Thread by @MartinSauerbrey

Russian colonialism. A long 🧵

Some didn´t get the memo but Russia was - and is - a colonial power.

Let´s take a tour around this marvelous empire:

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Let´s turn east first: The conquest of Siberia was as bloody as it could get. Every tribe that resisted was brutally slaughtered and brought to heel. This process continued into the 19th century and all along Russian settler colonialism was ongoing with the result that

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Russians are by far the most numerous group in Siberia, pushing the native population in fringe region and out of the best places to live. The main reasons were the same as with other colonial empires:

It´s also easily seen on language maps: early 17th Century / early 20th century (White -> Russian):

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Map: Language Contact in North-Eastern Siberia in: Journal of Language Contact Band 17 Ausgabe 1 (2024)

"It should not go unnoticed here that the Soviet system also administered the final blow to all indigenous languages of Siberia except Sakha, through forceful sedentarisation, systematic acculturation and the boarding schools in which the use of Russian was mandatory"
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The Russian- and later Soviet Rule - was devastating to the native population, their culture, language and society as a whole. It was Colonialism in its purest form.

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Lets turn south-west: After conquering the Crimean Khanate, Russia did incorporate the elites of the Khanate but Russian settler colonialism let to the displacement of many Crimean Tatars who migrated away from Crimea. Many cultural places like mosques etc. were destroyed.

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Politically Tatars were pushed aside. They were pressured through violence and terror. Their culture diminished. The Soviets completed what the Czars and Nazis couldn´t accomplish. In 1944 Stalin deported ALL remaining Tatars. Some of them were allowed to came back after

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Stalin but by then Crimea was Russian. Repercussions continued with the Invasion of Crimea in 2014.

On to the North: Luckily i wrote a thread on the Baltic States some time ago:



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https://x.com/MartinSauerbrey/status/1839024542221742135

Finland: "Joined" in 1809. Even though it had autonomy it also was subjected to Russification (as all other minorities in the Empire) which led to the Finnish declaration of independence in 1917.

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Poland: After the failed uprising of 1863-64 Poland was subjected harsh reprisals including attempts at Russification.

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Central Asia: Was conquered in a series of wars. Russification followed. Uprisings against the conquerers were brutally squashed. From the 1890ies onward Russian (and other) settlers followed, pushing the Kazhaks out from their traditional lands resulting in the

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Central Asian Revolt in 1916 which was also brutally crushed. (Similar stories for the other Central Asian States). The Soviets of course continued the policies and forced collectivisation led to a massive famine. Kazakhstan also had the dubious honor to be one of the places 12/

where the Soviets tested their nukes. With shiny consequences for nature and population.

The Circassian Genocide took place during the final conquest of Circassia from 1863-1878 with around 95% of all Circassians murdered.

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Ukraine: Russification, Holodomor, deportations,. The whole palette.

I could go on and on but I hope i made clear that Russia is ranking on top with the worst of empires when it comes to colonialism.

End