The Rusin question in Russian conservative journals (1890-1894)

Abstract

The article focuses on how Russian conservative journals in 1890-1894 discussed the Rusin question in Galicia, Bukovina, and Transcarpathia in connection with some noticeable political changes in Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany. Drawing on the research of public opinion in the Russian Empire, the author analyses the study of the Rusin question in the last third of the 19th century and argues that little is known about the reflection of the Rusin question in the Russian public consciousness in the 1890s. He analyses the stance of Fedor Berg's Russky Vestnik on the Rusin question based on the example of Sergei Tatishchev's articles. Tatishchev considered the liberation of Galicia from Austrian domination in theory. The main attention is paid to the evolution of the Russkoe obozrenie- this new type of a conservative journal under Prince Dmitry Tsertelev was skeptical about helping foreign Slavs and avoided extensive comments about Rusins. In the new editorial board headed by Alexander Alexandrov, the key role belonged to the pan-Slavist Sergei Sharapov, whose sympathies for the Poles and Hungarians did not prevent him from raising the question of the Rusin liberation. The new editorial policy in 1893-1894 allowed publishing important materials on the history and current political and ecclesiastical situation in Galicia, Bukovina, and Transcarpathia. The journalists discussed the resettlement of Rusins in the Russian Empire and the activities of Ivan Naumovich and Adolf Dobryansky. The author concludes that Russian conservative journals did not pay enough attention to the Rusin question and its strategic importance.