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Creation of a Single "Soviet People" (1958–1970)

The USSR's official campaign to erase national distinctions: The start was given by the USSR Law "On Strengthening the Connection of School with Life and on the Further Development of the System of Public Education in the USSR" of December 24, 1958: it contained no direct norm on language, leaving the matter to the republics[1]; the republican Law of the Ukrainian SSR of April 17, 1959, by its Article 9, made the choice of the language of instruction a matter for parents[2]. The Third Program of the CPSU, adopted by the 22nd Congress in October 1961, proclaimed "a new stage in the development of national relations in the USSR, characterized by the further drawing together of nations and the achievement of their complete unity" - up to and including "the effacement of national distinctions, especially of language distinctions"[3].

ID: C0053
Start:  January 1958
End:  December 1970
Contributors: decolonial.ist project
Version: 1.2
Created: 25 April 2026
Last Modified: 4 August 2026
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ID Name Procedures
G0010 USSR 3

Instruments Applied

ID Name Procedures
S0008 Government 3

Procedures Carried Out


January 1958
T0114.001 Imposition of Asymmetric Bilingualism and Optionality
C0053 Creation of a Single "Soviet People" (1958–1970)
G0010 USSR
S0008 Government

The legislative transfer of schools through "freedom of choice": the union Law of December 24, 1958 left the language of instruction to the republics[1], and the Law of the Ukrainian SSR of April 17, 1959 wrote into Article 9: "Instruction in the schools of the Ukrainian SSR is conducted in the pupils' native language. It is for the parents to decide to which school, with which language of instruction, to send their children" - the study of a language not taught in a given school became optional[2].

January 1958
T0010 Denial of a Distinct Identity
C0053 Creation of a Single "Soviet People" (1958–1970)
G0010 USSR
S0008 Government

The ideological course toward erasing nations: the Third Program of the CPSU, adopted by the 22nd Congress in October 1961, announced "a new stage in the development of national relations in the USSR, characterized by the further drawing together of nations and the achievement of their complete unity," and called "the effacement of national distinctions, especially of language distinctions," merely "a considerably longer process than the effacement of class boundaries"[3].

January 1958
T0158 Territorial Marking with Imperial Symbols
C0053 Creation of a Single "Soviet People" (1958–1970)
G0010 USSR
S0008 Government

The material sign of the "merging of nations" was erected in Pereiaslav in the Kyiv region, the city of the Pereiaslav Rada: "on 8 October 1961, a majestic monument in honor of the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia was unveiled on B. Khmelnytsky Square"[4]. The authorities unveiled the sign themselves: according to the newsreel Radianska Ukraina No. 49, the opening rally was addressed by Petro Shelest, first secretary of the Kyiv obkom of the CPU, and Pankratov, a secretary of the Moscow obkom of the party - the metropole spoke at the unveiling in its own voice[5]. The composition consisted of two female figures representing Ukraine and Russia and three bas-reliefs with medallions: "a torch, 1654; a hammer and sickle in the rays of the sun, 1917; the Order of Victory, 1945"[6]. The sign's purpose is recorded in its own protection passport: "The monument is a symbol of the eternal, unbreakable friendship and the indestructible monolithic unity of the fraternal peoples - Ukrainian and Russian…"[7]. Four years after the unveiling, the sign was taken under state protection by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR of 21 July 1965 No. 711 "On the approval of the list of monuments of art, history and archaeology of the Ukrainian SSR"[8][9]. The pedestal bore the inscription "Forever together - forever with the Russian people"; in early December 2021 it was removed by unknown persons[10], and the monument itself was dismantled on 7 July 2022 - by an order of the Ministry of Culture that struck the monument, protection No. 5894-Ko, off the register "due to the loss of the subject of protection"[11].

References

  1. Верховный Совет СССР, К. Ворошилов, 24 декабря 1958. (1958). Закон «Об укреплении связи школы с жизнью и о дальнейшем развитии системы народного образования в СССР».
  2. Інститут історії України НАНУ. (2005). Україна: хроніка ХХ століття. 1946-1960.
  3. XXII съезд КПСС, принята 31 октября 1961 (Музей історії російських реформ ім. П. А. Столипіна, публікація повного тексту). (1961). Программа Коммунистической партии Советского Союза.
  4. Редкол.: П. Т. Тронько (голова) та ін., АН УРСР. (1971). Історія міст і сіл Української РСР. Київська область.
  5. Укркінохроніка, жовтень 1961; ЦДАЕА (кол. ЦДКФФА ім. Г. С. Пшеничного), од. обл. № 2348, анотація в електронному каталозі. (1961). Радянська Україна. Кіножурнал № 49.
  6. Переяслав.City. (2022). Куди подінуть пам'ятник «возз'єднання» у Переяславі.
  1. О. Ігнатенко, М. Товкайло (Переяслав.City). (2020). Геть від Москви чи навіки разом? Що робити з пам'ятниками, які виконують роль ідеологічної отрути.
  2. Рада Міністрів УРСР, постанова від 21.07.1965 № 711. (1965). Про затвердження списку пам'яток мистецтва, історії та археології Української РСР.
  3. Міністерство культури і туризму України, 03.02.2010, додаток 10. (2010). Наказ Міністерства культури і туризму України № 58/0/16-10.
  4. Інформатор Переяслав, 25.04.2022. (2022). У столиці демонтують скульптуру-символ возз'єднання України з росією. А що в Переяславі?.
  5. Міністерство культури та інформаційної політики України, 28.06.2022. (2022). Наказ Міністерства культури та інформаційної політики України № 223.