RUSSIA SOVIET OR SLAV ?
By NICOLAS SOLLOHUB
NOW that the Russian armies have crossed the frontiers of their country and seem about to penetrate into the Danubian plain and perhaps beyond, it is worth While considering what may be the implications of some of those developments inside Russia which have recently been noticed by the Press abroad. To appreciate the present importance of these developments one must cast one's mind back quarter of a century. At that time the Communist regime appeared to be a denial of all traditional Russian values. It was opposed not only,1s some people imagine, by a mere handful of capitalists and ,aristocrats but by an important section of the population ; for several years these men fought for the preservation of traditional Russia against a movement which preached atheism, the abolition of nationality, the dictatorship of one class—the proletariat—the active propagation of international revolution. For some years now, but especially since the Nazi invasion, the Soviet regime has been eliminating some of the elements which had roused such opposition, and seems to be developing from an internationally- minded Soviet Union into a nationally-minded Soviet Russian Federation.
Foreigners who are not familiar with the history and character
of Russia inevitably find it difficult to appreciate the significance of these developments. They would, for instance, probably meet with a cool reception in Russia today if they used some of the cliches which for many years have been current in " progressive " circles over here: it would be imprudent to speak slightingly of Peter the Great for sacrificing so many lives when building St. Petersburg or to sneer at the Russian war effort in the last war, for the Russians today are consciously proud .of their Leningrad and of the achievements of their fathers' generation. Pre- revolutionary Russia had waged wars in the name of the Czar, of the Orthodox faith, of the Fatherland and now and then in defence of the Slav Brothers. In the early days of the revolution, monarchy, nation, Fatherland, race, came to be regarded as dangerous con- ceptions by the intransigent Marxists who sought to provide in Marxism substitute ideals. Pure Marxism, however, seems to have been too abstract and novel a philosophy for the mass of the popula- tion, which could not forget that it was Russian, even though it had become Socialist as well. Religion, too, was found to be more firmly rooted than some foreigners imagine who only think of Rasputin's vices or of the Church's riches. The Russian nation, as a whole, remained conscious of its national character and of its historical tradition.
All this, it seems, did not prevent it from accepting Socialism. But the new regime, once it had established itself, proved to be both realistic and adaptable: it took upon itself, especially since the outbreak of the war, to load the nation along the path the nation wanted to follow; instead of repressing patriotism any further it started encouraging it. Moreover, as historical developments in Russia are so closely associated with the Russian Orthodox faith, the regime also adopted a more lenient attitude towards religion. The wisdom of this policy has shown itself in the unity displayed by the Russians in the course of this war, in which the whole nation has fought a glorious battle to save not only the achievements of the last twenty-five years but the accumulated achievements of centuries. Believers and non-believers alike have proved Hitler's anticipations of rapid disintegration and collapse to be wrong, and have shown themselves inspired by a patriotism whose roots go deep into Russian history, though its branches extend wider now than before as this new patriotism embraces the many nationalities belonging to the Union.
What, briefly, are the changes which have resulted from the regime's new attitude towards religion and Russian patriotism and which have helped to create this unity? Consider religion first.
September, 1941, saw the abolition of the atheist review, Bezbozhnik ; in November, 1942, the Metropolitan of Kiev was invited to join the commission investigating German war crimes; in September, 1943,
permission was granted after a lapse of about twenty years to elect a Patriarch, and the latter was even authorised to publish a review. Regarding, secondly, the cult of patriotism, we must observe that for some ten years now a partial rehabilitation of Russian history and tradition has been proceeding. Greater attention is devoted to them in schools, and the heroes of Russian history are respected as heroes and not despised as tools of tyrannical Czars. Military orders have been instituted in memory of (St.) Alexander Nevski, Suvoroff, Kutusoff. The old army ranks once regarded as expressing evil class-distinction have been reinstituted. Epaulettes even, the one-time symbols of the officer class and of Czarist " militarism," were introduced, once the new generation of officers had " proved itself worthy of the officer corps " that had fought in previous wars ; schools on the model of the old " cadet corps " (preparing boys to be officers) have recently been created ; in spring, 1943, the Third International was dissolved and in December, 1943, new words were accepted for the " fhternationale," and soon after a new anthem was adopted. The war itself is regarded as a patriotic war, fought not so much in defence of the international revolution as in defence of the nation.
Finally, race-consciousness of a sort has been revived. The Germans' exaltation of the virtues of their race has accentuated patriotism in other nations. These signs have not escaped notice in Soviet Russia. And so, again and again, we hear appeals from Moscow exhorting the smaller Slav nations to fight with increasing fury against the traditional enemy of the Slav race. These exhorta- tions are strangely reminiscent of Imperial Russia, which posed consistently as the protector of the Balkan countries against Turkey and Austria. A Panslav Congress meets regularly in Moscow to discuss the problems facing the Slav nations. Polish and Czech units have been formed to fight with the Red Army, while Partisans in the Balkans are supported by Russia. In fact, though the Third International has been dissolved, Moscow has not thereby lost in political importance. On the contrary, by showing signs of becoming internationally " respectable " it is preparing to play an even more important role in post-war Europe than the mere might of the Russian armies might warrant ; for it claims the title not only of the foremost Socialist country and champion of the " exploited " classes, but also of the foremost Slav country and the champion of oppressed nations.
Some suspicion of the motives behind this policy prevails among the more conservative inhabitants of South-Eastern Europe, who are concerned for their national individuality and remain loyal to the Governments which have continued the fight in exile, Such suspicions, however questionable, may remain, even after M. Molotov's recent declaration on Rumania, but the present insistence on the brotherhood of Slav nations, on religious tolerance and on Russian patriotism bids fair to secure for Soviet Russia among certain 'classes the prestige formerly enjoyed by Imperial Russia.
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