The foreign and domestic policy of the USSR in the first half of the twentieth century seemed to be directly correlated with whether the Soviet Union was in a defensive position or offensive position in relation to foreign policy/war. In times of defense, policy skewed towards strengthening the core Russian nationality, and weakening demographics in the union that could be turncoats. In times of offense, it benefitted the Russians to embrace the other union nationalities, especially Ukrainians and Belarusians, in order to justify aggressive behavior or land expansion as the reunification of national peoples.
