Authors

Discussion

This paper explores the perspectives of history professors at Warsaw Imperial University regarding the incorporation of Rus’ lands into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland in the 14th and 16th centuries. Established during a period of intense administrative, social, and cultural consolidation of the Russian Empire, Warsaw Imperial University (1869–1917) was intended to serve as one of the primary instruments for the Russification of the Kingdom of Poland following the January Uprising of 1863–64. This institution was fully integrated into the Russian higher education system, both in terms of the language of instruction and its organizational structure. The history professors at Warsaw Imperial University, most of whom were born in various regions of European Russia, had an important role to play in implementing the Russification policy, particularly by shaping historical narratives to align with its agenda.

This paper focuses on the works of scholars such as Fyodor Leontovich, Ivan Filevich, Nikolai Liubovich, and Nikolai Kareev. By examining their publications, this study reveals the diverse and sometimes contradictory interpretations of the incorporation of Rus’ lands into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, as well as the challenges related to the territorial, cultural, and political integration of Rus’ lands with these state entities. The research demonstrates that the Warsaw Imperial University scholars’ works fit into the general trend of Russian historiography of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, which constructed a positive image of medieval Lithuania. After the January Uprising of 1863–64, the Lithuanians were depicted as “defenders” of the Russian principalities, protecting Southern Rus’ in the 14th century from further invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. Additionally, the formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was presented as a largely voluntary union between Lithuanian and Russian peoples. Conversely, the policies of the Polish kings were framed as a Catholic expansion into the Orthodox lands of Western Rus’ of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the territories of modern Belarus and Ukraine).

The author situates the narratives of Fyodor Leontovich, Ivan Filevich, Nikolai Liubovich, and Nikolai Kareev within the broader context of nationalisation of Russian historiography in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, illustrating how the scholars’ regional origins, educational backgrounds, and imperial policies influenced academic discourse on the legacy of Rus’. This paper thus seeks to deepen the understanding of Russian academic historiography during the period under analysis.