FRIENDSHIP OF PEOPLES AS A SOVIET CONCEPT AND POLICY (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE FORMATION OF A MULTINATIONAL STAFF OF TEACHERS AND GRADUATE STUDENTS OF THE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES UNDER THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPSU IN 1946-1978)

Abstract

The Soviet concept of friendship of peoples disappeared from political practice with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The article analyzes the causes of its occurrence and the directions of its practical implementation. For the first time, the author examines, using the example of legislative acts of the USSR, how the USSR leadership used the instrument of administrative and territorial division of the country to establish the “friendship of peoples”, how, through industrial projects in addition to other methods, the formation of the community of the Soviet people took place and how the education system served this purpose. The article pays special attention to the example of the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU (ASS under CC of CPSU), established in 1946. The Academy became an important organization that influenced the careers of party and Soviet officials. From the very beginning, the emphasis was on the admission of graduate students and students from different regions and republics of the USSR. Over the years, its teaching staff also became multinational. The example of the ASS under the CC of the CPSU showed the general course of the Soviet state towards creating conditions for close communication between people of different cultures and languages, for them to get acquainted with each other, work together, achieve common goals, and mutual understanding. This development did not proceed in isolation from the general processes in the country. As well as outside its walls, the ASS lived through a campaign against cosmopolitanism, which resulted in persecution of Jewish professors. At the same time, some Jews, like people of other nationalities, were able to make memorable careers at the Academy