Russia is always disproportionately blamed for being a cultural oppressor,
Might have something to do with the early 20th-century body count (whereas most of the other empires managed to get their megakilling sprees wrapped up by 1900 or so). Along with all those sinister Russian accents in Hollywood movies. But yeah, friends of mine have confessed this feeling to me, also (that, as Russians, they feel unduly blamed / hated by the world).
...however as an Empire, USSR needed a single unifying culture and language
Same justification used by... basically every other major empire on the planet, you know.
Either way, this is all getting very far afield from the topic of the original article.
Might have something to do with the early 20th-century body count (whereas most of the other empires managed to get their megakilling sprees wrapped up by 1900 or so). Along with all those sinister Russian accents in Hollywood movies. But yeah, friends of mine have confessed this feeling to me, also (that, as Russians, they feel unduly blamed / hated by the world).
...however as an Empire, USSR needed a single unifying culture and language
Same justification used by... basically every other major empire on the planet, you know.
Either way, this is all getting very far afield from the topic of the original article.