Формування національних ідеологічних орієнтирів у західних слов’ян у передреволюційні роки (1840-1848)

Abstract

Напередодні революції 1848 року західне слов’янство було втягнуте у процес модернізації національної ідеології. Але на тлі процесу самовизначення великих за чисельністю етнічних одиниць слов’янський духовний ренесанс відрізнявся етнорегіональною специфікою, що яскраво виявилось проявилося у пошуку власної національної ідеології. Становлення та розвиток національної світоглядної системи у західних слов’ян відбувалося в умовах конкуренції двох імперських протилежних імперських ідеологій – панславізму та австрославізму.

Накануне революции 1848 года западные славяне были вовлечены в процесс модернизации национальной идеологии. Этот процесс характеризовался не только этнорегиональной спецификой, но также своеобразием становления и развития национальной идеологии. Формирование и развитие национальной идеологии у западных славян проходило в условиях конкуренции между двумя противоположными имперскими системами – панславизма и австрославизма.

On the eve of the 1848 revolution the ethnic medium of the western Slavs underwent the process of modernizing its national ideology. Although this process was an all-European phenomenon and large ethnic units were undergoing self-determination, the spiritual renaissance of the western Slavs had specific regional and ethnic characteristics, thus attracting the political attention of the governments of great empires – the Austrian and the Russian. The Pan-Slavic political vector in Russia’s foreign policy was only being formed in 1830-1840s and had no substantial basis for practical implementation. Mykola І and his government were busy maintaining the existing European order within the Holy union. However, being a Slavonic country, the Russian government took into account the ethnic and national peculiarities in the political life of the Austrian Empire and the Prussian kingdom. Another argument for consolidating Pan-Slavism as a political movement was an active scientific interest to the Slavs as an object of scientific research. The Russian government’s interest to the Slavonic studies is testified to by Mykola I’s permission of 20 January 1836. The emperor allowed to send Moscow students M. Ivanyshev and M. Kastorskyi on a mission to Berlin university. At the end of their mission they gave S. Uvarov, the Minister of national education of Russia information on the level of “Bohemian scientists and Hungarian Serbs”. Thus, the tsar regime did not welcome the Russian’s participation in the Slavonic conference and in the general Slavonic movement initiated by the foreign leaders of the Slavonic renaissance. The further development of the European political actions testified to the fact that Russia performed the role of a gendarme in suppressing the national liberating struggle of the dependent peoples in the Austrian empire. It would be plausible to analyse archive documents showing the activity of the Slavonic charity organizations and the attitude of the Russian monarchy to them. For many years Russian charity and cultural organizations had maintained close contacts with European national and cultural societies, e.g. Slavonic Matytsas. Ukraine’s archives have a significant amount of documents dealing with the activity of national and cultural societies. With the help of the fiscal system the Russian empire controlled the activity of the Slavonic societies. Therefore, actualization of the Slavonic issue in the pre-revolution decade, the increased attention to it on the part of the western social and political elite showed ambiguity in the Austrians’ attitude to the national Slavonic ideology. Tsar Russia openly tried to control the process of spread of the Pan-Slavism ideology that the imperial officers thought dangerous for its liberal ideas. The European governments’ dread of the presence of pan-motives in the Russian foreign policy can be considered well-grounded. In the Slavonic geopolitical sphere the Russian empire tried to maintain its all-Slavonic status and this fact evoked discussion for both pro-Austrians and liberal, conservative supporters of Austroslavism.