This post will use attachment
theory to analyze Russia’s attachment style – how he forms relationships with
others – in adulthood. Unlike the case of Romano’s characterization [x], where
you can argue that attachment theory is actually used, this post applies
attachment theory to Russia for the sake of amusement. Although, things
strangely make a lot more sense when you look at him from this
perspective.

What is attachment theory?:

Attachment theory focuses
on the relationship between a child and their caregiver. Central to the theory
is the concept of needs. A child relies on their caregiver to protect them,
provide for them, and care for them. If all these needs are consistently met,
the child develops a healthy attachment to their parents. This healthy attachment style positively
affects both the child’s personality and their capability to establish and
maintain healthy relationships as they grow older.

However, if needs are not met at all, or are sometimes met and
at other times are not, this inconsistency causes the child to develop unhealthy attachment styles. As
such, they develop unhealthy personalities and form unhealthy relationships
with others.

The Ainsworth experiment was where this theory
originated. To test the attachment styles between toddlers and their
caregivers, they would put them in a room together at first. After a while, the
parent would leave and the child would be left on their own. Then, a stranger
would be introduced to the room and leave after the toddler had a chance to react.
The last part of the experiment analyzed the toddler’s reaction once they were
reunited with their parents again.

Being in a “strange situation” – a foreign room, absence of a
parent, and meeting a stranger [danger] – created a lot of
stress in the child. Since children seek protection from their caregivers, this
stress and fear would typically cause the child to become upset and seek
reassurance from their caregiver. It’s a survival instinct that innately kicks
in.

Those with a secure [healthy] attachment style would
cry or be upset for a bit but would be easily calmed once their caregiver
soothed them. The healthiness of this attachment style means that the child
knows that the parent is there for them – they can be relied on to satisfy
their needs.

While there are several
different unhealthy attachment styles, only one is important for this
post. An organized/ unresolved categorization is where Russia fits best. A
child with this attachment type functions better when their parent isn’t
around.

This is typically seen in
children who are abused and view their parent (s) as a source of fear. The
parent’s care is inconsistent in that they provide for the child and the child
attaches themself to them out of an instinct to survive; however, the abuse also
makes the parent the enemy. In the strange situation experiment, these children
would often approach their parent with hesitation or be paralyzed with
fear.

As adults, their attachment
system is subtle and needs to be activated. If they’ve had past traumas, such
as abuse, then they become disorganized. This often involves dissociation and
slipping in and out of consciousness. So long as they have trauma(s), they’ll
be disorganized. Sometimes, they’ll act in ways that are completely dependent
on others (activation), and at other times, they’ll be completely detached – perhaps from
reality.

What’s Russia’s attachment style?:

Russia’s organized/
unresolved attachment style, for the most part, stems from his relationship
with General Winter, who acted as his parent figure. The inconsistency of
General Winter’s care for Russia is seen in how he protected Russia from
invaders and yet attacks (abuses) Russia on an annual basis [x].

It’s far
from a healthy relationship. Not to mention that General Winter wasn’t always
able to protect Russia from countries who were accustomed to colder climates,
thus adding to the inconsistency of care that Russia received.

On the other hand, General
Winter wasn’t the only one who altered Russia’s conception of what a normal
human relationship is like. Having been conquered over and over again, in this
case by the Tatars, Russia normalized unequal power in a relationship.

This is why I believe that he
rejected becoming Lithuania’s friend when they first meet as children. They
didn’t have enough “power.” Notice how Russia’s environment has completely
misconstrued how he associates and attaches himself to others. What you’ll see
is that just like General Winter, Russia will repeat this abuse once he assumes
a position of power over others.

Point is, with a character
like Russia, there is no right and wrong. He’s not evil, and he’s not good. He
can’t have morals if he doesn’t realize that what he’s doing is wrong,
especially if it’s all he’s ever learned.

As such, Russia’s
understanding of friendship is warped. He believes that everyone is his friend,
including General Winter, his abuser.

A good example of this would
be when Lithuania points out to Russia that he shouldn’t really consider the
Allies to be his friends, given how they’re all ruled by self-interest. Russia
becomes dejected at this; he truly thought that they were his friends.

Russia’s Trauma:

We also know that given
Russia’s particularly rough and bloody history, he’s carried a lot of trauma.

Ex: A happy New Year’s for him
was not freezing to death [x].

Ex: He’s had several dramatic
shifts in government [x].

Ex: His bosses have tortured him. In this example, they ask him to stop a tank with his body.

Ex: During the Stalinization
era, he’s tasked with building a canal with no food or adequate clothing while
his boss – presumably Stalin – eats in front of him and wears a parka [x].

As mentioned above, because
Russia was subjected to so much violence, it’s been normalized for him. While
this is obviously wrong, violence is how Russia’s learned to solve his
problems [x].

Although, this isn’t canon,
Russia’s heart falling out – to me – acts as a metaphor for the fact that he’s
never learned what love is, let alone experienced it. Yes, he has his sisters,
but they couldn’t always be around for him.

Russia’s Dissociation:

There are several instances
in the manga where Russia dissociates to cope with a stressful situation.

A common coping mechanism for Russia is to
imagine being in a warm place, a long-time wish of his [x].

He also appears to
disassociate when he’s threatened with punishment if he doesn’t build a steam
engine [x].

In response to Latvia’s
trembling, Russia starts shaking him around and then snaps his neck –
presumably killing Latvia temporarily. Notice how Russia doesn’t even realize
the scope of what he did [x].

Activation:

While Russia is childish –
and therefore arguably detached from reality – there are moments where his
attachment system gets hyperactivated. His
childhood trauma is kicked into overdrive, and he becomes…terrifying.

Ex: When Lithuania outsources
himself to America after WW1, Russia isn’t exactly keen to see the latter off [x].

Ex: He’s commonly spotted
hugging and squeezing Soviet countries from behind to communicate his
possession over them/ desire to possess them.

Ex: He asks Moldova to call
him older brother [x].

Ex: In the present, Russia
wonders whether the ex-Soviet countries consider him as a friend.

Obviously, given the physical
abuse they were subjected to, they’re not very keen to be close to Russia. At
the same time, they also appear to realize that how Russia experiences his
reality and relationships isn’t normal. Again, he doesn’t realize that what he
did was wrong.

Just to put things into perspective, from a criminal law point
of view, Russia probably wouldn’t be convicted for his abuse, given that he
lacks the mental capacity – mens rea – to fully understand what he did.

In sum, Russia’s not an inherently
evil figure that maliciously inflicts abuse onto others. Instead, he’s a character
who has experienced his fair share of evil, and because it’s all he knows, he
inflicts this same evil on others. Of course, none of this pardons or justifies
his past actions, but hopefully it gives perspective into why he acts the way
that he does.

First off, let’s be clear that Russia’s relationship with
General Winter is not a healthy one. It’s among one of the darkest elements in the manga.

That said, General Winter is both a protector/guardian
of Russia and an enemy.

1) On one hand, he’s saved Russia from invading
armies.

The only setback of this is that his protection doesn’t work
on countries who are used to the cold. It’s for this reason that Russia doesn’t
have high expectations for General Winter, despite calling on him in times of
desperation.

It’s also important to note that at the time this strip took
place, both Russia and his sisters were powerless. He had no one to rely on but
General Winter, and even then, notice how passively devastated he is when he
realizes that he has no choice but to surrender.

“Do whatever you want.”

Those are the words of a child who has been repeatedly let down,
someone that hasn’t had their needs met and is used to surviving under abusive circumstances
– i.e. He was also under the repressive control of the Tatars here.

This brings me to my next point.

2) On the other hand, General Winter also attacks
Russia.

Consider this. You’re constantly being jostled around by
tyrannical controlling leaders, and the one person who protects you also abuses
you. In other words, you have an inconsistent parent who switches back and
forth between a nurturing figure and a physically forceful tyrant with no
regard for your well-being.

How do you think that would affect a person, let alone a
nation who has survived long enough to endure several lifetimes of this?

It’s because General Winter has protected Russia before that
Russia relies on him. What’s problematic about this is what Russia’s taken from
this relationship. It affects everything he does; how he expresses his
emotions, who he trusts, who he regards as his friends, what he expects from
others, how he interacts with them, and what he falsely deems to be a suitable and
healthy relationship.

On top of this, we know for sure that Russia has been traumatized by
his relationship with General Winter.

Ex: When Parallel
France attacks Russia during the 2010 Christmas Event, Russia calls on General
Winter for help. When General Winter is defeated, Russia breaks down into tears
and remarks how “similar” this incident is to the past.

What’s more, notice how screwed up Russia’s relational
perceptions are.

He calls General
Winter a friend.

However, we know that in one of his character notes, he
refers to anyone he meets as a friend. It would follow, then, that Russia doesn’t know what a friend is. Simply put, he doesn’t know how to differentiate between the
good or the bad because he’s normalized this inconsistency. He expects that
others might be abusive, while at the same time provide for him – that’s what
he sees as a friend.

As such, Russia repeats and mimics this inconsistent ‘affection’ in
how he interacts with the other nations.

Ex: He sends political pressure with hearts.

How I see this is that it acts as a metaphor in representing
how Russia has equated love with force; they go hand in hand for him
because that’s what he’s accustomed to experiencing.

Likewise, since he has endured whole winters on his own
without any shelter, this also demonstrates the inconsistencies under which he was nurtured
and cared for during his childhood. Again, his sisters couldn’t always be there for
him.

A happy New Years’ was not freezing to death.

This could also be why his heart falls out.

On top of it literally being frozen during the Winter,
Russia has yet to learn what true love is. The care he received – cold
temperatures – was a double-edged sword in that it simultaneously assaulted and
insulted him. The warped love he knows is both forced on him and forced out of
him as he attempts [and fails] to make friends.

All he needs now is for someone to thaw through his frigid
past and to help him experience a healthy and consistent relationship.

Do you think you could cover Russia’s relationship to General Winter?

Yikes, you guys sure want me to get into the dark stuff! All right, post coming up tonight!

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Hetalia is far
from simple and trivial. The amount of religious and mythical themes and
respective inter-texts woven into Hima’s writing is easy to go unnoticed
because of how comical the series is.

What this post will focus on is how Hima recreated Hans
Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen” with respect to Russia’s characterization.
Now, before I get started, it’s important to mention that Hans Christian
Andersen has in fact made an appearance in World Stars, so no, I’m not just
pulling this out of nowhere.

That said, here’s a brief rundown of the fairy tale. A devil
creates a magic mirror that “distorts” appearances, only choosing to reveal the
ugly qualities of those reflected in it. The mirror eventually shatters and
falls down to Earth, the shards of which are so miniscule that they’re able to
get into people’s eyes and hearts.

What’s relevant here is that the hearts of those who were
struck by the glass shards were frozen into blocks of ice.

The story later focuses on a little boy named Kai, who’s also
struck with a glass shard. Subsequent to being struck and without realizing it, he becomes cold, cruel, and aggressive. His
heart slowly starts to freeze over, but the turning point of this
transformation is when he meets the Snow Queen.

The simplest way to explain the Snow Queen is that she’s
basically like a female equivalent of General Winter. She’s able to assume a
human appearance, but for the most part, represents elements of winter in
either the forms of a snowflake, frost, or the harsh winter wind.

Nonetheless, the Snow Queen takes on a human appearance when
she entrances and abducts Kai, taking him to her ice palace. There, Kai’s heart
– and body – continues to freeze as he
becomes numb to the cold and begins to lose his sense of humanity. In the end, Kai’s saved
by his friend, Gerda.

Anyways, let’s tie this
all back to Hetalia, shall we?

As stated above, while I recognize that Hima didn’t invent
General Winter himself, it’s the relationship he has with Russia that echoes
Andersen’s fairy tale.

The Snow Queen
inflicts harm onto Kai by kissing him, and each time she does so, the numbness
of the cold makes him forget about his humanity.

General Winter does a similar thing to Russia. He attacks
Russia to the point that Russia is completely terrified of him.

Russia hates the cold, and on several occasions communicates the desire to live in a place that experiences warmer weather.

Russia’s place is so cold
that his emotions are numbed. I mean, he literally used to spend his
winters buried under snow, praying that he would be able to survive it.

This theme of numbness and losing one’s humanity is most
seen in how Russia interacts with the other nations. He’s often oblivious to
how cruel, aggressive, and harmful his actions are.

For example, he once tries to get Latvia to stop trembling
by snapping the latter’s neck.

What really ties this all together is how Russia’s heart falls out at times. This could possibly represent how his heart has yet to
thaw as a result of his cold climate, which, in turn, could explain his cruel
and aggressive behaviour.

It’s not something he can control, but is rather an undesirable
product of the madness generated by a history of childhood victimization,
bloodshed, and unforgivingly frigid weather.