The Collapse of the USSR in the Historical Policy of the Key Parties in Russia

Introduction. The collapse of the USSR is one of the most important events in the history of XX century. The political parties consider significance of this historical event, that is reflected in their rhetoric. CPRF and LDPR are considered as key actors of the historical policy in Russia since these parties have been updating the memory of the collapse of the USSR since the 1990s. The aim of the study is to consider the features of the actualization of the crisis of the Soviet Union in the historical policies of the CPRF and the LDPR. Materials and Methods. The materials of the study include the election programs of Russian political parties. The research methods are actor-oriented approach (M. Bernhard, Ya. Kubik) and comparative analysis of the key actors of the historical policy. Results. The study revealed that the key actors of the party’s historical policy – CPRF and LDPR – point out different reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Communist party of the Russian Federation consider that the crisis was caused by subjective factors, while Liberal-Democratic party of Russia state that those were objective factors. The findings of the study prove high relevance of the problem of the collapse of the USSR for Russian political parties. Discussion and Conclusion. Political parties of Russia that are interested in updating the memory of turning points in history achieve certain political goals, such as the increase of electoral support and strengthening the legitimacy of the course of the political party. The historical policy is aimed at building party’s identity. The results of the study may be useful for identifying patterns in the historical policy of the CPRF and the LDPR, which have been parliamentary parties in Russia for more than 30 years. These parties, despite their inherent ideological antagonism, jointly contribute to increasing the significance of history, which has a positive effect on national identity.