[Litwa i Białoruś: rządy Potapowa (1868-1874). Stanisław Wiech] : recenzija

ENThe processes of Russification and de-Polonisation in the western provinces of the Russian Empire have been widely researched by Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian, American and Russian historians. Repressive Imperial Russian government policies after the 1863–1864 uprising changed life in the land, having an influence on the formation processes of modern nations. Russification and de-Polonisation remain a relevant historical problem, which is precisely the focus of this new work by Stanisław Wiech. One of the most important figures who implemented Imperial national policy was the governor-general. The Polish historian Stanisław Wiech belongs to the group of researchers who notice the difference between the Russification or de-Polonisation policies enacted by different governor-generals. He is a proponent of the concept whereby each governor-general performed his own policy, one that did not always correlate with the position held at the Imperial centre. He has published works about the activities of Mikhail Muravyov, Konstantin von Kaufmann, Eduard Baranov and Piotr Albedinski in Lithuania and Belarus, or more specifically, the Northwest Province, and their influence on the social, political, cultural and economic life of society. The author can be attributed to the relatively large group of imperiologists who take an active interest in the roles of governor-generals in implementing Imperial policy in the annexed territories. Wiech heads the project ʻDe-Polonisation of the Conquered Lands. Concepts-Decision-Making Mechanisms-Realisationʼ, which includes some of his own studies on the analysis of the activities of governor-generals who wielded authority in the territory of Lithuania and Belarus after the 1863–1864 uprising.The book under review covers the period of the activity of Aleksandr Potapov (1868–1874), which is marked by changes to the de-Polonisation policy in the Northwest Province. Thus, Wiech formulates the research problem by distinguishing key aspects of Potapovʼs policy. This method of analysis allows for a deeper understanding of the methods of governance and instruments the governor-general enacted, and those prevailing in his political environment. The author specifies the research chronology that was followed. Even though it is declared that attention is focused on the period of Potapovʼs rule (1868–1874), the author notes that due to the necessity of including contextual material, chronological boundaries are sometimes crossed. [...]. [Extract, p. 194-195]

• Litwa i Białoruś : od Murawjowa do Baranowa (1864-1868) / Stanisław Wiech. Kielce : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jana Kochanowskiego, 2018. 333 p.
• Making Russians: meaning and practice of russification in Lithuania and Belarus after 1863 / Darius Staliūnas. Amsterdam ; New York (N.Y.) : Rodopi, 2007. xii, 465 p.