Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
The article analyzes the so-called “Finnish” and “Polish” issues in the state policy of the Russian Empire during the first quarter of the 19th century, during the reign of Alexander I. It was during this period that the Russian Empire expanded its territory on the European continent in the western and northwestern directions. The Grand Duchy of Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1809, and the Kingdom of Poland was incorporated in 1815. The Russian ruling circles, led by Emperor Alexander I, faced the challenge of choosing a form and system of governance for these territories in order to ensure the loyalty of their populations and overall stability in these regions. The authorities opted for granting these acquired territories broad autonomy based on constitutional principles. The purpose of this study is to identify the common features and peculiarities of the Russian Empire’s state policy towards Finland and Poland, as well as to determine whether this policy was driven by immediate needs or can be viewed as part of a unified foreign policy concept. As a result of the research, the authors concluded that the policy towards Finland and Poland was part of the strategic foreign policy course of “constitutional diplomacy” that was pursued until 1820 and aimed, on the one hand, at adapting to the changing situation in Europe after the French Revolution, and on the other hand, at ensuring maximum loyalty among the population of the annexed territories. However, the results of this policy were different: Finland remained one of the most peaceful provinces of the Russian Empire until the end of the 19th century, while Poland became a hotbed of tension, with separatist uprisings in 1830–1831 and 1863. The authors of the article analyze the reasons for this divergence in the results of the policy towards Finland and Poland and express their opinion on whether a different course of events was possible in Poland.
References
Agadzhanov, S. G., & Trepavlov, V. V. (Eds.). (1998). National Borderlands of the Russian Empire. Slavyanskii dialog. (In Russian).
Andreeva, T. V. (2020). The Transformation of Imperial Politics in Poland from Constitutionalism to Bureaucratic Centralization. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 65(3), 721–749. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2020.303 (In Russian).
Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI). (1808a). Alexander I to Buxhoeveden, January 30 (February 11), 1808. Foreign Ministry Chancellery Fund, 1808, C. 2027, fols. 1–2. (In Russian).
Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI). (1808b). Buxhoeveden to Alexander I, March 12 (24), 1808. Foreign Ministry Chancellery Fund, 1808, C. 2028, fols. 95–97. (In Russian).
Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI). (1808c). Rumyantsev to Buxhoeveden, March 6 (18), 1808. Foreign Ministry Chancellery Fund, 1808, C. 2027, fols. 38–39. (In Russian).
Askenazy, S. (1915). The Kingdom of Poland (1815–1830). Knigoizdatelstvo pisatelei v Moskve. (In Russian).
Bakhlov, I. V. (2009). The Baltic Provinces and Finland in the Territorial System of the Russian Empire: The Specificity of Their Status and Ethnopolitical Situation. Finno-Ugric World, (1), 36–42. (In Russian).
Bondarenko, O. A. (2022). The Emergence of the Polish Question and Its Impact on the Intensification of Centrifugal Tendencies in the Russian Empire. Sciences of Europe, (88–2), 27–33. https://doi.org/10.24412/3162-2364-2022-88-2-27-33 (In Russian).
Borodkin, M. M. (1905). The Finnish Question. Tovarishchestvo R. Golike i A. Vilborg. (In Russian).
Borodkin, M. M. (1909). History of Finland: The Reign of Emperor Alexander I. Gosudarstvennaya tipografiya. (In Russian).
Bulgarin, F. (1848). Memoirs (Vol. 4). Tipografiya Karla Kraiya. (In Russian).
Cederberg, A. R. (1942). Suomen historia vapaudenajalla [The History of Finland During the Age of Liberty] (Vol. 1). (In Finnish).
Czartoryski, A. (2021). Memoirs of Prince Adam Czartoryski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire: The Reigns of Catherine II, Paul I, and Alexander I (1776–1809). Pechat po trebovaniyu. (In Russian).
Danielson, I. R. (1898). Kaarle Henrik Klick. Suomen uudemmasta historiasta [Kaarle Henrik Klick. On Finland’s Recent History]. (In Finnish).
Dolgikh, A. N. (2019). The Attempt to Restore Poland Under Alexander I and the Public Response in Russia: The Case of N. M. Karamzin. Humanities Research of Central Russia, (3), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.24411/2541-9056-2019-11026 (In Russian).
Filonov, A. V. (2019). Features of the Legal Status of the Grand Duchy of Finland Within the Russian Empire. Education, Science, Scientific Personnel. Series: Legal Sciences, (4), 60–64. https://doi.org/10.24411/2073-3305-2019-10181 (In Russian).
Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, May 28 (June 9), 1815. (1830). In Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Collection I (Vol. 33, No. 25875, p. 95). Tipografiya II Otdeleniya Sobstvennoi Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva kantselyarii. (In Russian).
Gorizontov, L. E. (1999). Paradoxes of Imperial Policy: Poles in Russia and Russians in Poland (19th–Early 20th Centuries). Indrik. (In Russian).
Grabieński, W. (2006). History of the Polish Nation. UP “Minskaya fabrika tsvetnoi pechati.” (In Russian).
Journal of His Imperial Majesty’s Journey: Åbo, March 16 and 22, 1809. (1809, March 26). Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti. (In Russian).
Jussila, O. (2009). The Grand Duchy of Finland. Ruslania Books Oy. (In Russian).
Komzolova, A. A. (2023). Russian Historical Journalism of the 1860s–1870s on the Polish Question Under Alexander I. Social Sciences and Humanities: Domestic and Foreign Literature. Series 5: History, (3), 28–42. https://doi.org/10.31249/hist/2023.03.02 (In Russian).
Kornilov, G. D. (2007). Speransky and Finland. In Issues in the History of the European North: Russia and Finland from the Middle Ages to the Mid-20th Century (pp. 50–56). (In Russian).
Kornilov, V. A. (1971). On the History of the Political Organization of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809. Uchenye Zapiski, 439, 176–187. (In Russian).
Kyayvyaryaynen, I. I. (1965). International Relations in Northern Europe in the Early 19th Century and Finland’s Incorporation into Russia in 1809. Karelskoe knizhnoe izdatelstvo. (In Russian).
Lapin, V. V. (2014). Finland in the Military System of the Russian Empire. Petersburg Historical Journal, (1), 98–121. https://doi.org/10.51255/2311-603X-2014-00006 (In Russian).
Lyalina, M. A. (1908). Essays on the History of Finland: From Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 20th Century. (In Russian).
Maikov, P. (1905). Finland: Its Past and Present. Tipografiya M. M. Stasyulevicha. (In Russian).
Meinander, H. (2008). A History of Finland: Lines, Structures, Turning Points. Ves mir. (In Russian).
Melnikova, L. V. (2018). The Constitutional Experiment in the Kingdom of Poland: The Implementation and Consequences of Emperor Alexander I’s Liberal Design. Petersburg Historical Journal, (1), 45–52. (In Russian).
Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, A. I. (1841). A Description of the Finnish War on Land and at Sea in 1808 and 1809. Tipografiya Shtaba otdelnogo korpusa vnutrennei strazhi. (In Russian).
Napoleon to Alexander I, January 21, 1808. (1893). Sbornik Imperatorskogo Russkogo Istoricheskogo Obshchestva, 88(158), 456–458. (In Russian).
Nesemann, F. (2015). From Conquest to Autonomy: The Political and Constitutional-Legal Reasons for Finland’s Special Status in the Russian Empire. In Russian Collection: Studies in Russian History: Finland and Russia (Vol. 17, pp. 113–143). Modest Kolerov. (In Russian).
On the Conclusion of Peace Between Russia and Sweden, October 1, 1809, With the Peace Treaty Concluded at Friedrichshamn on September 5 (17). (1830). In Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Collection I (Vol. 30, No. 23883, pp. 1186–1193). Tipografiya II Otdeleniya Sobstvennoi Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva kantselyarii. (In Russian).
On the Conclusion of Peace With the French Empire, August 9, 1807, With the Treaty Between Russia and France Concluded at Tilsit on June 25 (July 7), 1807. (1830). In Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Collection I (Vol. 29, No. 22584, pp. 1232–1237). Tipografiya II Otdeleniya Sobstvennoi Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva kantselyarii. (In Russian).
On the Conquest of Swedish Finland and Its Permanent Annexation to Russia, March 20, 1808. (1830). In Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Collection I (Vol. 30, No. 22911, pp. 146‑147). Tipografiya II Otdeleniya Sobstvennoi Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva kantselyarii. (In Russian).
Ordin, K. F. (1889). The Conquest of Finland: An Account Based on Unpublished Sources (Vol. 2). Tipografiya I. N. Skorokhodova. (In Russian).
Prikhodko, N. I. (2002). Research Periods in the Study of the Russo-Swedish (Finnish) War of 1808‑1809 in Russian Historiography. In Saint Petersburg and the Countries of Northern Europe (pp. 117–123). (In Russian).
Protopopov, D. (Ed.). (1898). Finland. Tipografiya I. M. Komelova. (In Russian).
Savelyeva, O. A. (1992). A Greek Patriot in Russian Service: Ioannis A. Kapodistrias and the Holy Alliance. In Russian Diplomacy in Portraits (pp. 135–151). Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. (In Russian).
Shilovsky, P. A. (1903). Acts Concerning the Political Status of Finland. Tipografiya M. M. Stasyulevicha. (In Russian).
Stanislavskaya, A. M. (1962). Anglo-Russian Relations and Mediterranean Issues (1798–1807). USSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House. (In Russian).
Stanislavskaya, A. M. (1976). Russia and Greece in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries: Russian Policy in the Ionian Republic, 1798–1807. Nauka. (In Russian).
Studnicki, W. (1907). Poland’s Political Position from the Partitions to the Present Day. Pushkinskaya skoropechatnya. (In Russian).
Suchtelen, P. K. (1832). An Account of Military Operations in Finland During the Last War Between Russia and Sweden in 1808 and 1809. Tipografiya Departamenta vneshnei torgovli. (In Russian).
Suni, L. V. (2009). The Grand Duchy of Finland: The First Steps Toward Autonomy: A Lecture. Petrozavodsk State University Press. (In Russian).
Suni, L. V. (2013). The Grand Duchy of Finland in the First Half of the 19th Century: The Formation of Autonomy. Petrozavodsk State University Press. (In Russian).
Syrjö, V.-M. (2004). Georg Magnus Sprengtporten (I. Solomeshch, Trans.). In T. Vihavainen (Ed.), One Hundred Remarkable Finns: A Biographical Kaleidoscope (pp. 622–629). (In Russian).
The Constitutional Charter of 1815 and Several Other Acts of the Former Kingdom of Poland (1814–1881) (Issue 5). (1907). Biblioteka “Okrain Rossii”; N. D. Sergeevskii. (In Russian).
Timchenko, K. V. (2018). The Diet of Borgo: The First Step Toward Finnish Autonomy. Perm University Herald. History, (2), 31–38. https://doi.org/10.17072/2219-3111-2018-2-31-37 (In Russian).
Treaty of Friendship Concluded in Vienna Between Their Majesties the Emperor of All Russia, the Emperor of Austria, and the King of Prussia “On Securing the Welfare of the Poles,” April 21 (May 3), 1815. (1830). In Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Collection I (Vol. 33, No. 25824, pp. 64–70). Tipografiya II Otdeleniya Sobstvennoi Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva kantselyarii. (In Russian).
Troitsky, N. A. (1994). Alexander I and Napoleon. Vysshaya shkola. (In Russian).
Zakharov, V. Yu. (2019). Alexander I’s Policy of “Constitutional Diplomacy” in Poland and Its Outcomes. In S. V. Leonov and G. V. Talina (Eds.), Russia and Poland: The Experience of a Millennium of Neighborly Relations. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, Moscow, March 15, 2019 (pp. 135–149). Moscow Pedagogical State University. (In Russian).
Zakharov, V. Yu. (2022a). Russian and Foreign Constitutionalism from the Late 18th to the First Quarter of the 19th Century: A Comparative Historical Analysis (Part 1). Prometei. (In Russian).
Zakharov, V. Yu. (2022b). Russian and Foreign Constitutionalism from the Late 18th to the First Quarter of the 19th Century: A Comparative Historical Analysis (Part 2). Prometei. (In Russian).
Zhibitskaya, E. D. (1962). Finland. Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In Russian).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.