Стр. 31 - V

http://interaffairs.ru
Author : Yu. Bulatov
Dean, School of International Relations, Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Science (History)
TWO HUNDRED YEARS have passed since the Vienna Con-
gress (1815) when Europe's leading monarchs led by the Russian
autocrat Alexander I produced yet another scenario for the world
following the routing of Napoleon Bonaparte's empire; the Con-
gress determined also the status of Polish lands.
Western historiography often interprets the inclusion of indigenous
Polish lands into Russia in accordance with the decision of the Vi-
enna Congress as the "fourth partition of Poland." It is impossible
to agree with this view, although at first glance it seems that Western
historians are right.
The Romanovs' Polish experiment objectively contributed to the
destruction of the autocratic regime and the collapse of the Russian Empire.
At first, the Polish elite, in its majority, was in a state of euphoria over the resolution of the
Polish issue at the Vienna Congress. After all, it was about the preservation of Polish statehood
within the framework of a new system of international relations, even if under the auspices of
Russia.
Nevertheless, the approaches of the Russian and Polish sides towards the establishment of the
Kingdom of Poland differed conspicuously from each other. The Russian ruling circles believed
that the establishment of the Kingdom of Poland had finally resolved the Polish issue. As for
the Polish side, it believed that the appearance of the Kingdom of Poland as part of Russia was
just a starting point on the way towards Poland's political independence and sovereignty in its
domestic and foreign policy.
It should also be noted that the education level of the Polish szlachta was higher than of the
Russian nobility. Poles were in top positions in this regard, ahead of the Russians, and coming
second only to the ethnic German nobility in the Russian elite. This is why the Romanov dynasty
always sought primarily not to integrate the Polish szlachta into the Russian nobility, but to
weaken its influence both in the capital of the Empire and in the country's western provinces.
The goal of the Russification policy in the sphere of education was to train pro-Russian ethnic
cadre from among young Poles. After a long hiatus, the University of Warsaw, where instruction
in all disciplines was conducted in Russian, reopened in 1869. Instruction in Polish secondary
and then primary schools was also in Russian, not Polish.
And one final point. The Polish experience of the tsarist government makes it incumbent on us
to remember always that Russia is not only a multiethnic state but also a self-sufficient multiethnic
and multi-faith civilization. The accession of indigenous Polish lands - i.e., new territories outside
the boundaries of Russian civilization - to the Russian Empire at the Vienna Congress inevitably
The Polish Experiment of the Romanov Dynasty