A Comparative Analysis of Russian Responses to the Polish and Ukrainian Questions
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Grace Kędziora
The Birch Journal, Spring 2024, pp. 31-37.
The 1863 Polish Uprising, whose goal was to liberate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from Russian rule, provoked an ideological debate within Russia about how it should respond to this “Polish Question.” Ultimately, Russian policy took a turn toward more imperial control by brutally suppress- ing the Uprising and imposing a stringent Russification policy on the Poles. 150 years later, Ukraine’s push for independence and closer ties with Western Europe also provoked an ideological debate regarding how Russia should answer this “Ukrainian Question.” Russia responded with its illegal occupation of the Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014, and a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. When viewed in this historical context, contemporary debates regarding the reasons and justifica- tions for Russia’s actions in Ukraine reflect an ongoing historical debate within Russia regard- ing its proper role as a great power, search for security, and self-definition as a nation-state. The Russian response to the Polish Question of 1863 can provide a useful historical framework to better understand Russia’s contemporary attitudes towards the West and its answer to the Ukrainian Question of 2014.
This paper will examine the parallels between competing ideas that helped shape public opinion, cultural discourse and politi- cal action in Russia during the Polish Uprising of 1863 and the 2014 Invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, it will compare how prominent intellectuals–such as Mikhail Katkov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolay Strakhov, and Alexander Herzen–approached the Polish Question in 1863 with how President Vladimir Putin and political activist Alexei Navalny responded to the Ukrainian Question of 2014. The analy- sis will show that debates around the Polish Question provide valuable historical context to better understand Russia’s response to similar demands for independence from Ukraine and reflect an ongoing debate in Russian society about Russia’s place in the international order.