Nationalism among youth in the soviet Far East in the twenties of the 20th century

Bilim Natalya N.

Annotation

The article studies national discord among Far eastern youth. Ethnic diversity was a distinctive feature of the region before the Great Patriotic War. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, and indigenous peoples lived here. Before the October revolution many of these nations were treated as second-class citizens. In spite of great efforts made by cultural institutions, party and state authorities of the Far East, similar attitude to the Asian workers remained during the twenties of the 20th century. Offensive nicknames were given to Chinese and Korean workers. There were often beaten. Chauvinism and anti-Semitism were also common among working youth. The region party and state leaders believed the cause of that was the lack of sufficient advocacy among youth. Cases of chauvinism and ethnic conflicts were not analyzed and investigated. Archive and published documents analysis demonstrated that low educational level of the participants of the conflicts, insufficient education and counseling at work place, job competition and rivalry for better labor conditions were the main causes of the ethnic strife.

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