Thread on Russian colonialism. 1. It is different from maritime colonialism of European empires. In the latter, the colonized were substantially different from colonizers. In the Russian colonialism of East. Europe the colonized were often NOT too different from the colonizer
2. Maritime empires constructed an image of the "otherness" of the colonized. Russian continental empire constructed an idea of the "sameness" of the colonized. This legitimized politics of assimilation
3. The politics of assimilation suggested that the colonized are inferior beings, but they have a chance to become true humans if they reject their identity (linguistic, cultural, ethnic, religious). You could join the ruling nation / ruling class through amnesia
4. If you look at Ukrainian / Belarussian history in this way, you can understand many things. Why colonization through assimilation and amnesia were key elements to the imperial politics
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