Politika samoderzhaviia v Severo-Zapadnom krae v epofthu Velikikh reform. By A. A. Komzolova. Moscow: Nauka, 2005. 384 pp. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography. Chronology. Index. Photographs. Maps. Hard bound.

Abstract

This monograph provides a top-down, elite political narrative history centered on the career and legacy of Mikhail Nikolaevich Murav'ev, governor-general of the Northwestern Krai (present-day Lithuania and part of Belarus), who was summoned to reassert Russian control after die Polish uprising of 1863. The introduction offers a brief but diorough review of die historiography of Russian imperial policy toward die western provinces and Poland, for which "Russification" is often a catchall term. A. A. Komzolova is well read in recent scholarship, bodi eastern and western, and draws upon numerous memoir sources and archival collections in Russia and Vil'na. After a short chapter on Murav'ev's predecessor, Governor-General A. A. Nazimov (1855A. Nazimov ( -1863, two long chapters constituting the bulk of die book examine, first, Murav'ev's ascent to the governor-generalship and twoyear tenure at diis post, and second, die legacy of his policies under die administration of his successors. A very short conclusion sums up. It is a handsome volume, widi a colored imperial Russian crest on die front cover, diirty illustrations widiin, and a Polish seal on die back. Supportive materials are abundant by die standards of most Russian and even western academic publishing: die index of names includes brief biographical summaries; die bibliography divides entries into six different categories of primary and secondary sources; and a chronology lists die governors-general and governors of die western provinces.What die chapters lack in proportion, diey make up for in substantive documentary investigation. The audior sustains a comprehensive narrative of die machinations widiin die highest circles of power and of die disputes over policy decisions to undermine die Polish nobility by strengdiening dieir peasants' identification widi Russia socially, economically, and religiously. The main debate separated members of die "western committee" of high government personages into two camps: die "Russian party" or "ultrapatriots" backing Murav'ev against Polish interests, and die "cosmopolitans" led by Minister of Interior Petr Aleksandrovich Valuev, seeking to enlist the landlords' support through cooperation. Anodier of die audior's concerns is to unpack die metaphoric "Murav'ev system" to reveal a nonsystematic series of variably effective measures around a generally consistent set of goals.The topic of study is die inner circle of imperial power, and diis investigation proceeds from diat vantage point. The account may strike readers as more sympadietic or nuanced toward Murav'ev than diey would expect, considering his brutal reputation. Komzolova suggests diat much non-Russian scholarship on Murav'ev comes widi a pro-Polish slant. This work assumes diat Murav'ev was an imperial administrator charged widi certain duties, who performed diose duties as he saw fit, widi a mixed record of success. This toplevel administrative perspective on die Russian reaction to 1863 merits understanding, but isolating diis facet of a many-sided event may ...