During the Soviet Era, the Mari Section was set up under the auspices of People's Commissariat for Nationalities, the Peoples Commissariat for nationalities. Its task was to facilitate the close union of the Mari people with other people, to abolish anti-Russian mistrust and to raise the "class consciousness" of Mari workers. In practice this involved facilitating grain requisitions by the Soviet state, the recruitment of soldiers for the Red Army and the implementation of Bolshevik control of the society.
During the Soviet Era, large numbers of ethnically Russian people were moved into traditionally Mari lands, significantly changing the demographics of the region, and making the Mari a minority in many parts of their homeland. Mari people were generally dis-empowered by these changes. What's more, Communist policies – officially aimed at combating undue influence of nationalism in a multi-nation union – in practice meant the murder of leading Mari figures, such as Sergei Čavajn and Olyk Ipai and other teachers, scientists and artists as well as religious and community leaders.