Historical Realities and Historical Myths of the Colonization of the “Russian North”: from the Initial Settlement to the Post-Soviet Retreat

Abstract

AbstractThis article uses the ideas put forth by Hill and Gaddy in their book “Siberian Curse” to discuss the stages of colonization of the European north of Russia. Discussing different components of the colonization process, the authors argue that the initial colonization of this region could not have been carried out earlier than the Neolithic, because in their understanding settlement is the economic development of the territory, and therefore the first attempts to penetrate the primitive collectives to the North cannot be interpreted as either the initial settlement or the initial development. It also refutes the assertion that the colonization of the European north basically ended by the end of the 19thcentury. It is argued that the ‘Stalinist industrialization’ in the North cannot be regarded as a modernization process, but it is logical to consider it as the next stage of colonization – penal colonization. An analysis of modern social processes in the European North suggests that the processes of colonization retreat are becoming a sustainable development trend in the regions of the European North.