ABSTRACT
The integration of non-Russian peoples in Soviet society's upper echelons, professions, and organizations helped the nations develop independent national identities. Support for and development of non-Russian languages was one of the most visible signs of the policy of nation-building. However, the simultaneous disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires showed how quickly crises can transform diffuse national aspirations into successful political programs and threaten the existence of empires. In the Ukraine, nationalization was more successful than in Central Asia because the population's higher level of education, beginning urbanization, and developed national identity provided a more favorable environment. Soviet linguistic and cultural autonomy stood in distinct contrast to the forced policy of Polonization in the western Ukraine and western Belorussia and was intended to make the Soviets look like the hope for a future national revival. The Council of Nationalities Soviet resolved to establish Ukrainian cultural centers, theaters, and libraries.
