Questions of Post-Imperial Political Order in the Political Thought of the Eurasianism Movement, 1921-1938

This work focuses on the examination of the Eurasianism movement as a post-imperial cultural phenomenon that was unique because of its representatives – all Eurasianists were imperial Russian elite, who rethought not only the imperial practices and the Soviet experience in the construction of a new state. Many researchers have not been traditionally considered the political views of the Eurasianists, giving preference to the study of their philosophical and linguistic ideas. At the same time, young intellectuals aimed at creating the «Third way» of state development that would be differ from European liberalism and Soviet socialism, but include advantages of both systems. Eurasianists suggested not only ideological renouncement of the European influence on the Russian culture, but a new political order, including solution of national question and projects of territorial reorganization. In many ways, eurasianists ideas were a reaction to a similar Soviet project that aimed at utilizing nationalisms but could potentially include any nations which opt for socialism globally. At the same time, Eurasianism as a post-imperial project was an attempt to reorganize just the territory of the Russian Empire without domination of Russian ethnicity but with the help of various nationalisms, that should develop its own culture and language. Eurasianist ideas were also close to fascism, mostly because of the autocracy principle. Emigrants believed that the state itself should portray current needs of nations in the face of one ruler, who would make law based on the harmony. Consequently, it raise the question of was the Eurasianism movement a comparably global or at least pan-continental ideology or just an utopian reactionist vision of post-imperial Russia.