Польша и Россия в первой трети XIX века

Издание осуществлено при финансовой поддержке Российского гуманитарного научного фонда (проект 09-01-16154д)

Ответственный редактор

доктор исторических наук С.М. Фалькович

Poland and Russia in the First Third of the Nineteenth Century. From the History of the Autonomous Polish Kingdom. 1815-1830 is the result of a scholarly research carried out by a group of experts in the history of Russia as well as Poland and dealing with such critical issues for our times as those of constitutionalism, autonomy, differentiation of authorities between the centre and local structures, particularly when the latter have specific national features. The analysis of the historical experience of Russia and Poland in 1815-1830, when the autonomous Polish Kingdom was a part of the Russian empire, makes it possible to introduce some additions into a theoretical survey of these problems, which is important for political practice as well. The authors of this collective work have conducted a comparative study of the state and socio-political systems of the Polish Kingdom and Russia, juxtaposing two different models – constitutional and autocratic, and arrived at the conclusion of their incongruity. The book offers the history of the formation of that singular symbiosis; it shows inner and outer factors that caused it. The authors analyse various aspects of political, economic and social life in Poland and Russia, revealing common or specific features. The book demonstrates the mechanism of functioning of the Polish constitution under the conditions of the tsarist autocracy; the policy of tsarism in the Polish Kingdom is also presented. Great attention is paid to the problem of the development of Polish patriotic movement; the genesis and activity of clandestine societies in the Polish Kingdom, preparations for the armed uprising are thoroughly explored. The writers give a positive answer to the question whether the revolt of 1830 was inevitable. The book poses the question of the Russian society’s views toward the Polish autonomy and constitution, tracing Polish political institutions’ impact on the growth of liberal thought in Russia and the Russian liberation movement. The book emphasises the significance of the years of 1815-1830 as a milestone in the development of the relations between Russians and Poles, that left its mark on forming national consciousness and national stereotypes by both peoples.