Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Racial and religious tolerance
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
62 PROBLEMS CONFRONTING RUSSIA
The reason for this inequality was the strongly grounded
ethnographical idea of the Great Russian individuality apart
from the organic cohesion of all the Russian citizens. The
Russian Empire was theoretically identified with the Great
Russian race, and was based on an ethnographical principle
which was foreign to all the other nationalities not belonging
to the Great Russian, but none the less forming component
parts of the Empire. The Great Russians were supposed to
be the " real Russians," while the other Russian citizens
were constantly given to understand that they were more
or less tolerated, but not admitted on equal terms in the
Russian commonwealth.
In 1905, when the first revolutionary movement took hold
of the Empire, a meeting in Petrograd was arranged of
representatives of the nations not belonging to the Great
Russians ; that meeting was attended by Poles, Lithuanians,
Grusians, Asserbeidgantses, Armenians, Hebrews, Kirghises,
Letts, Esthonians, Tartars, Ukranians, White Russians,
Little Russians, and Russians from Galicia. All these
representatives pronounced themselves in favour of
maintaining their particular national individuality. They
complained of the administrative centralisation, and the policy
of Russification of the central Government, which was shown
in the attempt to suppress the Little Russian, Lithuanian,
and Polish languages by all kinds of administrative measures.
The unfairness of such a bureaucratic policy is clearly shown
if it is appreciated that only 43.5 per cent, of the population
of Russia is Great Russian, and the majority—that is to
say 56.5 per cent.—is not.
It was the privilege of the first Council of the Empire and
the first Duma, after the Constitution had been proclaimed,
to express themselves in favour of a just recognition of the
individuality of the different tribes and races of Russia, and
of the desirability of a full equalisation of the laws of all
Russian citizens, with abrogation of all limitations inherent
in a given race. These public bodies recognised that the
demands of the different races of the Empire for the
retention and development of their particular ethical individuality
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
