ABSTRACT
Gorbachev’s reforms opened up a Pandora’s Box of ethnic problems which hitherto had remained largely hidden beneath the surface of Soviet politics. However, the roots of those problems go back into even more distant, pre-Soviet history. The Soviet Union existed on the territory roughly corresponding to the Russian Empire, itself the product of the expansion of the Muscovite Principality into the contiguous territories of Eurasia which began in the 11th century AD. In this respect Russia differs significantly from the countries of Western Europe which (with the exception of the southern shore of the Mediterranean) have been physically isolated from Asia. As for Russia, its cultural and geopolitical development since the beginning of the first millennium was dependent on its relationship with Asia and the East in general. This initial period in its history was crucial for the formation of Russian ethnicity, culture and statehood traditions.1
