In one of his old posts, blogger Anatoly Karlin (you can go look him up) said that had Russia avoided the Bolshevik Revolution, it would have been able to strongly Russify Ukrainians and Belarusians--similar to what France did with its own various ethnic minorities in the 19th century. Specifically, the mechanism through which this would have been done--just like in France--would be to implement universal, uniform, and standardized education throughout Russia.
Anyway, my question here is this--do you agree with Anatoly Karlin that it was possible to strongly Russify Ukrainians and Belarusians in the 20th century to the extent that the vast majority of them began considering themselves to be Russians?
As for my own thoughts on this, I would say this: I think that it was possible, but only through massive oppression and repression on the part of the state over a (relatively) long period of time. Basically, the (essentially) forced Russification of the Ukrainians of the Kuban is a good example of this. Specifically, if Russia used fear, terror, and the like to impose Russification on its entire Ukrainian and Belarusian population for a sufficiently long time period starting from the early 20th century, then it might have very well been able to Russify the vast majority of them.
However, I don't think that Russia would have been able to Russify the vast majority of its Ukrainian and Belarusian populations in the 20th century had it become a democracy like France was after 1871. Basically, I think that what allowed France to Francify (sp?) its various ethnic groups in the 19th and 20th centuries is the fact that France completely eliminated the concept of ethnicity throughout its territory; basically, in France, there was no official discussion of ethnicity for anyone. In contrast, due to its larger and more "extreme"/varied ethnic diversity, I don't think that Russia would have been able to completely eliminate the concept of ethnicity throughout its territory like France did. After all, can you honestly imagine, say, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, or Azeris beginning to consider themselves to be Russians? (Indeed, this might help explain why attempts to create a nationwide Sovok identity throughout the Soviet Union in our TL were mostly unsuccessful.) In turn, without a complete elimination of the concept of ethnicity throughout its territory, I don't think that a democratic Russia would have been able to Russify the vast majority of its ethnic Ukrainian and ethnic Belarusian populations.
Anyway, any thoughts on this?