The comparative analysis of the soviet heritage influence on Ukrainian and Belarus` nation-building
The article examines nation-building in Ukraine and Belarus after the USSR collapse. These cases are chosen for the research due to significant similarities between their historic development: both offered state systems alternative to the Moscow State and the Russian Empire, observed significant influence of linguistic and ethnic issues (Russian and Russians) over political process, shaped their territorial boundaries while being part of the Soviet Union. At the same time, it is their divergent development after 1991 (Ukraine rejects Soviet legacy while Belarus observes public demand for re-Sovietization) that allows exploring the phenomenon of preserving / dismantling Soviet institutions and political practices in post-Soviet states. The author examines Soviet legacy based on seven parameters: language status, official declaration of institutional continuity, state symbols, monuments and architecture, textbooks on history of the 20 century, modern political regime, and mass consciousness.