Latvijas Vēsturnieku komisijas raksti - 21.sējums - Valsts prezidenta ...

Aleksandrs Ivanovs. Padomju politika Latvijā 20. gadsimta 50. gadu otrajā pusē – 80. gadu vidū
conceptual approaches offering original research techniques and investigation tools that
can be used in the studies of Soviet policies in Latvia and in the Baltic region on the whole.
The article reveals the priorities in investigation of the Soviet policy implemented in
Latvia in the second half of the 1950s – middle of the 1980s, which were accepted in the
Soviet and Baltic Studies. The article shows that due to political and ideological topicality
the Soviet policy was in the centre of attention in the Baltic Studies, as well as in the
Soviet Studies.
An in-depth examination of the historiographic material accumulated in the Soviet
and Baltic studies as well as in the Soviet Latvian historiography shows that the history of
the Soviet policy in Latvia can be studied within different historical, geopolitical, ideological,
and theoretical contexts, which determine different methodological approaches to the
phenomenon of the Soviet policy, controversial interpretations and evaluations, as well as
topicality of certain aspects of the Soviet nationality policy.
In the Soviet Latvian historiography, the history of the implementation of the Soviet
policy in Latvia was studied within the context of “perfection of the socialist society,” therefore,
the history of the Soviet policy was partly hushed up, but partly – falsified. Meanwhile,
in the Soviet Studies, the problem was investigated within the global context of the Soviet
(or even – Eastern European) history. This approach failed to represent the specificity of
the Soviet policy implemented in Latvia. On the other hand, this approach in combination
with the modernization theory and the prior attention paid to the socioeconomic processes
in the Soviet Union made the methodology of Soviet Studies rather similar to the theoretical
approaches accepted in the Soviet historiography; the only (though striking) difference can
be observed in the evaluations of the Soviet policy.
Nevertheless, some concepts (e.g. Sovietization–Russianization–Russification; nationalism,
etc.), theoretical approaches (e.g. some modifications of the modernization theory), and
research techniques (e.g. the analysis of the national identity support factors and national
identity support patterns) can be used in contemporary research.
In the Baltic Studies, the Soviet policy carried out in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia
was investigated as a specific phenomenon within the frameworks of the Baltic region. The
Soviet policy embraced all spheres of social, cultural, economic, and spiritual activities. At
the same time, the main goal of the Soviet policy in Latvia was integration of Latvians into
the Soviet system, but the measures implemented by the Soviet authorities were aimed
at re-identification of the nationalities in the Baltic region. Therefore, the Soviet policy in
Latvia, as well as in the Baltic region on the whole, in its essence was a nationality policy.
Thus, it seems that the approach substantiated in the Baltic Studies in the 1960s–1980s
gives an opportunity to reveal the essence of the Soviet policy fully.
In conclusion, the author states that the principal prerequisites for progress in the area
of the Soviet policy studies are institutional support, special research programmes, and
clearly formulated priorities in the modern Latvian historiography.
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