Constancy and Breakthrough as Opposing Vectors of Empire Construction

In the present article the author addresses the issue of the correlation of the principles of constancy and breakthrough as dominant temperamental features of Russian pre-revolutionary and Soviet societies. Stating the formation in society of the attitude to the perception of national history in the unity of all its constituent historical periods, he draws attention to the need to realize their distinctive singularity, which makes it possible to understand the patterns of their change and comprehension of the qualities that make up their historical advantages and successes. From this point of view, the main difference between the Soviet society and the pre-revolutionary one is seen in the fact that the pre-revolutionary represented a kind of civilization and an empire of Permanence, whereas the Soviet, in contrast to it, was a civilization and an empire of Breakthrough. Attention is drawn to the fact that the preservation of the achievements accumulated during the Soviet period should be considered, fi rst of all, not as the preservation of its “Treasures” and riches, but as the preservation of the “Capital” of the Soviet era, in other words, such qualities of society that are capable of producing wealth, and in their functioning constantly expanded and reproduce them