Pengesat pёr dekolonizimin e Rusisё
Tomasz Kamusella
Universiteti i St Andrews
Teatri i Mariupolit, Ukrainё, i rrafshuar me tokёn prej raketave ruse, me qindra kufoma njerёzish brenda, tani ёshtё rrethuar nga rusёt me njё gardh sanitar tё zbukuruar me ikonat e shkrimtarёve rusё perandorakё Aleksandёr Pushkin, Leon Tolstoj dhe Nikollaj Gogol.
“Letёrsia e madhe ruse” miraton dhe fal krimet e Rusisё imperialiste kundёr njerёzimit
Source: Invaders Are Hiding Their Crime: The Drama Theater in Mariupol, where Hundreds of People were killed, Is now Fenced Off with Banners (Photo). 2022. TCH. 13 Dec. https://tsn.ua/en/ato/invaders-are-hiding-their-crime-the-drama-theater-in-mariupol-ёhere-hundreds-of-people-were-killed-is-now-fenced-off-ёith-banners-photo-2222302.html
Ҫfarё e pengon dekolonizimin e Rusisё?
Pёrse duke mbajtur, madje duke e zgjeruar perandorinё ruse, duket njё ide e mirё pёr elitёn ruse dhe publikun rus nё pёrgjithёsi?
Invazioni kolonialist nё shkallё tё gjёrё, i pajustifikuar i Rusisё ndaj Ukrainёs paqёsore nuk mund tё analizohet qartё pa iu pёrgjigjur kёtyre pyetjeve tё ngutёshme, tё cilat Perёndimit dhe rusёve u vjen turp t’ua pёrmendёsh.
Perandoritё tokёsore dhe detare
Karakteri kolonial i Federatёs Ruse dhe i BashkimitSovjetik ka qenё mohuar forcёrisht nga udhёheqёsit e tyre, nga elita dhe studiuesit.Edhe pse shteti i mёparshёm dhe 14 shtetet kombёtare pas-sovjetikё tё tjerё u ((ri) ngritёn nё 1991, pas dekolonizimit tё Bashkimit Sovjetik.Ende nё literturё pёr kёtё temё, kёtё proces dekolonizimi, qё ndodhi nё njё tё gjashtёn e masёs tokёsore tё planetit,ёshtё fshirё pёrmes konceptit jo aq pёrshkrues “ndarje”. Ky koncept nuk thotё asgjё pёr natyrёn dhe shkaqet e procesit nё fjalё.
Nga kjo pikёpamje, Bashkimi Sovjetik nuk ka qenё dekolonizuar por “thjesht” ndarё, pёr shkaqe tё panjohur.
Partnerёt dhe dijetarёt perёndimorё e ndoqёn, pa u menduar thellё, propagandёn e Kremlinit dhe nё thelb mendimin e pandershёm, pёr kёtёҫёshtje politike dhe historike. Ata pёrgjithsisht janё pajtuar me kolegёt e tyre rusё se Perandoria Ruse, qё ishte para Bashkimit Sovjetik,nuk ka qenё nё fakt perandori. Ndёr tё tjera, burokracia cariste nuk ngriti kurrё ndonjё zyrё perandorake dhe nuk e pёrdori kurrё termin “koloni” kur ishte fjala pёr territoret e largёta tё banuara nga qindra popuj tё kolonizuar. Kёta grupe tё shumёfishta etnike flisnin (dhe nga njёherё shkruanin) njё larmi tё stёrmadhe gjuhёsh dhe kishin shumё fe.
Vёzhguesit perёndimorё ishin mёsuar me perandorite detare, qё kanё qenё mbajtur pёr peseqind vjet, nga metropolet e Europёs Perёndimore kolonialiste si Spanja, Portugalia, Franca ose Britania.Ata nuk mundёn tё shihnin perandoritё tokёsore si “perandori tё mirёfillta”.
Megjithatë, shtrirja territoriale e Euroazisë me urën tokësore arabe që në të, me Afrikën, ka mundёsuar perandori të gjera tokësore që nga antikiteti i hershëm. Ky ёshtё rasti i Egjiptit, Asirisё dhe pak mё vonё, i perandorive kineze dhe romake.Mesjeta nё Afro-Euroazi u shёnua nga ngritja e njёpasnjёshme e perandorive islamike, mongole dhe otomane.
Nё periudhёn e hershme moderne ishin fuqitё europiane- perёndimore qё krijuan perandoritё detare. Nuk kishin ku të zgjeroheshin mbi tokë, qasja e tyre në pjesën tjetër të Afriko-Euroazisë ishte efektivisht e bllokuar nga perandoritë osmane dhe ruse. Fuqitë perandorake, qё lindёn nё Evropën Perëndimore, e kapërcyen këtë bllokim toke duke u zgjeruar në oqeanet dhe detet e botës. Duke gllabёruar zonat bregdetare tё parazgjedhura, me rёndёsi ekonomike dhe strategjike, ishte shumё mё e lirё dhe mё me ndikim se sa tё kontrolloje dhe tё mbaje perandoritё tokёsore
Nё Europё Rusia ёshtё njё pёrjashtim modern ndaj parimit detar. Duke pёrdorur teknologjitё koloniale tё Europёs Perёndimore, Moskae ka kryer pushtimin ndёrkohё dhe ndёrtimin e njё perandorie duke u zgjeruar nё masёn tokёsore euroaziatike.
Metropolet koloniale europiane perёndimore u ngritёnsipas modelit tё grekёve tёlashtё, nё detra, ndёrsa rusёt ndoqёn hapat e romakёve, tё perandorisё islamike, tё mongolёve ose tё kinezёve. Janё kёta katёr shembuj perandorakё qё i frymёzuan rusёt si duhet tёjetё “njё perandori e mirёfilltё” nё terma hapёsinore.
Kolonitё e Rusisё
Nё rastin e perandorive detare tё Europёs Perёndimore, dallimi ndёrmjet metropoleve dhe kolonive tё tyre ishte lehtёsisht i vendosur. Tё parat ishin nё Europё, ku ata funksiononin si shtete europiane “normale”, njёri ndёrmjet shumё shteteve nё pjesёn mё tё madhe, pa perandoritё e veta tё pёrtejdetit. Austria, Bohemia, Hungaria, Dukata e Madhe e Lituanisё, Mbretёria e Dy Siqelive. Prusia apo Serbia i takonin kёsaj kategorie, sepse ata nuk ndёrtuan dot (me sukses) perandori detare.
Kurse Britania, Danimarka, Franca, Portugalia ose Spanja nuk ndryshonin shumё nga kёta shtete europiane moderne tё herёshme, me pёrjashtimin e vetёm se ata ishin perandori tё lulёzuara nё det.
Ishin oqeanet qё i ndanin metropolet perandorakё tё Europёs Perёndimore nga kolonitё e veta tё pёrtej detit, kёta tё fundit qenё vendosur padallim jashtё Europёs.
Por gjendja me kolonitё e Rusisёёshtё e ndryshme, sepse, nё shumicёn e rasteve, asnjё masё uji e madhe i veҫon ato nga metropoli europian, me kryeqytet Moskёn. Ajo qё e ndante metropolin perandorak rus nga kolonitё e veta ishte ndryshimi etnofetar dhe “boshllёku” i pabanuar ose i rralluar, tokat jo mikpritёse ose tё vёshtira pёr t’u kapёrcyer “si tё qenё oqeane”.
Themelimi i Muskovёs, nё fillim tё shekullit 14, ishte njё pёrpjekje gjysёm kolonialiste ndёn vёzhgimin e afёrt tё mbizotave mongolё, nё kёndin verilindor tё largёt tё perandorisё sё tyre euroaziatike. Tё krishterёt ortodoksё sllavofonё tё Muskovёs, nё lindje dhe veri tё vendbanimeve tё tyre, gradualisht vunё nёn zgjedhё grupet etnike pёrrethBalltikut dhe Fino-ungrёt. Kolonizatorёt e krishterё e ligjёruan kёtё pushtim me “nevojat” pёr krishtёzimin e paganёve. Njё kurs i ngjashёm ishte ndjekur nga kalorёsit teutonё pёrgjatё bregdetit Balltikjuglindor ose Republika e Novgorodit nё zonat veriore, qё shtrihen ndёrmjet Skandinavisё dhe Perandorisё Mongole (pёrfshi Muskovёn).
Nё atё kohё Muskova nuk ndryshonte shumё nga shtetet e tjera tipike europolindore, qoftё kjo Mbretёria e Galicisё- Volhynisё, Dukata e Madhe e Lituanisё apo Moldavia. Kthesa perandorake u arrit nё fund tё shekullit 15. Nё vitin 1478 Muskova e futi nё thes Novgorodin dhe zaptoi territoret e gjera veriore tё republikёs. Me terma hapёsinore, zona e republikёs ishte tri herё mё e madhe se ajo e vetё Muskovёs. Nё fillim tё kёtij pushtimi, Muskova u zgjerua nga Skandinavia lindore nё perёndim deri te Uralet nё lindje, dhe nga Oqeani Arktik nё veri deri nё Moskё nё jug.
Dy vjet mё pas, nё 1480 Muskova e fryrё e rikonfirmoi pavarёsinё e vet me njё qendrim tё suksesёshёm ndaj ushtrive tё Hordhive tё Arta. Pёr rrjedhojё, Muskova ndaloi sё paguari haraҫ ndaj pasardhёsit vendor tё Perandorsiё Mongole. Ndёrkohё, elita e Republikёs sё Novgorodit, e pёrbёrё nga tregtarёt u shfaros dhe institucionet e shtetit u prishёn. Biblioteka dhe arkivi i Novgorodit u dogj dhe u rrafshua me tokёn. Kёshtu, historia e vёrtetё e republikёs u fshi. Nё kёtё mёnyrё, u vendos kolonia e parё e Muskovёs.
Bujarёt muskovitё (fisnikёt) i zёvёndёsuan institucionet proto-demokratikё tё republikёs me autokracinё e tyre. Gjuha nё cirilike u shtri gjerёsisht, po ashtu krishtёrimi ortodoks i Muskovёs, gjё qё e asimiloi Novgorodin.
Nё gjysmёn e dytё tё shekullit 16, Muskova pushtoi shtetet e pasardhёsit tё Hordhive tё Arta, pikёrisht principatat e Kazanit dhe Astrahanit nё jug dhe atё tё Sibirit nё lindje. Si nё rastin e Novgorodit, elitat turqisht folёse dhe mysylmane u zёvёndёsuan me bujarёt muskovitё. Popullsia gjerёsisht ishte sllavofone dhe ortodokse ose myslimane turqisht folёse. Nё rastin e dytё, kёta u detyruan tё ktheheshin nё ortodoksё, gjё qё solli si rrjedhojё nё sllavizimin e tyre. Banorёt sllavofonё ortodoksё nga metropoli muskovit u derdhёn aty, kёta ishin kozakёt. Kёshtu, nё njё zonё tё gjerё- qё shtrihej nga lumi siberian i Obit nё verilindje deri tё lumenjtё Don dhe Vollga nё jugperёndim, qё derdheshin nё Detin e Zi dhe Kaspik, pёrkatёsisht-u kthye pjesёrisht nё njё koloni banorёsh tё Muskovёs. Pjesёrisht, sepse edhe sot folёsit fingro- ungrё Komis, Maris, Mordvins dhe Udmurts, pёrgjatё folёsve ҫuvashё dhe tatarё (tё Kazanit) dhe folёsit mongolisht, Kalmukёt e kanё ruajtur identitetin e tyre etnik, gjuhёn dhe (nё njё farё shkalle) fenё origjinale. Pёr mё tepёr, ata gёzojnё republikat e veta (si emёr) autonome nё Rusinё e ditёve tё sotme.
Nё kontrast me kёtё, pushtimi drejt lindjes i Siberisё, ndёrmjet fundit tё shekullit 16 dhe fundit tё shekullit 18 (i ndjekur nga ai i Alaskёs nё fillim tё shekullit 18) ka qenё njё ndёrmarrje drejtpёrdrejt kolonialiste. Nё shumё mёnyra, ai huazoi nga stili i kolonizimit qё ndёrmorёn metropolet kolonialiste tё Europёs Perёndimore, pёrfshigjenocidet e shumёnumurta tё kryera ndaj kёtyre grupeve etnike, qё guxonin t’u bёnin qendresё pushtuesve muskovitё.
Zonat me popullsi tё rralluar ose jo tё mirёpritura tё Azisё veriore nuk ndaheshin njёra nga tjetra me masa tё gjera ujore por me pjesё tundre, tajge dhe vende me ngrica tё pёrherёshme, tё pabanueshme. Duke pёrdorur pushkёt me barut etё panjohura atёhere nё ato zona, kolonizatorёt rusё e shtrinё lehtёsisht pushtetinmbi grupet etnike vendore, qё i quanin me pёrҫmin inorodnie (paganё, indigjenё).
Gjёrёsia e hapёsirёs sё rralluar jo mikpritёse e bёnte udhёtimin ose ҫdo planifikim pushtimi mё tё lehtёdhe e shtonte oreksin. Udhёtimi paqёsor nёpёr vendet e pushtuara qё nga kryeqyteti perandorak, Shёn Pjetёrsburg, deri nё Kamҫatkё zgjaste dy dhe tre vjet. Pёr krahasim, nё fillim tё shekullit 16, udhёtimi i parё rreth botёs i ndёrmarrё nga marinari portugez, Ferdinand Magellan, zgjati tre vjet.
Pasi e mposhti Suedinё nё Luftёn e Madhe tё Veriut, Muskova u shndёrrua nё njё Perandori Ruse e stilit europian (Imperium Rossicum), nё 1721.
Nё atё kohё, territori i madh i fituar nё Europё u kthye me sukses nё koloni. Suedia e populluar rrallё dhe kryesisht zona me folёs finno-ungre, Ingria, u gllabёrua nga kryeqyteti Shёn Petersburg i perandorisё sё re ruse.
Gjatё shekujve 18 dhe 19, Rusia ekspansioniste u kthye nё njё fuqi perandorake tё suksesёshme pёrdhunuese. Shёn Petersburgu pushtoitёrritore tё gjera nё Azinё qendrore dhe nё Europёn qendrore. Por asnjёra prej tyre nuk u kthye dot nё koloni tё re, pёrveҫ Cirkazisё ose rajonit bregdetar tё sotёm tё Detit tё Zi tё krahinёs sё Krasnodarit.Tё gjitha zonat e reja tё kolonizuara qenё tё populluara dёndur nё krahasim me metropolin muskovit dhe shpesh mё tё zhvilluara nё kuptimin tekonologjik dhe sistemin e qeverisjes. Si rezultat, nё shumicёn e rasteve popujt e kolonizuar nga muskovitёt (rusёt) ia arritёn ta mbajnё kulturёn, gjuhёn, fenё dhe historinё.
Kёshtu, nё 1864, ushtria ruse i eliminoi myslimanёt dhe cirkazianёt qё flisnin kaukazisht, ndёrsa tё mbijetuarit ia mbathёn nёpёr DetineZi, te Perandoria Otomane. Eliminimi masiv i cirkazianёve ka qenё atёhere gjenocidi kolonialist mё i madh i ndёrmarrё nga njё fuqi europiane. Vetёm dyzetё vjet mё pas Belgjika ia kaloi kёsaj ‘arritjeje’ ruse duke e pёrgjysmuar popullsinё indigjene tё Kongos.
Banorёt ortodoksё sllavofonё qё u vendosёn nё Cirkazi, pёrfshi pasardhёsit e tyre pёlqejnё qё tё mos ua kujtosh gjenocidin cirkazian.
Dekolonizimet ngurruese tё Rusisё
Pas 1917, njё gjysёmkolonizim i Perandorisё sё rёnё ruse, e kthyer nё Bashkimin Sovjetik, bёri qё estonёt, finlandezёt, letonezёt, lituanёt, moldavёt (rumunёt) dhe polakёt tё fitonin lirinё e vet. Kjo u bё e mundur falё ruajtjes se identitetit dhe historisё sё tyre, qё parandaloi rusifikimin.
Dekolonizimi i Bashkimit Sovjetik qё u bё nё 1991, u ktheu lirinё dhe shtetet e vetaestonёve, letonezёve, lituanёve po ashtu moldavёve, qё ishin rikolonizuar nga sovjetikёt gjatё Luftёs sё Dytё Botёrore. Veҫ kёsaj, zhdukja e Bashkimit Sovjetik u siguroi pavarёsinё armenёve, azerёve, bjellorusёve, gjeorgjianёve, kazakёve, kirkizёve, taxhikёve, turkmenёve, ukrainasve dhe uzbekёve.
Megjithatё, Kremlini pas-sovjetik, e vijoi kursin e kёtij dekolonizimi jo tё pritshёm dhe jo tё dёshiruar nё rastet e tatarёve (tё Kazanit) dhe ҫeҫenёve, qё luftuan pёr pavarёsi. Kёta tё fundit iu nёnshtruan dy luftrave nё shkallё gjenocidale ndёrmjet viteve 1994 dhe 2001, ndёrsa tё parёt u zhveshёn gradualisht nga prerogativat e tyre tё autonomisё. Tataristani u bё njё provincё e rregullt ruse. Ky qe njё mёsim i mjaftueshёm pёr grupet e tjera etnike jo ruse nё Federatёn Ruse: mos tё guxonin tё kёrkonin liri osendonjё formё dekolonizimi gradual.
Nga pikёpamja zyrtare e Moskёs, Rusia ёshtё njё shtet unitar, sepse nuk ёshtё perandori koloniale, dhe nuk ka nevojё pёr dekolonizim, ndёrsa ҫdo pёrpjekje e ndonjё grupi etnik pёr ta lёnё Rusinё, quhet apriori e paligjёshme.
Pёr shembull, nga pёrspektiva historike, gjendja e tuvanёve ёshtё m e ngjashme me atё tё kombeve baltike se sa me Ҫeҫeninё. Sovjetikёt e grabitёn shtetin kombёtar tё pavarurtё Tuvёs vetёm nё vitin 1944, kur Perёndimi u soll si i paditur, ishte zёnё ende me Luftёn e Dytё Botёrore. Sikurse estonёt apo lituanёt, tuvanёt donin ta rifitonin pavarёsinё e vet nё gjendjen e tyre ndёrmjet luftёs (kohёs sё luftёs), por Kremlini nuk denjoi t’i dёgjojё dhe askush nё Perёndim nuk do u vinte nё ndihmё tuvanёve gjithёsesi.
Mbi tё gjitha, askush nuk u kujdes t’i ndihmojёҫeҫenёt, edhe kur ushtria ruse po bёnte gjenocid ndaj kёtij kombi, qё tё sigurohej se Ҫeҫenia nuk do ta linte Rusinё.
Perandoria mbi tё gjitha!
Pёrse Moska ёshtё kaq ngurruee pёr dekolonizimin? Pёrse perandoria ёshtё kaq tёrheqёse pёr elitёn ruse dhe popullsinё nё pёrgjithёsi?
Po tёflasim nga pikёpamja strukturale, metropoli perandorak rus ёshtё mё i varfёr se shumё nga kolonitё e veta, veҫanёrisht ato nё Europёn Qendrore, nё Kaukaz dhe Azinё Qendrore. Humbja e kёtyre kolonive do thosh tё bёhej mё i varfёr, sipas elitёs ruse. Dekolonizimi do sillte me vete humbjen e tё ardhurave thelbёsore nga taksat dhe shfrytёzimi i burimeve ekonomike. Pёr mё tepёr, kёto koloni sigurojnё shumё specialistё tё nevojshёm dhe teknologji, qё vetё metropoli perandorak nuk i ka.
Dilema ka qenё, sikurse e Perandorisё Portugeze, ku nё mes tё shekullit 20 Angola dhe Mozambiku kanё qenё mё tё pasura, teknologjikisht mё tё pёrparuar dhe shoqёrisht mё tё lirё se se Portugalia vetё, nёn diktaturёn fashiste te António de Oliveira Salazarit. Atёhere doli projekti i njё shteti kombёtar trekontinental (europian- afrikan-aziatik) tё Portugalisё. Qёllimi ishte ta fshihnin perndorinё nga pikёpamja botёrore e dekolonizimit dhe tё vazhdonin tё milnin tё ardhurat. Vetёm vdekja e diktatorit dhe vendimi pёr demokratizimin e Portugalisё nё 1974 mundёsoi rёnien e perandorisё.
Varfёria relative dhe prapambetja e metropolit perandorak shpjegon pёrse gjatё Luftёs sё Dytё Boёtrore Bashkimi Sovjetik u pёrpoq ta gllabёrojё Finlandёn, tё rikolonizojё me sukses kolonitё e mёparёshme tё Ruisё Cariste, tё Estonisё, Letonisё, Lituanisё, Moldavisё dhe Polonisё, dhe t’u shtojё lumturisht atyre kolonitё e pa shpallura tё Bullgarisё, Ҫekosllovakisё, Gjermanisё Lindore, Hungarisё dhe Rumanisё qё iu bashkangjitёn bllokut sovjetik. E njёjta dinamikё e shpjegon pёrse gjatё tridhjetё viteve pas- sovjetike, Federata e ringritur Ruse gllabёroi copa tё territorit tё Gjeorgjisё, Moldavisё dhe Ukrainёs, e bёri defacto Bjellorusinё njё provincё tjetёr ruse dhe tani (dmth, qё nё fillim tё vitit 2022) po pёrpiqet ta pushtojё Ukrainёn.
‘Aryetimi’ ekonomik i perandorive cariste, sovjetike dhe tani ruse ka qenё karakteri nxjerrёs, duke grabitur kolonitё, pa marrё parasysh pasojat negative qё do vuanin ‘vendasit’. Metropoli perandorak e kishte rritur mirёqenien nga mineralet dhe prodhimet agrokulturore nё territoret e gjera dhe dёndur tё populluara me pёrdorimin e specialistёve dhe teknologjive tё projektuara nё kolonitё ‘e pasura’ (me stil perёndimor). Nё konfigurimin e sotёm, qё pasoi dekolonizimin (e pjesёshёm) tё Bashkimit Sovjetik, metropoli rus ёshtё mё pak se lloji i fundit i kolonive, pikёrisht mё tё zhvilluara dhe tё populluara mё dendur se sa vetё Rusia vetё (Muskovi). PrandajMoska synon kaq fort pёr vasalizimin e shpejtё dhe tёrёsor tё Bjellorusisё, duke pushtuar Ukrainёn dhe duke kёrcёnuar tё pushtojё republikat balltike tё Estonisё, Letonisё dhe Lituanisё, krahas tёrё Poloninё.
Metropoli rus ёshtё varur nga ky model pёrandorak i ekonomisё shfrytёzuese qё nё shekullin 18. Demokracia ka nevojё pёr dekolonizimin, qёёshtё njё rerzik vdekjeprurёs pёr perandorinё. Prandaj, pavarёsisht propagandёs sё tyre progresive, qё nё 1918 bolshevikёt i dhanё fund eksperimentit jetёshkurtёr demokratik dhe e shpёrndanё Asamblenё Kushtetuese. Ngjashёm, nё Rusinё pas-sovjetike sulmi me tanke mbi Dumёn Ruse (Parlamentin), nё fund tё 1993, shёnoi fundin e ҫdo demokracie nё kёtё vend. Nё tё dyja rastet fitoi perandoria. Nё vend tё njё pёrfaqёsimi tё vёrtetё tё vullnetit tё popullit, cari u kthye, sё pari si Sekretar i Pёrgjithshёm (i Partisё Komuniste tё Bashkimit Sovjetik) dhe tani si President (i Federatёs Ruse). Kohёt e fundit disa anёtarё tё elitёs ruse kanё propozuar seriozisht kurorёzimin e presidentit tё sotёm rus si Car.
Jeta njerёzore ёshtё e lirё
Metropoli, pёr t’u mbajtur si njё qendёr e padiskutuehme perandorake, duhet tё gёzojё kontroll tё plotё tёmonopolit efektiv tё dhunёs nё tёrё territorin perandorak dhe banorёt e tij. Ushtria, forcat e sigurisё dhe ҫdo shёrbim paraushtarak, i miratuar nga persidenti, janё shteti. Ku kёrcёnimi i kёtyre tё trejave dhe pёrdorimi i dhunёs i mban ngushёt bashkё tё tri pjesёt vitale nё sinenergji produktive intensive. Produktive pёr carin dhe elitёn e tij perandorake tё oligarkёve me familjet e veta. Njё numёr jo mё shumё se 4000, qё pёrbёn vetёm 0.003 % tё popullatёs ruse prej 145 milionёshe. Kjo statistikё pёrkthehet nё njё piramidё socio-ekonomike mё tё pjerrёt se sa ёshtё vёrejtur nё Rusinё cariste, kufisnikёria numёronte 1.2 milionё ose plot 1 % tё banorёve.Metropoli i qendёrzuar nё Moskё pёrbёn majёn e trekёndёshit neoperandorak rus tёpushtetit. Ndёrkohё, dy fundet e kёtij trekёndёshi pёrfaqёsohen nga kolonitё e zhvilluara dhe tё populluara nё perёndim, ndёrsa nё lindje nga territorete varfёra dhe mjaft tё ralluara me pasurinё e tyre pёrrallore tё mineraleve.
Dhuna, varfёria dhe paqendrueshmёria e kanё parandaluar ҫdo rritje dinamike tё popullsisё nё mbarё Rusinё pas-sovjetike, ndёrsa gjatё shekullit tё shkuar ajo prodhoi njё rёnie tё thellё demografike nё metropolin rus tё Bashkimit Sovjetik.
Ky tip i organizimit perandorak, qё vёrehet nё Rusi, ёshtё njё uri pёr jetё njerёzish. Sistemi sovjetik i kampeve tё pёrqendrimit dhe shfarosjes e ilustron kёtё prirje bukur. Puna prej skllavi, e detyruar, pёrmes shtypjes dhe forcёs, pёrkthehet nё zhvillim industrial sikurse kёrkohet dhe planifikohet nga ‘Cari rus”, i ulur nё fronin e Partisё nё Moskё. Ndёrtimi i shpejtё, i kёrkuar, i kanalit tё Detit tё Bardhё ose i ndonjё projekti ndёrtimor tjetёr gargantuan kishte nevojё pёr qindra e mijёra jetё. Po ashtu, edhenumrat e ngjashёm tё qytetarёve sovjetikё tё rrumbullakosur dhe tё ekzekutuar nё tёrёsi me njё plumb nё zverk siguruan qendrueshmёrinё e sitemit sundues dhe “besnikёrinё e padiskutueshme’ tё popullsisё ndaj carit sovjetik dhe perandorisё. Ideologjikisht, njerёzit ‘e ruajtur’ qenё burgosur me miliona kёshtu qё kёta ‘komunistё ngurrues’ tё mёsonin se ҫfarё duhet tё bёninsi mё tё mirёn pёr sistemin e nё shkёmbim tё vetёm mbijetesёs, pasi tё liroheshin nga kampet. Frika dhe pasiguria u futёn nё shtyllёn kurrizore tё perandorsiё sovjetike, duke sjellё nivele tё papara tё atomizimit social.
Nё perandorinё ruse nuk kish vend, as durim pёr individёt, opinionet e tyre, nevojat vetiake apo veҫoritё nё karaktere. Planifikuesit shtetёrorё dhe statistikanёt i caktojnё ata nё rolin e ‘popullsisё’ sё pёrkulshme, ose edhe me terma mёҫnjerёzore, si ‘biomasё njerёzore’.
Ata bёhen thjesht ‘ajo’; ose kjo komposto pjellore e politikёs dhe e ekonomisё mbi tё cilёn mirёqenia e elitёs perandorake rritet dhe lulёzon.Bashkimi Sovjetik e fitoi Luftёn e Dytё Botёrore duke hedhur miliona trupa tё papёrgatitura kundёr ushtrive gjermane dhe tёrёsisht duke i ekzekutuar ata qё guxonin tё tёrhiqeshin, t’i shpёtonin vdekjes nё duart e armikut. Nё shumicёn e rasteve nuk ka qenё teknologjia apo taktika qё udha sovjetikёve fitoren ushtarake, por vendosja e biomasёs njerёzore tё shumёnumurt, qё njihet gjithashtu nё Perёndim si ‘ushqim pёr topa’.
Tani, Kremlini e pёrdor tё njёjtёn ‘qasje’ nё luftёn ndaj Ukrainёs. Valёt e biomasave njerёzore nё dukje ‘tё pashterёshme’ hidhen kohё pas kohe kundёr individёve tё motivuar dhe mirёstёrvitur, dmth, ukrainasve qё po mbrojnё atdheun e vet. Rusёt e shohin luftёn qё vazhdon si njё “makinё grirёse mishi’ (mijasorubka) ku hartuesit e mobilizimit tё pjesёshёm, ose ‘biomasa’ e pёrmendur mё sipёr, ёshtё ushqyer. Gjithashtu terrori dhe mohimi i tё drejtave tё njeriut dhe i demokracisё. Frika dhe nderimi i thellё parapёlqehet nё vend tё ligjit. Njё mirёqenie e papёrfytyrueshme pёr disa, ndёrsa propaganda dhe gёnjeshtrat pёr ‘patriotizёm’ pёr pjesёn tjetёr, kjo ёshtё biomasa vetёprodhuese.
Perandoria, nё kёtё mёnyrё, gjithё kohёn duhet tё fitojё territore tё reja me shumё banorё me qёllim pёr tё fituar mё shumё njerёz, qё ta ushqejё makinёn perandorake. Qё ajo tё mos bjerё. Nuk ёshtё njёperpetum mobile. Jetёt njerёzore janё karburanti i vetёm i perandorsiё ruse.
Cila ёshtё e ardhmja?
Perandoria ruse siguron njё standard tё lartë tё jetesës dhe konsum tё bollshëm për elitën perandorake jashtëzakonisht të vogël.. Ajo gёzon kёtё jetё tё rrallё kaq shpejt dhe kaq me mundёsi pёr sa kohё cari i ri ёshtё nё krye, por kjo mund tё mbarojё nёҫdo kohё. Nuk ka kohё pёr t’u ndalurdhe menduar, ose pёr ta ndryshuar kushinetёn sikurse ndodhi me Portugalinё nё 1974. Demokratizimi i vertetё do ta prishte trekёndёshin perandorak rus tё pushtetit.Kolonitё do merrnin udhёn e pavarёsisё sё vet.
Nё fillim tё dekolonizimit, metropoli nuk do kish zgjedhje tjetёr veҫse tё bёhej ‘njё vend normal’, me pasuri dhe mundёsi zhvillimi mё tё barabarta dhe i pёrgjegjёshem. Mbase, njё Rusi e dekolonizuar do ishte mё e varfёr dhe mё pak e suksёshme se sa kolonitё e mёparёshme perёndimore tё Rusisё. Madje disa nga kolonite siberiane, nё se do qeverisej me maturi, mund ёt siguronte njё jetё mё tё mirё pёr banorёt e vet se sa Moska dhe Shёn Petersburgu. Prandaj, nё njё Rusi tё normalizuar, tё zvogluar, klasa sunduese do kish nevojё tё merrte parasysh dёshirat e qytetarёve. Por cili ndёr zyrtarёt perandorakё sipёrorё do pёlqente tё dёgjonte biomasёn?
‘Rroftё perandoria!’ -ёshtё pёrgjigjia e pёrdhunshme e Rusisё sё sotme.
Rusia e carit dhe e oligarkёve ‘mund tё vijojё’.
Prill 2023
Pёrktheu Bardhyl Selimi, 3 maj 2023
Obstacles to Russian Decolonization
Tomasz Kamusella
University of St Andrews
Mariupol Theater, razed to by Russian rockets, with hundreds of bodies of victims leftunrecovered.Now, under Russian occupation, the Kremlinre-claims this mass grave with the sanitizing fence adorned with the imperial icons of Russian writers: Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol. ‘Great Russian literature’ justifies and absolves Russia of imperialism and crimes against humanity.
Source: Invaders Are Hiding Their Crime: The Drama Theater in Mariupol, Where Hundreds of People Were Killed, Is Now Fenced Off with Banners (Photo). 2022. TCH. 13 Dec. https://tsn.ua/en/ato/invaders-are-hiding-their-crime-the-drama-theater-in-mariupol-where-hundreds-of-people-were-killed-is-now-fenced-off-with-banners-photo-2222302.html
What hinders the decolonization of Russia? Why do keeping the colonies and even expanding farther the Russian empire seem like a good idea to Russia’s elite and public at large? The Kremlin’s unjustified full-scale colonial invasion of peaceful Ukraine cannot be clearly analyzed without replies to these urgent questions, which the West and the Russians alike are still somehow shy to ask.
Land and Maritime Empires
The colonial character of the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union has been strenuously denied by both country’s leaders, elite and researchers. Even though the former polity and the 14 other post-Soviet nation-states (re-)emerged in 1991 because of the decolonization of the Soviet Union. Yet, in the literature on the subject, this momentous process of decolonization, which took place on the one-sixth of the planet’s land mass, is concealed through the noncommittal use of the descriptive term ‘breakup.’ It says absolutely nothing about the nature and causes of this process. In this view the Soviet Union was not decolonized, but ‘simply’ split, splintered or broke up, due to some unclear cuases.
Western partners and scholars have unthinkingly followed Moscow’s propaganda-driven and in essence mendacious opinion on this fraught political and historical issue. In their vast majority, they have also agreed with their Russian colleagues that the Russian Empire, which preceded the Soviet Union, was not any empire at all. After all, the tsarist bureaucracy never set up any imperial office and did not use the term ‘colony’ when referring to the empire’s far-flung areas inhabited by hundreds of colonized peoples. These multiple ethnic groups spoke (and sometimes wrote) a huge variety of languages and professed numerous religions.
Western observers are wed to the vision of maritime empires, as built and maintained for the past half a millennium by Western Europe’s colonial metropolises of Spain, Portugal, France or Britain. They fail to see land empires as ‘proper empires.’ Yet, the territorial vastness of Eurasia with the Arabian land bridge spanning it with Africa have yielded time and again extensive land empires since early antiquity. That was the case of Egypt, Assyria and, a bit later, of the Chinese and Roman empires. The Middle Ages in Africo-Eurasia were marked by the successive rises of Islamic, Mongol and Ottoman empires.
It was only during the early modern period that Western European powers set out to win maritime empires. From their far-western peninsula of Eurasia, they had nowhere to expand overland, their access to the rest of Africo-Eurasia effectively blocked by the Ottoman and Russian empires. Western Europe’s nascent imperial powers overcame this land blockage by taking to the world’s oceans and seas. Grabbing pre-selected coastal areas of economic or strategic importance turned out cheaper and more effective than controlling and retaining land empires that come in a single ‘lump’ of contiguous territory.
In Europe,Russia is a modern exception to the maritime principle. With the employment of Western European colonial technologies, Moscow has instead pursued the conquest and construction of an empire extending over the Eurasian landmass. Western Europe’s colonial metropolises emulated the ancient Greeks in their seaborn efforts, while the Russians followed into the footsteps of the Romans, the Islamic Empire, the Mongols or the Chinese. It was these four imperial examples that decisively inspired the Russian image of what a ‘proper empire’ must bein spatial terms.
Russia’s Colonies
In the case of Western Europe’s maritime empires, the distinction between the metropolis and its colonies was easy to establish. The former was located in Western Europe, where it also functioned as a ‘normal European’ country, one among many, but most withouttheir own overseas empires. Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, Prussia or Serbia belonged to this category, because they did not (successfully) construct maritime empires. On the other hand, Britain, Denmark, France, Portugal or Spain did not differ much from these early modern European polities with the sole exception of their burgeoning seaborne empires.
It was the oceans that separated Western Europe’s imperial metropolises from their overseas colonies, the latter invariably located outside Europe. Yet, the situation of Russia’s colonies is different, as in most cases no vast body of water would insulate them from the European metropolis with its capital in Moscow. What has separated the Russian imperial metropolis from its colonies is the ethnoreligious difference and uninhabited or sparsely populated ‘empty, inhospitable’ and hard-to-traverse ‘ocean-like’ lands.
The founding of Muscovy at the turn of the 14th century was a half-colonial effort under the close watch of the Mongol overlords in the distant northeastern corner of their Eurasian empire. Muscovy’s Slavophone Orthodox Christians, east and north of their settlements, gradually subjugated the surrounding Baltic and Finno-Ugric ethnic groups. The Christian colonizers legitimized this conquest by the perceived ‘need’ to christianize ‘the heathens.’ A similar course of action was pursued then by the Teutonic Knights along the southeastern Baltic littoral or the Novgorod Republic in the northern areas extending between Scandinavia and the Mongol Empire (including, Muscovy).
At that time Muscovy was not much different from other typical Eastern European polities, be it the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, or Moldavia. The imperial turn arrived in the late 15th century. In 1478 Muscovy sacked Novgorod and seized the republic’s vast northern territories. In spatial terms, the republic’s area was three times larger than that of Muscovy. In the wake of this conquest, Muscovy extended from eastern Scandinavia in the west to the Urals in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to Moscow in the south.
Two years later, in 1480, emboldened Muscovy reconfirmed its independence in the successful stand-off with the Golden Horde’s armies. Subsequently, the Muscovites stopped paying the tribute to this local successor of the Mongol Empire. Meanwhile, the Novgorod Republic’s elite of merchants was exterminated, and the polity’s institutions dismantled. The Novgorod library and archive were burnt and razed to the ground. Thus, the republic’s very history was erased. In this manner, Muscovy’s first-ever settler colony was established. Muscovite boyars (nobles) replaced the republic’s proto-democratic institutions with autocracy. The largely shared Slavic language written in Cyrillic and the same religion of Orthodox Christianity facilitated Muscovy’sassimilation of Novgorod.
In the second half of the 16th century, Muscovy conquered Golden Horde’s successor states, namely, the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan to the south and the Khanate of Sibir to the east. As in the case of Novgorod, the Turkic-speaking and Muslim elites were replaced with Muscovite boyars. The population at large were Slavophone and Orthodox or Muslim Turkic-speakers. In the latter case, they were pressed to convert to Orthodoxy, which subsequently often led to their Slavicization. Orthodox Slavophone settlers from the Muscovian metropolis followed, too, later known as Cossacks. So, the vast area – extending from the Siberian river of Ob in the northeast to the rivers Don and Volga in the southwest at their mouths flowing into the Black and Caspian Seas, respectively– was partly turned into Muscovy’s another settler colony. Partly, because to this day the Finno-Ugric-speaking Komis, Maris, Mordvins and Udmurts, alongsidethe Turkic-speaking Chuvashes and (Kazan) Tatars, and the Mongolic-speaking Kalmyks have preserved their ethnic identities, languages and (to a degree) original religions. On top of that, they enjoy their own (nominally) autonomous ethnic republics in present-day Russia.
In contrast, the eastward conquest of Siberia between the late 16th and the late of the 18th centuries (followed by that of Alaska at the turn of the 18th century) was a straightforward colonial enterprise. In many ways it emulated the maritime-style colonization pursued by Western Europe’s imperial metropolises, including numerous colonial genocides perpetrated against these ethnic groups, who dared to stand up to the Muscovian conquistadors. The sparsely populated areas of inhospitable Northern Asia were not separated from each other with vast bodies of water but by huge uninhabited tracts of tundra, taiga and permafrost. With the use of then unknown in these areas rifles and gunpowder Russian colonizerseasily overpoweredthe local ethnic groups, disparagingly dubbed as инородцы inorodtsy (‘heathens’ or ‘natives’). The vastness of inhospitable empty space made travel or any projection of power time- and resource-hungry. Peaceful travel through the conquered lands from the imperial capital of St Petersburg to Kamchatka took anything between two and three years. By comparison, in the early 16th century, the first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth took Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan three years.
After defeating Sweden in the Great Northern War, Muscovy transformed itself into a European-style Imperium Rossicum (Latin for ‘Russian Empire’) in 1721. At that time, the last territory gained in Europe itself was successfully turned into a Muscovian settler colony. Sweden’s sparsely populated and mainly Finno-Ugric-speaking Ingria was overhauled into the new Russian imperial capital of St Petersburg. During the 18th and 19thcenturies, expansionist Russia turned into a successful and rapacious imperial power. St Petersburg conquered vast territories in Central Asia and Central Europe. Yet, none of them was turned into a new settler colony, apart from Circassia, or nowadays the Black Sea littoral region of Krasnodar Krai. All the newly-colonized areas were more densely populated in comparison to the Muscovian metropolis, and often more developed in the sense of technology and systems of governance. As a result, in most cases the peoples colonized by the Muscovites (Russians) managed to retain their cultures, languages, religions and histories.
Yet, in 1864, the Russian army exterminated the Muslim and Caucasian-speaking Circassians, while the survivors fled across the Black Sea to the Ottoman Empire. The Circassian mass extermination was then the biggest-ever colonial genocide perpetrated by a European colonial power. Only four decades later did Belgium surpass the Russian ‘achievement’ by halving Congo’s indigenous population. Slavophone Orthodox settlers who took over Circassia, including their descendants prefer not to remember about the Circassian Genocide.
Russia’s Reluctant Decolonizations
In the wake of the 1917 semi-decolonization of the collapsed Russian Empire-turned-Soviet Union, the Estonians, Finns, Latvians, Lithuanians, Moldavians (Romanians) and Poles managed to regain their freedom. It was possible thanks to the preservation of their identities and history, which prevented their Russification. The decolonization of the Soviet Union, which took place in 1991, returned freedom and their states to the Baltic nations of Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians and also to the Moldovans (Moldavians), who had been recolonized by the Soviets during World War II. In addition, the disappearance of the Soviet Union granted independence to the Armenians, Azeris, Belarusians, Georgians, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzes, Tajiks, Turkmens, Ukrainians and Uzbeks.
However, the post-Soviet Kremlin drew the line in the course of this unexpected and unwanted post-Soviet decolonization at the cases of the (Kazan) Tatars and Chechens, who also strove for independence. The latter were re-subjugated in the two genocidal-scale warsfought between 1994 and 2001, while the former were gradually stripped of their autonomous prerogatives. Tatarstan was made into a de facto regular Russian province. This was a lesson enough for all the other ethnically non-Russian ethnic groups across today’s Russian Federation: not to dare to demand freedom or some – however gradual – form of decolonization. In Moscow’s official view, Russia is a unitary state, because it is not a colonial empire. Hence, no need for decolonization, whereas any attempts by an ethnic group to leave Russia are deemed a priori as illegal.
For instance, from the historical perspective, the situation of the Tuvans is more similar to that of the Baltic nations than to Chechnya. The Soviets grabbed the independent nation-state of Tuva only in 1944, when the West chose not to take notice, busy with fighting the Second World War. Like the Estonians or Lithuanians, the Tuvans wanted to regain their independence on the strength of their interwar (and wartime!) statehood, but the Kremlin declined tolisten and no one in the West would come to the Tuvans’ succor anyway. After all, no one cared to help the Chechens, either, when the Russian army was carrying out a genocide of this nation to ensure Chechnya would not leave Russia.
Empire über alles!
Why is Moscow so reluctant to decolonize? Why does empire remain such an attractive prospect to Russia’s elite and population at large? Structurally speaking, the Russian imperial metropolis tended to be poorer than many of its colonies, especially those located in Central Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Losing such colonies meant becoming poorer for the empire’s elite. Decolonization would entail the loss of substantial revenue drawn from taxation and the exploitation of the economic resources. What is more, these colonies ensured much needed specialists and technologies not available in the imperial metropolis itself.
The dilemma was like that of the late Portuguese Empire, where in the mid-20th century Angola and Mozambique were richer, technologically more advanced and socially more liberal than Portugal itself. Hence, under António de Oliveira Salazar’s fascist dictatorship the project of a tricontinental (European-African-Asian) nation-state of Portugal was announced. The goal was to hide the empire from the decolonized world’s view and to keep milking it for revenue. Only, the dictator’s death and decision to democratize Portugal in 1974 entailed letting the empire go.
The relative poverty and backwardness of the imperial metropolis explains why during World War II the Soviet Union strove to grab Finland, successfully reconquered the former tsarist empire’s colonies of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (Moldova) and Poland, and happily added to them the new undeclared colonies of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary and Romaniaclad in the guise of the Soviet bloc. The same dynamics explains why, during the three post-Soviet decades, the resurgent Russian Federation grabbed bits and pieces of territory from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, de facto made Belarus into another Russian province, and now (that is, since early 2022) has been trying to conquer all of Ukraine.
The economic ‘rationale’ of the tsarist, Soviet and current Russian empire has been extractive economy, robbing the colonies irrespective of negative consequences suffered by the ‘natives.’ The imperial metropolis has grown rich on mineral and agricultural wealth drawn from the empire’s vast and hardly populated territories with the use of specialists and technologies drawn from the ‘rich’ (Western-style) colonies. In the current configuration, following the (partial) decolonization of the Soviet Union, the Russian metropolis is short of the latter type of colonies, namely, more developed and more densely populated than Russia proper(Muscovy) itself. That is why, Moscow is so intent on the swift and thorough vassalization of Belarus, conquering Ukraine and threatens to reconquer the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, alongside the whole of Poland.
The Russian metropolis has been addicted to this imperial model of exploitative economy since the 18th century. Democracy necessitates decolonization, which is a mortal danger to the empire. That is why, despite their progressive propaganda, in early 1918 the Bolsheviks ended the short-lived democratic experiment and dispersed the Constitutional Assembly. Similarly, in post-Soviet Russia the attack of tanks on the Russian Duma (Parliament) in late 1993 spelt the end of any meaningful democracy in this country. In both cases empire won. Instead of genuine representation of the population’s will, the tsar was back, first as General Secretary (of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), and now as President (of the Russian Federation). Recently some members of the Russian elite even seriously proposed to crown the current Russian President as Tsar.
Human Life is Cheap
The metropolis to hold as the empire’s undisputed center must enjoy full control of the effective monopoly of violence over the entire imperial territory and its inhabitants. The army, security forces and any paramilitary services, as approved by the president, are the state. When in place and fully functional, the threat of and the actual use of violence keep the empire’s three vital parts closely-knit together and in intensively productive synergy. Productive for the tsar and his imperial elite of oligarchs with their families. They number not more than 4,000,amounting to a mere 0.003 percent of Russia’s population of 145 million. This statistic translates into a steeper socio-economic pyramid than observed in tsarist Russia, where the nobility counted around 1.2 million, or a full 1 percent of the inhabitants.The Moscow-centered metropolis constitutes the top of the Russian neo-empire’s triangle of power.Meanwhile, this triangle’s two bottom ends are represented by the developed and populous colonies in the west, whereas in the east by the poor and largely uninhabited vast permafrost territories with their fabulous mineral wealth.
Violence, poverty and instability have preventedany dynamic population growth across post-Soviet Russia, while during the past century generated a deep demographic slump in the Soviet Union’s Russian metropolis. This type of imperial organization,as observed in Russia,is human lives-hungry.The Soviet system of gulag concentration and extermination camps illustrates this tendency aptly. Slavelabor, enforced through repression and coercion, translated into industrial development as required and planned by the ‘Soviet tsar,’sitting on the party’s throne in Moscow.The required swift completion of the White Sea canal or another gargantuan construction project necessitated the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. Likewise, similar numbers of Soviet citizens rounded up and summarily executed by the shot to the back of the head ensured the stability of the ruling system and the population’s ‘unwavering loyalty’ to the Soviet tsar and the empire. Ideologically ‘saveable’people were imprisoned by the millions so that these ‘reluctant communists’ would know how to do their best for the system in exchange for mere survival after their release from the camps. Fear and anomy coalesced into the steel backbone of the Soviet empire, resulting in the unprecedented levels of social atomization.
In the Russian empire there is no place or patience for individuals, their opinions, personal needs or character quirks. State planners and statisticians cast them in the role ofpliable ‘population,’ or even in more dehumanized terms, as ‘human biomass.’They become a mere ‘it,’ or this fertile compost of politics and economy on which the wealth of the imperial elite grows and thrives. The Soviet Union won World War II by throwing unprepared millions of troops against the German armies and summarily executing those who dared to withdraw, escaping sure death at the enemy’s hands. In most cases it was not technology or tactics that gavethe Sovietstheir military victories but the deployment of numerically overwhelming human biomass, also known in the West as ‘cannon fodder.’
At present, the Kremlin uses the same ‘approach’ in the ongoing war against Ukraine.Waves of apparently ‘inexhaustible’ human biomass are thrown time and again against motivated and well-trained individuals, that is, Ukrainians who are defending their homeland. The Russians see the ongoing fighting as a ‘meatgrinder’ (мясорубкаmiasorubka) into which draftees (чмобики chmobiki ‘draftees of the partial mobilization’), or the aforementioned ‘biomass,’ is fed. Terror and destruction against human rights and democracy. Fear and awe in preference to rule of law. Unimaginable prosperity for the few, while propaganda and lies about ‘patriotism’ for the rest, this self-reproducing biomass.
The empire run in this manner must all the time win new territories with a lot of inhabitants for the purpose ofgaining more people, whom to feed into the imperial machine, so it does not stall. It is not a perpetuum mobile. Human lives are the Russian empire’s only fuel.
What a Future?
The Russian empire ensures an exquisite standard of living and lavish consumption for the unprecedentedly tiny imperial elite. They enjoy this rarefied life as quickly as possible because a new tsar on the top may end it all in no time. No time to stop and think, or to change the gear as their counterparts once did in the tricontinental Portugal in 1974. Genuine democratization would disrupt Russia’s imperial triangle of power. The colonies would go their own independent ways. In the wake of the decolonization, the metropolis would have no choice but to become a ‘normal country,’with wealth and opportunities spread out more equitably and accountably. Perhaps, a decolonized Russia would be poorer and less successful than Russia’s former western colonies. Even some of the Siberian colonies if governed prudently may ensure better life for their inhabitants than Moscow or St Petersburg. Hence, in a normalized Russia cut to size, the ruling class would need to follow the wishes of the citizenry.
But who among the high-flying imperial officials would like to listen to the biomass? ‘Long live the empire!’ is present-day Russia’s rapacious reply. The Russia of the tsar and his oligarchs ‘must go on.’
April 2023
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