THE NOVEMBER (POLISH) UPRISING OF 1830–1831 IN UKRAINIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

Abstract

The article presents an overview of the Ukrainian historiography of the November (Polish) uprising of 1830–1831 – one of the important events that significantly influenced the development of socio-political and cultural processes in the Ukrainian lands in the XIX century. The uprising covered the Kingdom of Poland and the western provinces of the Russian Empire. It is noted that Ukrainian historians are limited to studying its course and consequences in the south-western provinces, i.e., in the Right Bank Ukraine. Thorough works on the history of the November uprising appeared in the sixties and seventies of the XX century on the basis of processing materials, stored in the archives and libraries of Ukraine. In accordance with the requirements of the official ideology of that time, they were dominated by party-class assessment of events and phenomena. These works revealed the economic development of the Right Bank Ukrainian lands, analyzed the program goals of the insurgents, and described in detail the course of the uprising. The existence of social problems on the Right Bank was emphasized; the nobility was accused of “limited class interests”, which was the reason for the defeat of the uprising. Researchers claimed that if the uprising had not been about rebuilding the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within the borders of 1772, and the peasants had been promised liberation from serfdom, the bulk of the Ukrainian peasantry would have supported the insurgents. Generalizing works on the history of Ukraine of the XIX century contained similar conclusions. In the 1990s, the methodological principles of the study of the past began to change in Ukrainian historiography. The interest of scientists in studying the social history of the Right Bank Ukraine has grown. There appeared several works that present the evolution of the nobility as a separate state. The reduction of lands of the nobility as a result of confiscations, the transfer of a huge mass of gentry to the lower social strata, changes in cultural and religious life are reviewed as consequences of the November uprising. It is noted that the multifaceted study of the November uprising and its consequences for various social classes in the south-western provinces has become relevant in recent decades. However, in line with modern methodological and thematic practice, following problems need a more complete study: gender factor in the uprising, mental stereotypes, the image of “foreigner” in the perception of Ukrainians, Poles, Russians, and so on.