National identity of Russia: yesterday, today, tomorrow

The paper considers the establishment of national identity in the Soviet and post-Soviet area. Discussing the factors of developing the national identity in different historical periods of the country, the author emphasizes the Soviet identity. The nature of the Soviet identity is understood as the ideological and cultural phenomenon which involves cultural reflection of social and political processes underpinning the development and then implies the crisis of the Soviet culture. The Russian identity, Marxist doctrine, ideology of Bolshevism are the prerequisites for the Soviet identity development. The research analyzes the main ideas of the theories of the Soviet identity by the USSR leaders (V.I. Lenin, I.V. Stalin, N.S. Khrushchev, L.I. Brezhnev). It reviews the reasons for the Soviet identity crisis which has led to the collapse of the USSR. The study focuses on the current development of a new, Russian identity. The complex nature of these processes is determined by the problems of choosing ways to modernize the country.