#21 The Russian Language During the Soviet Era

Today, Russian is widely used not only in Russia but also in former Soviet republics such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

To understand this situation, it is essential to examine the history of the Soviet Union. During the approximately 70 years of its existence, the Soviet Union brought together numerous ethnic groups and languages, while Russian served as a common means of communication.

In this article, I will explain the role Russian played during the Soviet era, its position in education and society, and the influence it continues to have today.

1. What Was the Soviet Union?

The Soviet Union was a socialist state that existed from 1922 to 1991.

Its official name was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly abbreviated as the USSR. It was initially formed by 4 republics, but its internal structure changed over time, and it eventually consisted of 15 constituent republics.

Its territory extended from Eastern Europe through the Caucasus and Central Asia to Siberia and the Russian Far East. During the 20th century, it was also the largest country in the world by land area.

The Soviet Union was home not only to Russians but also to Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Armenians, Georgians, and more than 100 other ethnic groups, each of which maintained its own language and cultural traditions.

After the Second World War, the Soviet Union also became a global superpower alongside the United States and exercised considerable influence on international affairs. It achieved major advances in areas such as space exploration, science, technology, and education. It is particularly well known for completing the first human spaceflight in 1961, when Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space.

A multiethnic and multilingual state of this scale required a common language through which people could communicate with one another. Russian came to fulfil that role.

2. Russian Was Used as a Common Language

The Soviet Union was home to many ethnic groups, including Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Armenians, and Georgians.

Each group had its own language, and language policies differed among the individual republics. Within homes and local communities, people commonly used their respective ethnic languages, and many first acquired these languages as their mother tongues.

At the same time, Russian was widely used as a common language in communication between republics, government administration, the military, science and technology, and higher education.

For example, when someone from Kazakhstan communicated with someone from Georgia, it was common for them to speak Russian rather than either person’s native language. Russian was also an essential means of communication for people who moved to another republic for education, employment, or a job transfer.

Russian was also widely used in television, newspapers, films, and radio. As a result, many people encountered Russian regularly in their daily lives, and the number of people who could speak it in addition to their mother tongue increased throughout the Soviet Union.

Naturally, proficiency in Russian varied according to region and generation, and not everyone spoke it to the same level. Nevertheless, across the Soviet Union as a whole, Russian functioned as a common language connecting different ethnic groups and republics.

3. Was Russian an Official Language of the Soviet Union?

Russian is sometimes described as having been the official language of the Soviet Union, but its legal status changed over time.

For much of the Soviet Union’s existence, no official language for the entire federation was formally specified by law. Legally speaking, Russian was therefore one of the many languages spoken within the Soviet Union.

In the individual republics, national languages such as Ukrainian, Kazakh, Georgian, and Armenian were also used in administration and education. As a multiethnic state, the Soviet Union was home to multiple languages that existed alongside one another.

In practice, however, Russian was widely used as the common language of federal administration, higher education, science and technology, and communication between different republics and ethnic groups.

By the late 1980s, Russian had also begun to receive formal legal recognition as the “language of interethnic communication” (язы́к межнациона́льного обще́ния). Under the 1990 Law on the Languages of the Peoples of the USSR, Russian was officially designated as the official language of the Soviet Union.

In other words, for most of the Soviet era, Russian was not legally defined as the official language of the entire country and was formally one of the many languages spoken within the federation. In practice, however, it functioned widely as the common language connecting the Soviet Union, and it gained official legal status during the final years of the state.

4. Education and the Russian Language

Russian occupied an important position within the Soviet education system.

Because the Soviet Union was a multiethnic state, many schools in certain republics and regions provided education in the languages of the local ethnic groups. At the same time, Russian was taught as a compulsory subject in many schools, giving children the opportunity to learn it from an early age.

The importance of Russian increased further at more advanced levels of education. Knowledge of Russian was particularly important for university education, professional training, and the study of science and technology.

Many textbooks, academic papers, and specialist publications were written in Russian, and numerous university courses throughout the Soviet Union were taught in the language. As a result, the ability to understand Russian provided a considerable advantage to those seeking higher education or careers as researchers, engineers, and technical specialists.

Students from different republics also used Russian as a common language for study and communication. For example, when a student from Ukraine met a student from Armenia at university, they would commonly communicate in Russian rather than in either person’s native language.

The influence of this education system is one reason why many people in former Soviet republics can still understand Russian today.

5. Russian Was Also a Central Language of Space Exploration

During the Soviet period, Russian played a major role not only in education but also in science and culture. It was particularly important as the central language of the Soviet space programme.

Yuri Gagarin’s successful completion of the first human spaceflight in 1961 had a major impact around the world. The Soviet Union continued to lead developments in space exploration, and many studies and technical documents relating to rocket engineering, artificial satellites, and crewed spaceflight were produced in Russian.

The training of cosmonauts, engineers, and other specialists was also conducted primarily in Russian, making it an indispensable language for those involved in space exploration. Even today, Russian spacecraft and equipment are used in connection with the International Space Station, and astronauts may be required to learn basic Russian.

The Soviet Union also conducted extensive research in mathematics, physics, engineering, and other scientific fields, producing large numbers of academic papers and specialist books in Russian. For researchers at the time, Russian was therefore an important language for accessing advanced scientific and technological knowledge.

6. Russian Remained Widely Used After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union

When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, its 15 republics became independent states.

After independence, more countries designated their national languages as official languages, and the role previously played by Russian gradually began to change. Some states introduced policies that gave greater priority to their national languages in education and government administration.

However, this did not cause Russian to disappear rapidly. Russian continues to be widely spoken in many former Soviet republics, including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

It also remains a common means of communication among people whose native languages differ. For those who work or study across the former Soviet region, Russian continues to be a practical and useful language.

Naturally, the status and level of Russian usage vary considerably from one country to another. In recent years, some countries have actively promoted the use of their national languages, and the position of Russian has changed according to regional and political circumstances.

Even so, the historical influence of nearly 70 years of use as a common language remains considerable and is still clearly visible throughout the former Soviet region.

7. The Influence on Modern Russian

The Russian language used during the approximately 70 years of the Soviet period has been passed down into the present in various forms.

For example, many words and expressions widely used during the Soviet era can still be found in fields such as politics, government administration, economics, the military, space exploration, science, and technology.

Some well-known words associated with the Soviet Union include:

• Сове́т — council; soviet
• това́рищ — comrade
• комсомо́л — the Communist Youth League; Komsomol
• колхо́з — collective farm
• совхо́з — state farm

Many of these words are now mainly used when discussing history. However, words such as това́рищ may still be used in certain contexts to mean “companion,” “associate,” or “fellow member of a group.”

Because the Soviet Union played a leading role in global space exploration, several Russian words associated with the field also became internationally known.

Examples include:

• ко́смос — outer space
• космона́вт — cosmonaut
• спу́тник — satellite

In particular, Спу́тник-1 (Sputnik 1), the world’s first artificial satellite, launched in 1957, became famous around the world.

During the Soviet era, the norms of standard Russian also spread across a vast area through newspapers, books, education, radio, and television. Standard Russian had already begun to take shape before the formation of the Soviet Union, but the Soviet education system and mass media played a major role in standardizing and disseminating it.

At the same time, social changes following the dissolution of the Soviet Union caused some vocabulary relating to socialist institutions and political structures to become less common in everyday life. Nevertheless, you may still encounter many expressions specific to the Soviet era when reading literature, watching films, or studying newspaper articles.

For this reason, learning about Soviet society and its distinctive vocabulary can help you understand Russian history and culture more clearly.

8. Summary

During the Soviet era, Russian served as a common language that supported the multiethnic Soviet state.

Its main characteristics can be summarized as follows:

For approximately 70 years, Russian connected numerous countries, regions, and peoples within the Soviet Union.

By learning about Russian during the Soviet era, you can better understand the historical environment in which the language spread and developed into the international language it remains today.

Yuri Miyajima

Writer

I’m a Japanese writer with a deep interest in Russia. Through my articles, I explore a wide range of topics related to the country, including its culture, history, traditions, food, everyday life, and language.