Правобережна Україна в політиці Росії та Австрії щодо Речі Посполитої наприкінці ХVІІІ ст.

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to fi nd out the place of Right-Bank Ukraine in the policy of Russia and Austria on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late eighteenth century. Th e methodological basis of the study is the approach of “cross” / “intertwined” history, which involves the study of long-term relationships, transfers, contacts and confl icts between states, societies, nations and cultures; the complex application of the principles of historicism, objectivity, systematics, as well the as comparative-historical, historical-chronological, analytical-synthetic and other methods helped to ensure the understanding and comprehensive disclosure of the little-studied topic. Th e scientifi c novelty of the work is that for the fi rst time through the prism of transnational, interconnected history the question of the place and role of the lands of Right-Bank Ukraine in the relations of tsarist Russia with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 18th century and its foreign policy autocracy and the government of the Austrian Empire, oriented to the south-west and south of Europe, at the center of which was the Commonwealth. Th e urgency of the problem is evidenced by the fact that in both Russian and Polish historiography, the study of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth remains relevant, including at the last stage of its independent existence. In this regard, the need for Russians to be more fully aware of the repressiveness of the empire, the descendants of which they position themselves in both positive and negative terms, is urgent. Conclusions. The study has shown that due to the changes in interstate relations in Europe and the transformations of the geopolitical position of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late eighteenth century, caused by Russia’s victories in the wars against the Ottoman Empire, the focus of the foreign policy of the Russian autocracy and the imperial government of Austria were both the territory of Poland itself and the Right-Bank lands, which were part of it. Th e change in Russia’s foreign policy vector in the southwestern direction of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and significant interest in the geopolitical opportunities of Right-Bank Ukraine led to its broad involvement in domestic and foreign policy in the context of relations between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Austria.