TRANSFORMATION OF NATIONAL POLICY IN THE XX – EARLY XXI CENTURY: RUSSIAN EMPIRE, USSR, RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Russia is a multinational state, the multi-ethnicity of which continues to be one of its main features even in the XXI century. In modern conditions, the problem of interethnic relations is of particular relevance. The multi-ethnicity of the Russian Federation is an objective circumstance, which we have no right not to take into account, especially since the federalism of our country is based on the national-territorial principle. Each state has its own historical past, on which its content and form, internal and external political relations depend. Russia has a rich and instructive history, which not only affects the present, but also largely determines its future. The gathering of East Slavic tribes around the Kyiv center, the collapse of the single Old Russian state during the period of feudal fragmentation, the creation of Muscovy as a single centralized state, the formation of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, the demise of the USSR, and the formation of a peculiar post-Soviet history – all these are specific stages of the Russian past. The article presents an overview of the implementation of national policy in the XX – early XXI century within the framework of the existence of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation. An appeal to the history of national relations in Russia and to the experience of Soviet national policy is very relevant in modern times. The national question naturally acted as one of the main problems in different historical epochs. In modern conditions, Russia is still a multi-ethnic state, uniting peoples of different language groups, cultures and confessions. The ethnic core of the country is the Russian people, constituting more than 80% of its population. At the same time, the territory of Russia remains the historical homeland of many peoples who have retained their ethnic identity and created the foundations of their statehood during the years of the Soviet period.