You are listing many different elements of Soviet policy which took place at very different times, which can make Soviet attitudes seem contradictory or jumbled. The most important response I can give is that there was no single policy that remained static over time. In the 1920s, a relatively culturally experimental period, there were "fellow travellers" who were not communists but were attracted to the wild change and revolutionary spirit in the USSR. At this time, experimental fine artists like the futurists and constructivists hung out with symbolist poets. The Bolsheviks/Communists were not necessarily fans of all these movements, but they tolerated them. The 1920s was also a period known for promoting nationalism within national republics (SSRs), but in a certain way - things had to be nationalist in form, socialist in content. So folk songs and dances and different languages were actively supported, as long as they were helping to promote socialist values. The idea was to convert nationalists to socialism by speaking to them in their own language (figuratively and literally). In the 1930s under Stalin, socialist realism was decreed to be the only acceptable form of culture, meaning paintings and writing had to be realistic, not abstract, so peasants could enjoy it as easily as intellectuals. This continued into the post-war period, after a relaxation of the crackdown on religion and emotionally honest art during the difficult years of WWII. (Religion was attacked from the very beginning of the Russian Revolution.) The anti-cosmopolitan campaign began in 1948, and was a cover to target Jews- part of a rising tide of state antisemitism, and part of concerns about the ties to foreigners outside the USSR that many Jews had. The celebration of Russian culture you reference began in the mid-1930s, and national minorities received less attention. However, it was during WWII that this really came to the forefront. It was decided that the country needed heroes from the past to rally behind, and so certain Generals and even Tsars were strategically resurrected. The Russian victory during the Napoleonic Wars was suddenly celebrated, and it became possible to speak openly about Russian culture being the best (Russia was "first among equals" within the union of soviet socialist republics from then on). This never really stopped after the war, though it was scaled back a bit. Things continue to change after Stalin's death. There were intense debates about authenticity in literature under Khrushchev, for example. So culture was a constant source of debate and struggle for the Bolshevik/Communist Party. More info: Terry Martin, Affirmative Action Empire, Francine Hirsch Empire of Nations, Yuri Slezkine, The USSR as a Communal Apartment - article, Suny & Martin, eds. A State of Nations, Polly Jones Myth, Memory, Trauma EDIT: typos, added references.