The process of large-scale emigration from the country of creative people and intelligentsia is called "brain drain". The term appeared in the last century in the post-war period, was introduced by the Royal Scientific Society of London, concerned about the resettlement of domestic leading engineers and scientists from Great Britain to America. In the USSR, in the scientific literature, this term began to be used in the 60s of the XX century. Although the problem of brain drain from Russia has been relevant throughout the last century. And the damage from this large-scale phenomenon can be considered truly colossal.
Reasons
Emigrants leave their homeland forever and move to other countries for permanent residence for various reasons. The prerequisites here can be political, financial, economic, moral. This is especially sad in cases where educated people leavepeople: qualified young personnel, honored representatives of art, culture, well-known scientists who want to realize their untapped creative potential, improve their status, material level.
The brain drain from Russia occurred mostly to North America and Europe, to the states of the Middle and Far East.
Anti-Bolshevik Wave
The beginning of the so-called "white emigration" was laid immediately after the October Revolution. The result of the fierce and bloody political struggle of those years was the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and huge changes in the social life of the state. The wave of those wishing to leave the country gradually increased by 1919, and very soon this phenomenon became widespread. Among those who disagreed with the new government and forced to flee for this reason turned out to be a huge number of intellectuals: doctors, engineers, writers, scientists, literary figures, actors, artists.
The number of refugees in the post-revolutionary period was:
- on November 1, 1920 - 1 million 194 thousand people;
- as of August 1921 - 1.4 million people;
- in the period from 1918 to 1924 - a total of at least 5 million people.
The brain drain from Russia in those years was not only voluntary, but also forced. In 1922-1923, such actions were carried out by the Soviet government on the initiative of Lenin. Then the number of scientists and cultural figures forcibly expelled from the country amounted to more than 160man.
Emigrants from the USSR in recent years
After the first post-revolutionary wave of immigrants subsided, mental emigration to the USSR practically ceased for some period. Until the 1960s, the problem of brain drain from Russia did not rise sharply. Refugees who wanted to leave the country because of dissatisfaction with the new order have already moved to different parts of the world. And the new generation of intelligentsia, abandoned on the Bolshevik field, lived in anticipation of the promised bright future, the economic and creative rise of society.
But even if someone wanted to leave, they didn't have the opportunity. It was only in the 1960s, when political pressure and repression eased, that the desire of young professionals and members of the intelligentsia of the older generation to go to work abroad gradually began to grow. Many of those who left the country never returned. This trend became stronger year by year until the collapse of the USSR.
The reasons for mental emigration turned out to be mostly material. People wanted to get good money for their work. And the standard of living, as well as the payment of qualified personnel in Europe and America, was many times higher. The brain drain from Russia in those years was also observed for political reasons. It was increasingly believed that it was capitalism, as opposed to socialism, that gave real freedom for creativity, growth and development of the individual.
Wave of the early 90s
Economic crisis and unstable politic althe situation in the late 80s and early 90s gave rise to a new, powerful wave of emigration and, as a result, a brain drain.
According to the State Statistics Committee, since 1987 people moved to the following countries for permanent residence:
Germany - 50% of those who left the country;
Israel - 25% of emigrants;
US - about 19%;
Finland, Canada, Greece - 3%;
Other countries - 3%.
In 1990 alone, 729 thousand people went abroad, of which at least 200 thousand were scientists and people with higher education.
At first, emigration for the most part became a resonance to the repressions and political pressure carried out earlier in the USSR. Then the reasons for the brain drain from Russia were most of all hidden in the poverty and disorder of people in those years, the lack of prospects and hope for a secure happy future at home.
In the second half of the 90s, the flow of those wishing to leave began to decrease. In 1995, according to official figures, only 79.6 thousand people left the country.
The situation at the beginning of the XXI century
Is the intensity of the brain drain from Russia decreasing in the new millennium?
The economic crisis of 1998 almost doubled the number of those wishing to leave compared to previous years. But by 2007-2008, the number of citizens dissatisfied with the state of affairs in their homeland has sharply decreased. Then oil prices rose significantly. As a result, economic stability and prosperity were established in the country. After the nightmares of the 90s, it seemed to people that they were in a real paradise. They lived with hopes for the future, but young people still went to study abroad. Mainly to Germany, England, but also to the USA and other countries.
Political events in the state and the world in 2014 and after became the impetus for a new active brain drain. Therefore, at present, this process is intensively continuing, and the scale of this phenomenon is becoming threatening. According to some reports, 70% of young people who have received a good education either go abroad or live in the hope that they will soon leave the country. The reasons lie in low salaries at home for qualified specialists, economic and political instability, uncertainty about the future.
Consequences
The country, which is left by highly qualified personnel and intellectuals, is not only moral, cultural, political, but also very tangible economic damage. A lot of money is spent on raising educated people, teaching them and constantly raising their level, but the state has no return on this - these are the consequences of the brain drain from Russia.
On the contrary, states that host talented young people, representatives of the intelligentsia, prominent figures of science and art, remain a big winner. At no cost, they receive personnel that help them thrive.
