# Russia and the rule of law **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 15, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084 "2015-03-15T23:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084/21 "2015-03-20T15:21:53Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Which European powers are those? It’s not the UK (Welsh, Irish, Scots, more recent immigrant minorities) nor the French (Basques, Bretons, etc.) nor the Spanish (Catalans, Basques, etc.) nor the Germans (Poles, Turks, etc.) nor the Italians (Mezzogiorno). > > They may project homogeneity, but it is emphatically not the case for any European power I’m aware of. I think that France is rather united. Bretons, for instance, are proud of being Bretons, but feel perfectly French too, apart from a very anecdotal minority. The only part of France (outside oversea territories) with some people who are serious about independance is Corsica. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084/22 "2015-03-20T15:32:10Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I think that France is rather united. Bretons, for instance, are proud of being Bretons, but feel perfectly French too, apart from a very anecdotal minority. The only part of France (outside oversea territories) with some people who are serious about independance is Corsica. I didn’t mean separatism, just groups that are in France and French by citizenship (and often language) but not ethnically French. The Corsicans are another good example. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084/23 "2015-03-20T18:46:31Z")
The heartland of Russia is a huge wide-open plain in the middle of a vast land mass, with few natural barriers to invasion from any side. It has been invaded time and time again in history (Mongols, Swedes, Poles, French, Imperial Germans, Nazi Germans), and some of those invasions–especially the Mongols and Nazis–have been pretty horrific. It has been speculated that this fact of geography makes Russians more willing to accept ultra-authoritarian rule, for their own protection. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084/24 "2015-03-21T22:05:49Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > The heartland of Russia is a huge wide-open plain in the middle of a vast land mass, with few natural barriers to invasion from any side. It has been invaded time and time again in history (Mongols, Swedes, Poles, French, Imperial Germans, Nazi Germans), and some of those invasions–especially the Mongols and Nazis–have been pretty horrific. > > It has been speculated that this fact of geography makes Russians more willing to accept ultra-authoritarian rule, for their own protection. And let’s not deny the facts. One of the people who invaded Russia’s heartland is the Russians themselves. They originated in what’s now Ukraine and Belarus. Most of what’s now inhabited by Russians is territory that was conquered from other people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084.md?page=1)