ABSTRACT
The various ethnic peripheries of the Soviet Union—the European West, the Baltic, Central Asia—the most linguistically and culturally diverse is certainly Transcaucasia. Whatever the ultimate aims of Soviet nationalities policy—acculturation and bilingualism, assimilation, or the creation of a multinational "Soviet people"—the dominant process in Transcaucasia has been the ethnic consolidation and growing internal cohesion of the major nationalities. The underground economy and corrupt political practices in Transcaucasia were difficult to eradicate precisely because of their connection to the traditional Caucasian reliance on close ties with family and friends. The national consolidation of the Transcaucasian nationalities differed from republic to republic. Ethnic consciousness continues to mediate in different ways how Soviet norms of behavior and consciousness are assimilated by various nationalities. Russification is simply not evident in Transcaucasia, either in the objective demographic and cultural trends or in the policies of the local Communist parties.
