Political Scientist: Bashkirs Fighting In Ukraine May Return, Becoming An Independence Factor
- 19.01.2024, 18:38
- 11,894
There are dozens of dissatisfied peoples in the Russian Federation.
How will the protests that erupted in Bashkortostan affect the imperial myth of Russia? The Charter97.org website spoke about this with Ukrainian political scientist, expert at the Ukrainian Center for Belarusian Communications Maksym Pleshko:
— Before talking about the imperial myth, as the French philosopher Rene Descartes said, let’s define the concepts and half the disagreements will disappear by themselves.
From the point of view of ethnopolitical science, the Russian Federation is a pure empire that has conquered hundreds of different peoples. These peoples are at different stages of their ethnonational and political development.
Bashkortostan and the Bashkirs are one of the most united, developed peoples with a certain political tradition. It is worth noting that the very name of this people has been actively appearing since the 10th century AD as an ethnic group. At the end of the 16th century they were conquered by Moscow. There are two versions. One is that they themselves agreed with Moscow.
— Russians also say about Georgia that “the Georgians themselves came to them.”
— Absolutely. The second version is conquest. The Bashkirs fought several wars of liberation throughout the 18th century. When Moscow was weak, it always promised them rights, freedom and autonomy. As soon as the center became strong, it was all cut off.
During the First World War and the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Bashkirs declared independence, like Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic countries. Unfortunately, they didn’t succeed then; they became a subject of the then Russia.
Russia constantly pursued assimilation, a policy of destroying their language. In 1991, the Bashkirs had one of the strongest movements for independence. Only Moscow's promises about autonomy and support from the center managed to extinguish the movement.
This republic had broad autonomy: the post of president, economic independence. Bashkortostan has oil resources and oil refineries. With Putin coming to power, centralization occurred: Rosneft absorbed Bashneft, rights were limited, the post of president was abolished and was called the “head of the republic.”
Ethnopolitical scientists studying the Russian Federation understand that Bashkortostan is the first subject in line for secession. I'm not surprised by what's happening there now.
To summarize, this is a people who constantly fight for independence and have a certain political history.
Now about the Russian myth. Its essence is that “we, Russians, are special, therefore we must rule the world, at least those countries that we can reach.” This is an idea built on the spread of rot against one’s own people and those near Moscow, which puts them below all others.
The Russian myth defies rational analysis. But for me it has an ethnic character. They also do not allow the existence of Belarusians, considering them “wrong Russians,” calling Ukrainians a “historical mistake,” and so on.
What is happening in Bashkortostan undermines this myth. The Bashkirs show that there are dozens of dissatisfied peoples.
I will also add that they have pro-Putin military units that are fighting in Ukraine.
But Bashkir units who are for independence are also fighting on the side of Ukraine. The phenomenon is that, if I’m not mistaken, one of these pro-Moscow units is named after Salavat Yulaev. This is their hero, just like Kastus Kalinouski for you, Belarusians, and for us — Bohdan Khmelnytsky. This Salavat Yulaev fought for independence against Moscow.
It is clear that those Bashkirs who today are fighting on the side of Russia against Ukraine, when the center weakens and a national question arises, will stand for their people, the state, and will be a factor in new independence.
The Bashkirs have every reason (resource, ethnic, mental, historical) to be independent. And there are many such peoples in the Russian Federation.
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