The Polish Uprising of 1863-1864 and the Rebels through the Eyes of Russian Military and Officials.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the problem of perception by Russian officers and officials of the participants of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864 in the Kingdom of Poland and the Western Region. Russian-Polish Uprising of 1863-1864 is the most important milestone in the history of Russian-Polish relations and the formation of the image of the Pole in Russian society. In the inner provinces, most people received information about the uprising mainly from the periodical press, thanks to which the image of a tough enemy was superimposed on the already existing idea of the Poles. But there were also those among the Russians who were in the thick of things during the uprising. These were the military and officials sent to the Kingdom of Poland and the Western Region. Thanks to the personal experience of the participants of the events, a much more multifaceted image was formed. The topic of mutual perception of Poles and Russians has been of scientific interest to Russian and Polish researchers for many years. There is a large body of scientific works in historiography devoted to the study of images and mutual stereotypes of Poles and Russians. The relevance of the article lies in the absence of comprehensive studies in which the subject of study would be the personal perception of Russian officers and officials of the participants of the uprising. In the course of the study, the memories of direct participants in the events who took part in the suppression of the uprising and the reform of the administration of the Western Region were studied. The article attempts to show the Polish rebels as they were seen by the Russian military and officials. In addition, their perception of such aspects of the uprising as the degree of its preparedness, the reasons for the victories and defeats of the rebels is also of interest. The result of the study was the construction of the image of the rebel, as well as the identification of factors that influenced the formation of this image.