scripts based on

3230-644: The Russian language was regarded as the language for interethnic communication for the whole Soviet Union. Therefore, for most of the Soviet era, especially after the korenizatsiya (indigenization) policy ended in the 1930s, schools in which non-Russian Soviet languages would be taught were not generally available outside the respective ethnically based administrative units of these ethnicities. Some exceptions appeared to involve cases of historic rivalries or patterns of assimilation between neighboring non-Russian groups, such as between Tatars and Bashkirs in Russia or among major Central Asian nationalities. For example, even in

3325-542: The Russian word narod ("people") implied an ethnic community , not just a civic or political community. October 13, 1978, the Soviet Council of Ministers enacted (but did not officially publish) 1978 Decree No. 835, titled "On measures to further improve the teaching and learning of the Russian language in the Union Republics", directing mandating the teaching of Russian , starting in first grade, in

3420-637: The Soviet era, a significant number of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians migrated to other Soviet republics, and many of them settled there. According to the last census in 1989, the Russian 'diaspora' in the non-Russian Soviet republics had reached 25 million. Progress in the spread of the Russian language as a second language and the gradual displacement of other languages was monitored in Soviet censuses. The Soviet censuses of 1926, 1937, 1939, and 1959, had included questions on "native language" (родной язык) as well as "nationality." The 1970, 1979, and 1989 censuses added to these questions one on "other language of

3515-551: The Soviet government (religion was prohibited). Meanwhile, the old German Street, the pedestrian street of Saratov, was renamed Kirov Prospect in reference to the Bolshevik leader Sergei Kirov . On April 18, 2022, Kirov Prospect was officially renamed by decree of the city mayor to Stolypin Prospect. Saratov is the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions , it also serves as

3610-440: The USSR to use their native languages and the free development of these languages will be ensured in the future as well. At the same time learning the Russian language, which has been voluntarily accepted by the Soviet people as a medium of communication between different nationalities, besides the language of one's nationality, broadens one's access to the achievements of science and technology and of Soviet and world culture. During

3705-524: The administrative center of Saratovsky District , even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Saratov —an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts . As a municipal division , the city of oblast significance of Saratov is incorporated as Saratov Urban Okrug . Saratov has a moderately continental climate with warm summers, relatively dry climate and an abundance of sunny days. The warmest month

3800-509: The amalgamation of these groups and a common set of languages based on Turkish or another regional language. The Soviet nationalities policy from its early years sought to counter these two tendencies by assuring a modicum of cultural autonomy to non-Russian nationalities within a federal system or structure of government, though maintaining that the ruling Communist Party was monolithic, not federal. A process of "national-territorial delimitation" ( ru:национально-территориальное размежевание )

3895-455: The backbone of public transport in the city. Saratov has a tram network, which opened in 1908. Currently, there are two depots, while a third was closed in 2001. The rolling stock currently consists of 71-605 , 71-619 , 71-608 and a number of refurbished Tatra T3 , renamed to MTTE and MTTCh. A trolleybus network is also present in the city. On July 2, 2021, an intercity route over the Volga

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3990-523: The bill was still being considered, advocates for minorities warned that the bill could endanger their languages and traditional cultures. The law came after a lawsuit in the summer of 2017, where a Russian mother claimed that her son had been "materially harmed" by learning the Tatar language , while in a speech Putin argued that it was wrong to force someone to learn a language that is not their own. The later "language crackdown" in which autonomous units were forced to stop mandatory hours of native languages

4085-503: The city center, on the outskirts of the Zavodskoy district of Saratov . A settlement situated next to the ruins still has the name Uvek (Увек). Several medieval chroniclers make reference to Ukek. Ibn Battuta stopped here, and called it "a city of middling size, with fine buildings and abundant commodities, and extremely cold". It is also marked on some contemporary maps, including the 1367 map by Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano and

4180-473: The city's most prominent landmarks is the 19th century neo-Gothic Conservatory . When it was built in 1912, the Conservatory was Russia's third such institution (after Moscow and St. Petersburg). At the time, Saratov, with a population of 240,000, was the third-largest city in Russia. The main building of the conservatory had been built in 1902 by architect Alexander Yulyevich Yagn, and originally it housed

4275-466: The collapse of the Soviet Union, especially in connection with urbanization and the declining population replacement rates (particularly low among the more western groups). As a result, several of Russia's indigenous languages and cultures are currently considered endangered . E.g. between the 1989 and 2002 censuses, the assimilation numbers of the Mordvins have totalled over 100,000, a major loss for

4370-476: The communities that appeared during Soviet times such as Ukrainian or Belarusian workers in Kazakhstan or Latvia , whose children attended primarily the Russian-language schools and thus the further generations are primarily speaking Russian as their native language; for example, 57% of Estonia's Ukrainians, 70% of Estonia's Belarusians and 37% of Estonia's Latvians claimed Russian as the native language in

4465-491: The complete unity of nationalities. "Unity" is an ambiguous term because it can imply either the maintenance of separate national identities but a higher stage of mutual attraction, similarity between nationalities or total disappearance of ethnic differences. In the political context of the time, rapprochement-unity was regarded as a softening of the pressure toward Russification that Khrushchev had promoted with his endorsement of sliyanie. The 24th Party Congress in 1971 launched

4560-430: The continued flourishing of the nations and nationalities and the fact that they are steadily and voluntarily drawing closer together on the basis of equality and fraternal cooperation. Neither artificial prodding nor holding back of the objective trends of development is admissible here. In the long term historical perspective, this development will lead to complete unity of the nations.... The equal right of all citizens of

4655-528: The cultural values and traditions of the Muslim population. Eventually, 240 such schools for both boys and girls, including a women's college founded in 1901, were established prior to the "Sovietization" of the South Caucasus. The first Russian-Azeri reference library opened in 1894. In 1918, during the short period of Azerbaijan's independence , the government declared Azeri the official language, but

4750-627: The current situation will lead to their degradation relative to Russian as well. In 2020, a set of amendments to the Russian constitution was approved by the State Duma and later the Federation Council . One of the amendments enshrined Russian nation as the "state-forming nationality" (Russian: государствообразующий народ ) and Russian the “language of the state-forming nationality”. The amendment has been met with criticism from Russia's minorities who argue that it goes against

4845-432: The domination of the Russian language in official business and the strong influence of the Russian language on national idioms. The shifts in demographics in favour of the ethnic Russian population are sometimes considered a form of Russification as well. Some researchers distinguish Russification , as a process of changing one's ethnic self-label or identity from a non-Russian ethnonym to Russian, from Russianization ,

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4940-418: The end of the Soviet era, doctrinal rationalization had been provided for some of the practical policy steps that were taken in the areas of education and the media. First of all, the transfer of many "national schools" (schools based on local languages) to Russian as a medium of instruction accelerated under Khrushchev in the late 1950s and continued into the 1980s. Second, the new doctrine was used to justify

5035-421: The federal system. Federalism and the provision of native-language education ultimately left as a legacy a large non-Russian public that was educated in the languages of their ethnic groups and that identified a particular homeland on the territory of the Soviet Union. By the late 1930s, policies had shifted. Purges in some of the national regions, such as Ukraine , had occurred already in the early 1930s. Before

5130-535: The finest Russian painters (e.g. Ivan Kramskoy , Vasily Polenov , Ilya Repin , Ivan Shishkin , Aleksandra Ekster , Pavel Kuznetsov , Aristarkh Lentulov , Robert Falk , Pyotr Konchalovsky , Martiros Saryan , Fyodor Rokotov ). Several sports clubs are active in the city: Saratov is twinned with: Ukek 51°25′15″N 45°57′45″E  /  51.42083°N 45.96250°E  / 51.42083; 45.96250 Ukek or Uvek ( Turki / Kypchak : اوکک ‎; Tatar : Ükäk ; Russian : Увек )

5225-433: The first class (grade) in 67 languages between 1934 and 1980. Educational reforms were undertaken after Nikita Khrushchev became First Secretary of the Communist Party in the late 1950s and launched a process of replacing non-Russian schools with Russian ones for the nationalities that had lower status in the federal system, the nationalities whose populations were smaller and the nationalities which were already bilingual on

5320-548: The former of which resulted in Mordvins no longer being among the top ten largest ethnic groups in Russia. Russia was introduced to the South Caucasus following its colonisation in the first half of the nineteenth century after Qajar Iran was forced to cede its Caucasian territories per the Treaty of Gulistan and Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1813 and 1828 respectively to Russia. By 1830 there were schools with Russian as

5415-510: The government began to apply an aggressive Russification policy, which meant that from 1878 some groups of Volga Germans began to emigrate to the United States , Canada , Brazil and Argentina . Those who could not leave or who remained in the hope conditions would improve suffered greatly. Hostilities did not stop even after the confiscation of their assets. In 1941, Stalin ordered the deportation of all ethnic Germans . Today only

5510-541: The health of the Russian people, because in this war they earned general recognition as the leading force of the Soviet Union among all the nationalities of our country. The view was reflected in the new State Anthem of the Soviet Union which started with: "An unbreakable union of free republics, Great Russia has sealed forever." Anthems of nearly all Soviet republics mentioned "Russia" or "Russian nation" singled out as "brother", "friend", "elder brother" ( Uzbek SSR ) or "stronghold of friendship" ( Turkmen SSR ). Although

5605-420: The idea that a new " Soviet people " was forming on the territory of the USSR, a community for which the common language – the language of the "Soviet people" – was the Russian language, consistent with the role that Russian was playing for the fraternal nations and nationalities in the territory already. This new community was labeled a people (народ – narod ), not a nation (нация – natsiya ), but in that context

5700-473: The indigenous language was the medium of instruction existed only in rural areas. The pattern was probably similar, if less extreme, in most of the non-Russian union republics , although in Belarus and Ukraine, schooling in urban areas was highly Russianized. The promotion of federalism and of non-Russian languages had always been a strategic decision aimed at expanding and maintaining Communist Party rule. On

5795-601: The language of instruction in the cities of Shusha , Baku , Yelisavetpol ( Ganja ), and Shemakha ( Shamakhi ); later such schools were established in Kuba ( Quba ), Ordubad , and Zakataly ( Zaqatala ). Education in Russian was unpopular amongst ethnic Azerbaijanis until 1887 when Habib bey Mahmudbeyov and Sultan Majid Ganizadeh founded the first Russian–Azerbaijani school in Baku. A secular school with instruction in both Russian and Azeri , its programs were designed to be consistent with

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5890-445: The last Soviet census of 1989. Russian replaced Yiddish and other languages as the main language of many Jewish communities inside the Soviet Union as well. Another consequence of the mixing of nationalities and the spread of bilingualism and linguistic Russification was the growth of ethnic intermarriage and a process of ethnic Russification—coming to call oneself Russian by nationality or ethnicity, not just speaking Russian as

5985-606: The law came after a decade in which educational opportunities in the indigenous languages was reduced by more than 50%, due to budget reductions and federal efforts to decrease the role of languages other than Russian. During this period, numerous indigenous languages in the North Caucasus showed significant decreases in their numbers of speakers even though the numbers of the corresponding nationalities increased, leading to fears of language replacement . The numbers of Ossetian, Kumyk and Avar speakers dropped by 43,000, 63,000 and 80,000 respectively. As of 2018, it has been reported that

6080-441: The most widely spoken language, and that Russians were the majority of the population of the country, were also cited in justification of the special place of the Russian language in government, education, and the media. At the 27th CPSU Party Congress in 1986, presided over by Mikhail Gorbachev , the 4th Party Program reiterated the formulas of the previous program: Characteristic of the national relations in our country are both

6175-473: The number of speakers; between the 2002 and 2010 censuses the number of Mari speakers declined from 254,000 to 204,000 while Chuvash recorded only 1,042,989 speakers in 2010, a 21.6% drop from 2002. This is attributed to a gradual phasing out of indigenous language teaching both in the cities and rural areas while regional media and governments shift exclusively to Russian. In the North Caucasus ,

6270-445: The official literature on nationalities and languages in subsequent years continued to speak of there being 130 equal languages in the USSR, in practice a hierarchy was endorsed in which some nationalities and languages were given special roles or viewed as having different long-term futures. An analysis of textbook publishing found that education was offered for at least one year and it was also offered to children who were in at least

6365-493: The old Empire had ever been." Stalin's Marxism and the National Question (1913) provided the basic framework for nationality policy in the Soviet Union. The early years of said policy, from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s, were guided by the policy of korenizatsiya ("indigenization"), during which the new Soviet regime sought to reverse the long-term effects of Russification on the non-Russian populations. As

6460-535: The other 14 Republics. The new rule was accompanied by a statement that Russian was a "second native language" for all Soviet citizens and "the only means of participation in social life across the nation." The Councils of Ministers of the Republics across the USSR enacted resolutions based on Decree No. 835. Other aspects of Russification contemplated that native languages would gradually be removed from newspapers, radio and television in favor of Russian. Thus, until

6555-587: The partitioning of Kievan Rus. The mentality behind Russification when applied to these groups differed from that applied to others, in that they were claimed to be part of the All-Russian or Triune Russian nation by the Russian Imperial government and by subscribers to Russophilia . Russification competed with contemporary nationalist movements in Ukraine and Belarus that were developing during

6650-400: The peoples of the USSR" that an individual could "use fluently" (свободно владеть). It is speculated that the explicit goal of the new question on the "second language" was to monitor the spread of Russian as the language of internationality communication. Each of the official homelands within the Soviet Union was regarded as the only homeland of the titular nationality and its language, while

6745-653: The principle that Russia is a multinational state and will only marginalize them further. The amendments were welcomed by Russian nationalists , such as Konstantin Malofeev and Nikolai Starikov . The changes in Constitution were preceded by "Strategy of government's national policy of Russian Federation" issued in December 2018, which stated that "all-Russian civic identity is founded on Russia cultural dominant, inherent to all nations of Russian Federation". With

6840-406: The railroad for 39 years, before the construction of a railway bridge in 1935. During January 1915, with World War I dominating the Russian national agenda, Saratov became the destination for deportation convoys of ethnic Germans, Jews, Hungarians, Austrians and Slavs whose presence closer to the western front was perceived as a potential security risk to the state. During World War II , Saratov

6935-488: The regime was trying to establish its power and legitimacy throughout the former Russian empire, it went about constructing regional administrative units, recruiting non-Russians into leadership positions, and promoting non-Russian languages in government administration, the courts, the schools, and the mass media. The slogan then established was that local cultures should be "socialist in content but national in form." That is, these cultures should be transformed to conform with

7030-535: The release of the latest census in 2022, results showed a catastrophic decline in the number of many ethnic groups, particularly peoples of the Volga region. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of people identifying as ethnic Mari dropped by 22.6%, from 548,000 to 424,000 people. Ethnic Chuvash and Udmurts dropped by 25% and 30% respectively. More vulnerable groups like the Mordvins and Komi-Permyaks saw even larger declines, dropping by 35% and 40% respectively,

7125-461: The settlers that they would remain German, enjoying a great deal of autonomy, even if they moved to the Volga region, and they did so. There, the Germans continued with their German language, their own education, their churches, their publications, etc. However, after more than a century living in that region, the living conditions of the Germans began to change. Catherine II was no longer alive, and

7220-471: The southeastern boundary of his state. Town status was granted to it in 1708. By the 1800s, Saratov had grown to become an important shipping port on the Volga. The Ryazan-Ural Railroad reached Saratov in 1870. In 1896, the line crossed the Volga and continued its eastward expansion. A unique train-ferry, owned by the Ryazan-Ural railroad, provided the connection across the river between the two ends of

7315-401: The special place of the Russian language as the "language of inter-nationality communication" (язык межнационального общения) in the USSR. Use of the term "inter-nationality" (межнациональное) rather than the more conventional "international" (международное) focused on the special internal role of Russian language rather than on its role as a language of international discourse. That Russian was

7410-491: The spread of the Russian language, culture, and people into non-Russian cultures and regions, distinct also from Sovietization or the imposition of institutional forms established by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union throughout the territory ruled by that party. In this sense, although Russification is usually conflated across Russification, Russianization, and Russian-led Sovietization, each can be considered

7505-965: The theater was renamed in honor of Karl Marx, but now carries the name of Ivan Slonov (1882–1945), an actor, theatrical director and educator, born in the city. The full name in Russian is The I. A. Slonov Saratov State Academic Theater ( Саратовский государственный академический театр драмы имени И. А. Слонова ). Saratov is noted for several art museums, including the Radishchev Art Museum , named for Alexander Radishchev , Fedin Art Museum, named after Russian novelist Konstantin Fedin , Saratov Local History Museum, Chernyshevsky Estate Museum, named for Nikolay Chernyshevsky , and some others. The Radishchev Art Museum contains more than 20,000 exhibits, including ancient Russian icons , works by Camille Corot , Auguste Rodin , as well as works by some of

7600-477: The theoretical plane, the Communist Party's official doctrine was of eventual national differences and nationalities as such would disappear. In official party doctrine as it was reformulated in the Third Program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union introduced by Nikita Khrushchev at the 22nd Party Congress in 1961, although the program stated that ethnic distinctions would eventually disappear and

7695-557: The titular nationality of their republic – not Russian. More generally, patterns of linguistic and ethnic assimilation (Russification) were complex and cannot be accounted for by any single factor such as educational policy. Also relevant were the traditional cultures and religions of the groups, their residence in urban or rural areas, their contact with and exposure to the Russian language and to ethnic Russians, and other factors. Defunct The enforced Russification of Russia's remaining indigenous minorities continued in Russia after

7790-580: The turnabout in Ukraine in 1933, a purge of Veli İbraimov and his leadership in the Crimean ASSR in 1929 for "national deviation" led to the Russianization of government, education, and the media and to the creation of a special alphabet for Crimean Tatar to replace the Latin alphabet. Of the two dangers that Joseph Stalin had identified in 1923, now bourgeois nationalism (local nationalism)

7885-464: The two collapses: of Russian Empire in 1917 and Soviet Union in 1991 major processes of derussification took place. The Russification of Uralic-speaking people, such as Vepsians , Mordvins , Maris , and Permians , indigenous to large parts of western and central Russia had already begun with the original eastward expansion of East Slavs . Written records of the oldest period are scarce, but toponymic evidence indicates that this expansion

7980-457: The war, the leading role of the Russian people in the Soviet family of nations and nationalities was promoted by Stalin and his successors. This shift was most clearly underscored by Communist Party General Secretary Stalin's Victory Day toast to the Russian people in May 1945: I would like to raise a toast to the health of our Soviet people and, before all, the Russian people. I drink, before all, to

8075-472: The winter. Saratov Oblast is highly industrialized, due in part to the richness in natural and industrial resources of the area. The oblast is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centers in Russia. Saratov possesses six institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences , twenty-one research institutes, nineteen project institutes, as well as the Saratov State University ,

8170-526: Was a city of the Golden Horde , situated on the banks of the Volga River , at the Uvekovka estuary. Ukek marked the half-way distance between Sarai , the capital of the Golden Horde, and Bolghar , the former capital of Volga Bulgaria . Probably established in the 1240s, Ukek became an important trade center by the early 14th century. Its ruins are located about 22 kilometres (14 mi) south of

8265-452: Was a station on the north–south Volzhskaya Rokada , a specially designated military railroad supplying troops, ammunition and supplies to Stalingrad . In 1942-1943 the city was bombed by German aircraft. The main target was the Kirov oil refinery, which was heavily bombarded, seriously damaging the installation and destroying 80% of its plant and temporarily interrupting its work. The Luftwaffe

8360-534: Was able to destroy all the fuel stock at bases in Saratov and eliminate the oil plant in the city. Until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet authorities designated Saratov a " closed city "; off-limits to all foreigners due to its military importance as the site of a vital facility manufacturing military aircraft. Saratov played a prominent role in the history of the Volga Germans . Catherine II , through her two edicts published in Germany, had promised

8455-684: Was accomplished at the expense of various Volga-Finnic peoples , who were gradually assimilated by Russians; beginning with the Merya and the Muroma early in the 2nd millennium AD. In the 13th to 14th century , the Russification of the Komi began but it did not penetrate the Komi heartlands until the 18th century. However, by the 19th century, Komi-Russian bilingualism had become the norm and there

8550-583: Was also seen as a move by Putin to "build identity in Russian society". Protests and petitions against the bill by either civic society, groups of public intellectuals or regional governments came from Tatarstan (with attempts for demonstrations suppressed), Chuvashia , Mari El , North Ossetia , Kabardino-Balkaria, the Karachays , the Kumyks , the Avars , Chechnya , and Ingushetia . Although

8645-530: Was an increasing Russian influence on the Komi language . After the Russian defeat in the Crimean War in 1856 and the January Uprising of 1863, Tsar Alexander II increased Russification to reduce the threat of future rebellions. Russia was populated by many minority groups, and forcing them to accept the Russian culture was an attempt to prevent self-determination tendencies and separatism. In

8740-573: Was offered in 35 non-Russian languages of the peoples of the USSR, just over half the number in the early 1930s. In most of these languages, schooling was not offered for the complete ten-year curriculum. For example, within the Russian SFSR in 1958–59, full 10-year schooling in the native language was offered in only three languages: Russian, Tatar , and Bashkir . And some nationalities had minimal or no native-language schooling. By 1962–1963, among non-Russian nationalities that were indigenous to

8835-424: Was opened, linking to the trolleybus network of Engels . Information about revenues and expenditures of the city budget for the period 2007–2017. Saratov has a population of 901,361 within city limits and roughly 1.2 million in the urban agglomeration. More than 90% of the city's population are ethnic Russians . Among the remainder are Tatars , Kazakhs , Armenians , Azerbaijanis , Ukrainians and others. In

8930-469: Was said to be a greater threat than Great Russian chauvinism (great power chauvinism). In 1937, Faizullah Khojaev and Akmal Ikramov were removed as leaders of the Uzbek SSR , and in 1938, during the third great Moscow show trial , convicted and subsequently put to death for alleged anti-Soviet nationalist activities. After Stalin, an ethnic Georgian, became the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union,

9025-421: Was undertaken to define the official territories of the non-Russian populations within the Soviet Union. The federal system conferred the highest status to the titular nationalities of union republics, and lower status to the titular nationalities of autonomous republics, autonomous provinces, and autonomous okrugs. In all, some 50 nationalities had a republic, province, or okrug of which they held nominal control in

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