Soviet fowk

**Soviet fowk**  or **Soviet naition** () or **Citizens o the USSR** () wis an umbrella demonym for the population o the Soviet Union. Initially uised as a nanspecific reference tae the Soviet population, it wis eventually declared tae be a "new historical, social an internaitional unity o fowk".

## Naitionality politics in early Soviet Union

Throu the history o the Soviet Union, baith doctrine an practice regardin ethnic distinctions athin the Soviet population varied ower time. Minority naitional culturs wur no completely abolished in the Soviet Union. Bi Soviet definition, naitional culturs wur tae be "socialist bi content an naitional bi form", tae be uised tae promote the offeecial aims an values o the state. While the goal wis aye tae cement the naitionalities thegither in a common state structur, as a pragmatic step in the 1920s an early 1930s unner the policy o korenizatsiya (indigenization) the leaders o the Communist Pairty promotit federalism an the strengthenin o nan-Roushie leids an culturs (see national delimitation in the Soviet Union).  Bi the late 1930s, housomeivver, policy shiftit tae mair active promotion o Roushie leid an later still tae mair overt Roushification efforts, which acceleratit in the 1950s especially in auries o public education. Awtho some assimilation did occur, this effort did no succeed on the whole as evidencit bi developments in mony naitional culturs in the territory efter the dissolution o the Soviet Union in 1991.

Reinforcin the distinctions in naitional identities, the Soviet state maintained information aboot "naitionality" on mony admeenistrative records, includin schuil, wirk, an militar records, as well as in the periodic censuses o population.  The infamous "fift record" (, *pyataya grafa*) wis the section o the obligatory internal passport document which statit the ceetizen's ethnicity (, *natsionalnost*). In some cases, this offeecial naitionality servit as a basis for discrimination.

## Soviet fowk as a poleetical concept
Nikita Khrushchev haed uised the term in his speech at the 22nt Communist Pairty Congress in 1961, when he declared that in the USSR thare haed formed a new historical commonty o fowk o diverse naitionalities, haein common characteristics—the Soviet fowk.

The 24t Congress o the Communist Pairty o the Soviet Union feenalisit this definition. This single aw-Soviet entity—the Soviet fowk, Sovietskiy narod—wis attributit mony o the characteristics that offeecial doctrine haed umwhile ascribit tae naitions (natsii – нации) an naitionalities (natsionalnosti – национальности) composin the multi-naitional Soviet state. The "Soviet fowk" wur said tae be a "new historical, social, an internaitional commonty o fowk haein a common territory, economy, an socialist content; a cultur that reflectit the pairticularities o multiple naitionalities; a federal state; an a common ultimate goal: the construction o communism."

Accordin tae the 2010 Roushie Census 27,000 Roushies identifee'd thairsels as the Soviet fowk.

## See an aw
* Homo Sovieticus
* Meltin pot
* New Soviet man
* Orthodoxy, Autocracy, an Naitional Character
* Americans
* Rootless cosmopolitan
* Roushification
* Zhonghua minzu, the equivalent notion in the Fowkrepublic o Cheenae
* Yugoslavs

## References