THE SOVIET UNION is inhabited by many nationalities with complex origins and different histories. Its historical roots, however, are chiefly those of the East Slavs, who evolved into the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian peoples. The major pre-Soviet politi¬ cal formations of the East Slavs were, in order, medieval Kievan Rus’, Muscovy, and the Russian Empire. Three other states— Poland, Lithuania, and the Mongol Empire—also played crucial roles in the historical development of the Soviet Union. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus’, emerged along the Dnepr River Valley, where it controlled the trade route between Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire. By adopting Christianity from Constantinople, Kievan Rus’ began a synthesis of Byzan¬ tine and Slavic cultures. Kievan Rus’ was the collective posses¬ sion of a princely family, a fact that led to armed struggles between princes and ultimately to the territorial disintegration of the state. Conquest by the Mongols was the final blow, and subsequently a number of states claimed to be heirs of Kievan Rus’. One of these was Muscovy, located on the northeastern periphery of Kievan Rus’ and populated primarily by Russians. Muscovy gradually domi¬ nated neighboring territories and expanded into the Russian Empire.
The historical characteristics that emerged in Muscovy were to affect both Russia and the Soviet Union. One such characteristic was the state’s dominance over the individual. Mongol, Byzan¬ tine, and native Russian roots all contributed to what was referred to as Russian autocracy: the idea that Russian rulers, or tsars, were unlimited in their power. All institutions, including the Russian Orthodox Church, were subordinated to the state and the autocrat. The idea of autocracy survived until the fall of the last tsar. Continual territorial expansion was another characteristic of Rus¬ sian history. Beginning with Muscovy’s “gathering of the Rus¬ sian lands,” expansion soon went beyond ethnically Russian areas. As a result, Muscovy developed into the huge Russian Empire, eventually stretching from the border with Poland to the Pacific Ocean. Because of its size and military might, Russia became a major power, but acquisition of non-Russian lands and peoples posed continuing nationality problems.
Expansion westward forced Russia to face the perennial questions of its backwardness and its relationship to the West. Muscovy had grown in isolation from the West, but Russia had to adopt
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