The Origins of Soviet Ethnic Cleansing - Harvard University

grimly inevitable. However, the Soviet Union was not a nation-state, nor was itsleadership evercommitted toturning itintoa nation-state.12 No attemptwas made to forge a new Soviet nationality, nor to forcibly assimilate the non-Russian population. Quite the contrary. In the early Soviet period, even volun-tary assimilation was actively discouraged. ................
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