The
All-Russian nation, also known as the
pan-Russian nation or the
triune Russian nation is a
Russophile ideology which sees the
Russian nation comprise three historical, regional branches:
Great Russians,
Little Russians and
White Russians. An imperial
nation-building dogma, it was used in an unsuccessful attempt to transform the
Russian Empire into a
nation-state on the basis of a triune "All-Russian" nationality that consisted of, in addition to ethnic Russians, all indigenous
East Slavic inhabitants of historic
Ruthenia (namely,
Ukrainians and
Belarusians). The concept was coined predominantly by the
Kievan clergy and became the official state-sponsored national identity of the Russian Empire, which by the 19th century was embraced by many imperial subjects (including
Jews and
Germans) and served as the foundation of the Empire. The title "Tsar of
Of All Rus'" borne by every Russian ruler after
Peter the Great reflects the official status of this ideology in the Russian Empire.