| Russia and the Soviet Union exists in its unique scale of unparalleled distances and powerful winters. Everything springs from that. Napoleon and Hitler’s generals misunderstood those facts, and it cost them dearly. Yet Soviets themselves are as blasé about their country’s size as inhabitants of tropical islands are about coconuts.
Within the borders of what is, in fact, little different from Catherine the Great’s empire, Soviets always boasted about their 150 nationalities, and at least as many languages. What is less clear is how those 150 nationalities felt about the arrangement, or about each other.
Soviets got their first-taste-ever of democracy in 1990; not even a generation has passed since the end of a thousand continuous years of absolute authoritarian rule. It will surely take a complete generation before Soviets live in time sync with the rest of the industrial world. |
