«После признания и торжества национального начала многие общечеловеческие вопросы разрешаются»: европейский опыт и российский национальный проект в работах А. Д. Градовского.

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the researches by A. Gradovsky, dedicated to the problem of nationalism as a phenomenon that manifested itself in the 19th century Western Europe. The author studies how the scholar correlated the above-named phenomena with the situation in the Russian Empire. N. Venger has found out the place of Gradovsky in the context of the general polemic about the Russian national project. Being rather a scholar, teacher and observer than a politician and publicist, Gradovsky reflected the European experience through the prism of the Russian Empire`s history. His Eurocentricity was important due to the fact that the dominant conservative ideology had rejected the western pattern of development for a long time. Most of Gradovsky's articles on national issues were created in the 1870s – at the beginning of 1880s. The scholar was never able to propose a global national project for the Russian Empire. However, projecting European phenomena onto the Russian Empire`s future development, Gradovsky paid attention to the most painful points of the society, which impede the progress of the national project`s formation and required reforms. The author created his own concept of ethnicity and nation, discussed the issue of the language unification and state religion role as well as advocated freedom of conscience. The topics of serfdom remnants overcoming, the elimination of estates, the emancipation of the peasantry were of great importance for the scholar. Gradovsky also touched on the problem of choosing Russia`s national idea, which he associated with Slavism. Supporting decisive actions in Polish uprising suppressing, Gradovsky insisted on keeping a dialogue with the Poles. While solving the German question, he demanded to avoid Russian xenophobia regarding the Russian Germans. It was not clear what the scholar thought about the possibility to create a national state from the totally heterogeneous Russian empire.