| Okay, time to untangle. 1. Identity is an internal belief, which may or may not correpsond to the facts. 2. Factually, Russia never was a country of peaceful defenders (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Russia). 3. During the post-WW2 Soviet era, the main focus of internal propaganda was Peace and Victory over the nazi Germany. It is during that time the identity of a "peaceful defender" was formed and ingrained into the Soviet psyche (and it survived Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan). Later, this identity was reinforced by Putin. 4. I still know a lot of people in Russia who hold that identity. I would still call it a national identity. 5. After the Ukraine war that identity can no longer be held without denial or serious cognitive dissonance. 6. Many people will go into denial, and many people will have an identity crisis. 7. However, "That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be". |