Shadows of Empire: Cultural Heritage as a Battleground for Identity in Former Soviet States

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, former Soviet states began reconciling their national identities with the historical and cultural legacies of the Soviet era to establish themselves as independent nations. Under USSR rule, these nations experienced significant cultural suppression and demographic changes, particularly through Russification policies that prioritized Russian language, culture, and migration, often at the expense of native traditions and identities. These legacies of suppression and demographic shifts have left physical and symbolic marks on the landscape, including Soviet-era monuments, place names, and urban architecture. As these nations have sought to reassert their sovereignty, they have adopted different strategies to address their Soviet past depending on the degree of demographic change and the presence of minority populations. This study highlights how demographic changes under Soviet rule have profoundly shaped how these nations navigate their symbolic landscapes in the post-Soviet era. The presence and volume of ethnic Russians in former satellite states impact how nations choose to cope with their Soviet past. Estonia, due to its significant Russian minority, has taken an assertive stance towards its communist past by removing Soviet monuments and emphasizing Estonian cultural and linguistic identity as a unifying force. In contrast, Armenia, with its predominantly homogenous population, has retained many Soviet-era symbols, often recontextualizing them within an Armenian narrative. This reflects a pragmatic approach influenced by its ongoing reliance on Russia for security. Georgia, in light of its current territorial conflicts following significant cultural suppression during Soviet rule, has selectively removed Soviet symbols while preserving some as reminders of its complex history. Tallinn, Yerevan, and Tbilisi all experienced cultural suppression and Russification, particularly with an increased presence of ethnic Russians, but each has dealt with its material cultural heritage in different ways. This study demonstrates that the extent of demographic change during and after Soviet rule, particularly the increased presence of ethnic Russians, is correlated with the intensity of efforts to reshape the physical legacy of the Soviet period. Furthermore, this research emphasizes that cities are microcosms of identity and that cultural heritage sites often serve as focal points for broader societal debates about history and national belonging. This also highlights how symbolic spaces shape and reflect identity conflicts. This narrative reframes heritage as a dynamic and politically contested process by emphasizing how states intentionally reshape cultural symbols to navigate their past and assert their future identities. The way these former Soviet states interact with the physical remnants of the USSR reveals how socio-political conflicts are expressed in a state-symbolic landscape, as each nation tries to regain its sense of identity and belonging in the aftermath of an empire.