Дворянські опіки Волинської губернії: реалії колективної солідарності та практичної діяльності

Abstract

The purpose of the article: based on offi cial sources and archival materials of the State Archives of the Zhytomyr region, to investigate the activities of the noble guardians of the Volyn Governorate from the point of view of their powers, in particular, the inclusion of nobles in the guardianship as a manifestation of their state collective solidarity and the eff ectiveness of the specifi ed institutions. Th e methodological basis of the study consists of historical-comparative, historical- systemic, and historical-typological methods, as well as the principles of systematicity, objectivity, and historicism. Th e scientifi c novelty is determined primarily by the lack of unique research on the given topic in historiography, the involvement of new archival materials, the characterization of the peculiarities of the relationship between the state and the privileged condition of the Russian Empire through the prism of the functioning of noble guardianships as state corporate bodies. Th e chronological limits of the article cover the time of formation and the beginning of the activity of the nobility’s guardianships on the territory of the Ukrainian governorates in the 18th century and are also correlated with the dating of the archival materials used: from the beginning to the third quarter of the 19th century. Conclusions. Th e hopes of the Russian imperial authorities that the newly cre- ated state institutions (noble guardianships) would support the monarchy’s economic stability and ensure a stable s ocial system were only partially justifi ed. Th e noble guardians were not distinguished by high eff ectiveness. Aft er all, on the one hand, they were part of an imperial bureaucratic apparatus that was not more eff ective. On the other hand, due to the lack of motivation of the nobles to fulfi l the duties assigned to them and the regular practice of their refusal/replacement, these institutions did not ensure the quality performance of the functions assigned to them.