Chungus Maximus
Banned
What if Soviet Russia forced the Chinese to start speaking Russian, in the name of communism? Would they have been able to do this, the way the Russian Empire imposed Russian on Siberia?
The total indigenous population of Siberia is about two orders of magnitude less than that of China. So no.
Wonder why England was able to impose its language on its Celtic neighbors, thenThe Soviets had no capacity or intention to give such an order, nor the Chinese any reason to follow such an order. Indeed, any Chinese government who ordered hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens to give up their various languages for a European one would quickly find that it had destroyed its nationalist credentials and would likely have brought an immediate coup from within its senior ranks.
They wouldn't, it's a wildly unreasonable demand that would have a minimal benefit even if an ASB made it possible for it to be fulfilled in a remotely practical manner.What if Soviet Russia forced the Chinese to start speaking Russian, in the name of communism?
Russia imposed the Russian language on Siberia by virtue of annexing it and turning it into a Russian settler colony. This is not a viable option for China, a far more populous, sophisticated, and united society.Would they have been able to do this, the way the Russian Empire imposed Russian on Siberia?
Because England spent centuries exercising economic and political dominance over all of them due to its superior size and wealth, to the point that it ended up directly annexing all of them, and the spread of English into those countries, although in part the result of state policy, was also the natural result of people gravitating to the prestige language of business and government over the course of generations. In contrast, the USSR never dominated (or was ever able to dominate) China the way England dominated anyone else in the British Isles, and so even a sensible policy of promoting Russian as the language of business and administration would fail to unseat Mandarin from its role as the prestige language of the country, let alone some insane edict demanding everyone immediately abandon their old languages in favor of the exclusive use of Russian that would probably start the Sino-Soviet split early if Moscow was deranged enough to stick to it. I think it is perhaps possible that you could get Russian into a similar position to that which English enjoys in China today, as a widely taught language that is useful for people who intend to travel or do business abroad, but that's about it.Wonder why England was able to impose its language on its Celtic neighbors, then
Very informative, thank youThey wouldn't, it's a wildly unreasonable demand that would have a minimal benefit even if an ASB made it possible for it to be fulfilled in a remotely practical manner.
Russia imposed the Russian language on Siberia by virtue of annexing it and turning it into a Russian settler colony. This is not a viable option for China, a far more populous, sophisticated, and united society.
Because England spent centuries exercising economic and political dominance over all of them due to its superior size and wealth, to the point that it ended up directly annexing all of them, and the spread of English into those countries, although in part the result of state policy, was also the natural result of people gravitating to the prestige language of business and government over the course of generations. In contrast, the USSR never dominated (or was ever able to dominate) China the way England dominated anyone else in the British Isles, and so even a sensible policy of promoting Russian as the language of business and administration would fail to unseat Mandarin from its role as the prestige language of the country, let alone some insane edict demanding everyone immediately abandon their old languages in favor of the exclusive use of Russian that would probably start the Sino-Soviet split early if Moscow was deranged enough to stick to it. I think it is perhaps possible that you could get Russian into a similar position to that which English enjoys in China today, as a widely taught language that is useful for people who intend to travel or do business abroad, but that's about it.
Loophole possibility: Sino-Soviet split somehow escalate into full scale war as the Soviets drop a few thousand nukes on the PRC and "conquers" the radioactive ruins. Changing the language of a few thousand cancer stricken survivors is much easier...
If that POD is a tad too late have a Twilight of the Red Tsar style USSR going nuke happy on the PRC...
Though I suspect this isn't in the spirit of the OP or what he wants.
Well then it's not gonna happen for reasons already brought up.No, I was thinking more peaceful language change.