Russia and the Central Caucasus in Soviet and Modern Scientific Discourse: from “Colonialism” to Russian Statehood

The authors consider the problem of the Central Caucasus peoples’ joining Russia in Soviet and modern historiography. The purpose is to determine the main trends of the regional segment of Soviet historiography which remain relevant in the modern discourse, and to present the modern vector of research of the problem under consideration. There is given the periodization of the Soviet historiography. It is revealed that in the 1930s the formula of “absolute evil” was replaced by that of “the lesser evil” from the point of view of non-Russian peoples’ joining Russia. In the 1950s, there was taken a course to substantiate the progressive role of non-Russian peoples’ joining Russia and there appeared the idea of the voluntary nature of their joining. The article shows the fate of those historians who could not unconditionally accept the change in the research paradigm. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of modern historiography; its fundamental difference from the Soviet one is shown - the study of the issue without any ideological guidelines and its transfer exclusively into a scientific plane. The motive for addressing the problem is the research interest in the modernization processes of the post-reform period. As a result of the multifaceted research, there has been revised the assessment of the role of the socio-cultural institutions that served the goals of the peaceful conquest of the Central Caucasus peoples, and their positive role has been identified.