Вияви антиурядових настроїв на теренах Київського військового, Подільського й Волинського генерал-губернаторства в період Східної (Кримської) війни 1853–1856 рр.

Abstract

The scholarly relevance of the study of a wide range of events of the Eastern War is determined by the importance of their conceptual understanding in the context of their impact on geopolitical configurations, state and political practices, and cultural and ideological orientations of the nineteenth century. The purpose of this article is to highlight the manifestations of anti-government mentalities on the territory of the Kyiv Military, Podillia and Volyn Governorate-General, which intensified against the background of the escalation of the Russian-Turkish confrontation during the Eastern War of 1853–1856, based on the study of documents of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine (Kyiv), first introduced into scientific circulation. Clarification of important aspects of the information and psychological impact of the Eastern War on Ukrainian lands that were part of the Russian Empire is facilitated by documents from the office of the Kyiv Military, Podillia and Volyn Governor-General, which, in particular, recorded information on strengthening supervision over the local, primarily Polish, population (in view of the spread of anti-government sentiments), on identifying facts of fundraising for British and French troops, expressing hopes for the defeat of the Russian Empire and the restoration of the Polish state and landlords’ agitation among the peasants to deny the information of Russian newspapers, as well as the illegal distribution of foreign press. Obviously, the territories of the Kyiv Military, Podillia and Volyn Governorate-General were considered by the tsarist administrative and punitive structures as “unreliable” in the context of the spread of anti-government sentiments, given the powerful influence of the Polish factor on the lands of Right-Bank Ukraine, which became an arena of confrontation between the state models of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire. Manifestations of anti-government mentalities were documented under the classification of “secret” by state authorities as a result of police surveillance at the local level and the use of repressive measures against “unreliable” subjects. Consequently, the reconstruction of the real scale and content of anti-government sentiments on the territory of Right-Bank Ukraine during the Eastern War of 1853–1856 is complicated by the underground nature of the activities of individuals and social groups opposed to the domestic and foreign policy of autocratic Russia.