RUSSIAN BUREAUCRATIC ELITE OF THE KINGDOM OF POLAND (1839–1918)

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of the Russian bureaucratic elite of the Kingdom of Poland in 1815–1918. The basis of the prosopographic analysis was the database created by the authors, which included information about the service of 770 leading imperial officials of all institutions established on the territory of the Kingdom from the moment the former Duchy of Warsaw was incorporated into Russia until their evacuation during the First World War and complete liquidation in 1918. The authors analyzed the principles of personnel policy of St. Petersburg in the region. Political loyalty based on ethnic and religious affiliation was a priority when appointing to leadership positions in the region. Preference was given to candidates from the Russian and German-Baltic nobility, Orthodox and Protestants, but not Poles and not Catholics, which guaranteed the depolonization of the regional state apparatus. Over time, the number of persons of non-noble origin in the corps of Russian officials of the Kingdom increased. Professional training of functionaries was an important selection criterion, but it was inferior to the criteria of loyalty and origin. The concentration of power in the hands of these administrators, the shift of the decision-making center in the Kingdom of Poland from local institutions and the governor’s office in favor of the representations of the central Russian ministries, reflected the policy of Russification, the elimination of Polish autonomy and the gradual administrative, economic and cultural assimilation of Poland, the transformation of its regions into the inner provinces of the empire.