Why the Soviets adressed each other as 'comrade' and 'citizen'

From the very beginning of the Soviet Union, the country used the term 'comrade,' which was intended to equalize people among themselves and make them feel related to each other. However, over time, it acquired a tinge of passive aggression, leaving room for another dismissive reference, 'citizen.'

OBOZ.UA tells you who was called this way and why, and what legacy this tradition left after the collapse of the USSR.

The emergence of tovarisch (comrade) dates back to the XIV century. Back then, merchants began to call each other by a word derived from the Turkic tavar, meaning goods, cattle, property, and еš (іš), meaning friend. In this way they distinguished themselves by their profession. People who addressed each other in this way required a special attitude. They wanted to help each other, assist in their work, and so on.

This feeling of a friendly shoulder was what the Soviet government was trying to convey to its citizens when it made this address official. At the same time, it was impersonal: both men and women were treated equally. However, due to the terror of the authorities and the encouragement of people's surveillance of each other in the early decades of the Soviet Union, the address acquired an unpleasant tinge of contempt.

Meanwhile, there were people in the USSR who did not want to recognize themselves as comrades to the rest of the country. These were the so-called criminal cells. They preferred to call each other grazhdanin (citizen). Moreover, criminals began to call law enforcement officials grazhdanin nachalnik (dear chief). The latter, in turn, adopted this address and began to call everyone they encountered in their work.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, attempts were made in various newly formed countries to revive the older forms of addressing people to each other. Thus, in Ukraine, at least at the official level, the words pan and pani (Mr. and Mrs.) have taken root. In Russia, however, people have not learned to call each other respectfully. It happens in certain circles, but a single form of address has not emerged till today.

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