Vozzvanie velikogo kniazia Nikolaia Nikolaevicha k poliakam 1 (14) avgusta 1914 g.: znachenie i politicheskie posledstviia | The Proclamation to the Polish Nation on 14 (1) August 1914 of Nikolai Nikolaevich: Significance and Political Consequences

Abstract

The proclamation to the Polish nation on 14 (1) August 1914 signed by Grand Duke NikolaiNikolaevich has interested more than one researcher. Researchers from Russia and othercountries routinely refer to the document in their analysis of the Polish question. However, theproclamation itself has not been an object of research for a long time, although the circumstancesof its appearance, its content, and its multiple political consequences might contributenot only to an analysis of the Polish question, but also, in a more general sense, to studies ofthe national question in the Russian Empire. The paper deals with the history of the proclamationto the Polish nation, the reasons for its appearance, and the characteristics of the text.It analyses the issue of its authorship, and the impact of the proclamation on general publicfeeling, and also discusses the consideration of the Polish question in the Council of Ministersof the Russian Empire during the First World War. Key words: Polish question, Russian Empire, First World War, nationalities question. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ahuk.v31i0.1199