Mother Russia. Who is she?

[mlmaos.livejournal.com]

In the fan-works and commentaries Ivan often says "One with Mother Russia" or the variant of the phrase - "One with Russia."

I think that the reason for the joke - a historical feature of nicknames and the image of Russia.
But if this opinion can be given up - what do you think?
Who is the Mother Russia? Or why does Ivan (if he says about himself) seriously identify himself so?
:)

Comments

[inner-wings.livejournal.com]

It's already been said, but Mother Russia is a personification of Russia, like how Uncle Sam is a personification of America. Russia is sometimes personified as a bear too in old political cartoons, but that tends to be a negative thing (saying that Russia is clumsy and brutal like a bear.)

As far as Hetalia goes, I imagined that Russia has a bit of a maternal streak. He does refer to his people as children (before killing them, of course, but it's worth noting.)

[fishheadpie.livejournal.com]

Yay~ It's time for me to reveal my fondness for Russian history!

For a lot of Russia's history, it has been considered feminine. The time when Russia was called the 'fatherland' was when it became communist, but prior to that it was considered feminine.

This quote explains it quite well:
"Countries no doubt have gender- and that of Russia is essentially feminine... It is the strong femininity of hers which accounts for Russia's peculiar fertility. Give her the start, the seed... and she mothers it in her own peculiar way to quite the astonishing results." ~ Henry Charles Bainbridge

(Though, I find the quote quite hilarious when I think about Ivan. XD)

[satoshi69.livejournal.com]

Lol, Mother Russia is Ivan. Remember his epic apron? xD He is quite a careful mommy, who always ready to feed his children with some pancakes and borscht. He'll kill them, if they can't play nice though. x) (Why is this so reminds me of my mom? xD)

[m-dono.livejournal.com]

From what I recall:
Hetalia-wise, Mother Russia was made by Western fans and often used in fanfiction. That being said, they make her Russia's (Ivan) mother.

IRL-wise, Mother Russia is one of the many considered official personifications of Russia c:

[automailradish.livejournal.com]

I was too lazy to read through all the other comments, but I thought I'd answer this from what I know.

The term mother Russia actually comes from the old Pagan religion that was practiced in the area :) The pagans had no actually personification or god for the earth, but they held it in high reverence calling it "Moist mother earth," which is where mother Russia comes from :D

Sorry if this has already been answered :)