ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the policies towards language by the USSR, shifting between recognition of local Caucasian languages as part of ethnic identity and Stalin’s belief that a single language is a predicate for human progress. Formal policy shifted between these poles, at times encouraging the many languages of Dagestan to find written form, and at others attempting greater centralised control over people through a single language. Naturally there were complications through failure to implement policy effectively; there was local resistance against unwanted imposition such as Kultsansturm; in particular, support for minority languages was often no more than cosmetic, leading to linguistic loss and the erosion of ethnicity.
