Sprawozdania kijowskich generałów-gubernatorów jako źródło do dziejów polityki rosyjskiej w Kraju Południowo-Zachodnim w pierwszych latach po powstaniu styczniowym (1864–1868)
Reports of Kiev Governors-General as a Source for the History of the Russian Policy in the Southwestern Krai in the First Years after the January Uprising (1864–1868)

Author(s): Jacek Legieć
Subject(s): 19th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Southwestern Krai; governors-general; reports; editing of sources
Summary/Abstract: Governors-general were among the most important officials of the provincial administration of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. They were subordinate to the Tsar himself, and one of their privileges was the possibility of sending reports on the state of affairs in their provinces directly to the ruler. This gave them the opportunity not only to provide him with information about the current situation, but also to point out the problems which – in their opinion – needed to be dealt with most urgently. This article analyses the reports of the governors-general of the Southwestern Krai (Kiev, Podolia and Volhynia Governorates) in 1864–1868, i.e. in the first years after the suppression of the Polish January Uprising. For understandable reasons, a lot of space was devoted to issues related to the Polish minority in the country. Drawing on the example of five reports of the governors-general of the Southwestern Krai, this article highlights the specificity of these documents as a historical source, the need for editing of this type of documents, and the editorial difficulties in their preparation and publication.

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