Home » History » Polish/Baltic History » The Russification Of The Baltics

The Russification Of The Baltics

© Scott Hegerty

Is goes without saying that Soviet rule had a number of major impacts on the Baltic States. The entire economy and social structure of the three countries was radically changed. Yet while the region is still trying to recover from the inefficient heavy industry or the decaying infrastructure introduced by their Soviet conquerors, one problem is much harder to address: demography.

Over the course of communist rule, over a million Russians immigrated from other republics of the USSR to the republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. While Russians and other ethnic minorities had always been a part of the population of the three republics, such a large single minority in a region where fewer than eight million people live has been a cause of numerous problems for both locals and newcomers. Even today, as the Baltic countries strive to find a place in the European Union, harmonizing ethnic relations is key to achieving that goal.

After World War II, the Baltic republics had been seriously depopulated not only through the ravages of war, but also by emigration to Western Europe and North America. In addition, many Balts were deported to prison and exile in the Soviet Union for a variety of political reasons. At the same time, the entire USSR was being heavily industrialized, and new workers were needed for the new factories. The lost population would have to be replaced, and Russians (as well as Ukrainians and Belorussians, who were considered ethnically similar enough to Russians to be counted in the same group) were encouraged to move to the Baltics.

Many historians argue that there were more sinister reasons for the demographic change as well. The Baltic peoples had a stronger sense of national culture than the peoples of many other republics (Belarus and Ukraine, for example), and for that reason would be harder to absorb into the Soviet family of peoples. For all their talk of respecting the hundreds of ethnic groups that resided within their borders, the Soviets were more than happy to promote the Russian people above all others. A Russian could live his or her entire life in a non-Russian republic without ever having to learn the local language—all the locals would just have to learn Russian. Russian was the lingua franca in business; Latvians or Estonians could only speak their language at home. To aid in “russifying” the Baltics, Russians were simply moved in—some people even believe that job vacancies were better-advertised in Russia or Ukraine better than they were in the republic where the job actually was.