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Was Muscovite Russia Imperialistic?1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Oswald P. Backus III
Oswald P. Backus III*
Affiliation:
University of Kansas, Lawrence
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Extract

That question has been recently answered affirmatively by Professor Oscar Halecki of Fordham University in an article entitled “Imperialism in Slavic and East European History” in the February 1952 issue of this journal. Mr. Halecki's charges necessitate a reexamination of underlying issues. The following article will state briefly the views of a few Russian and Polish historians and indicate how their views might affect any answer which might be made to the question; moreover, since the charge that Muscovite Russia was imperialistic is based mainly upon developments in the second half of the fifteenth century, discussion will focus upon that period.

Before examining the works of historians, it would be useful to indicate a little of the history of Muscovite Russia and Lithuania, the two states central to a discussion of this question, during a broader period, namely that from the fourteenth century through the sixteenth century. It would also be useful to take up the problem of defining imperialism.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Slavic and East European Review , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , December 1954 , pp. 522 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 1954

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Footnotes

1

The author wishes to take this opportunity to thank the Kansas Association of Teachers of History and of Related Fields for the opportunity to present this paper in most of its aspects May 2, 1952 as part of the program of the Association's annual meeting and to thank Messrs. Serge Pushkarev and George Vernadsky of Yale University and James C. Malin of the University of Kansas for their helpful suggestions.

References

2 The American Slavic and East European Review, XI, 1-26. Riasanovsky, N. V., “Old Russia, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe,” The American Slavic and East European Review, XI, 171-88Google Scholar has criticized Mr. Halecki's position. See especially pp. 174-78 for comments on Muscovite Russia.

3 The problem of Vitovt's precise title and position is too complex to consider here. See Pfitzner, Joseph, Grossfürst Witold von Litauen als Staatsmann, No. 6, Schriften der Philosophischen Fakultät der Deutschen Universität in Prag (Brünn, 1930), pp. 105-13.Google Scholar

4 Valois, N., Le Pape et le concile 1418-1450, 2 vols. (Paris, 1909), I, vi.Google Scholar

5 Solovëv, S. M., Istorija Rossi s drevneišikh vremen, 29 vols, in 6 & index vol. (St. Petersburg, 1897).Google Scholar

6 Ibid., V, 1444-1454.

7 Daškevič, N. P., “Bor'ba kul'tur i narodnostej v litovsko-russkom gosudarstve v period dinastičeskoj unii Litvy s Polšeiu,” Kievskïja universitetskïja izviestïja (Kiev, 1884), XXIV, pt. 10, 269-316, pt. 12, 317-30.Google Scholar

8 Ibid., XXIV, 271.

9 Ibid., XXIV, 320 and passim.

10 Ključevskij, V. O., Kurs russkoj istorii, 5 vols. (Moscow, 1937, reproduced Ann Arbor, 1948).Google Scholar

11 Ibid., II, 117, 121-22.

12 Ljubavskij, M. K., Očerk istorii Litovsko-Russkogo gosudarstva (Moscow, 1910), pp. 187-91.Google Scholar

13 That struggle emerges clearly in his two major monographs published in Ctenija v obščestve istorii i drevnostej rossiiskikh pri Moskovskom universitete. Volumes 162-163 and 166-167 (Moscow, 1892-1893), contain “Oblastnoe delenie i mestnoe upravlenie Litovsko-Russkogo gosudarstva” and volumes 195, 197 and 199 (Moscow, 1900-1901), contain “Litovsko-Russkij seim.“

14 Presnjakov, A. E., Obrazovanie Velikorusskogo gosudarstva(Petrograd, 1918), P. 457.Google Scholar

15 Hruševskij, M., Istorija Ukraini-Rusi, 9 vols. (Kiev-Lvov, 1898-1928).Google Scholar

16 Ibid., IV, 224-36.

17 Lelewel, J., Histoire de Pologne, 2 vols. (Paris-Lille, 1844), I, 101-04.Google Scholar

18 ls,lbid., 105; Lelewel, , Histoire de la Lithuanie et de la Ruthénie (Paris, 1861), 179.Google Scholar

19 The term Jagellonian Federation is used to describe the cooperation between those states or areas under the rule of members of the Lithuanian Jagellon family, to wit, Lithuania, West Russia, Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary.

20 Balzer, O. M., Krolestwo polskie 1295-1370, 3 vols. (Cracow, 1919-1920), III, 181-82, 218;Google Scholar “Istota prawna zalezności ksiąząt litewsko-ruskich w dobie 1386-1398/1401,” Sprawozdania Towarzystvoa Naukoivego ive Livowie (Lwow, 1922), I, 196-204.

21 Kutrzeba, S., Historia ustroju Polski iu zarysie, 8th ed. revised and supplemented by Adam Vetulani (Warsaw, 1949), 137-38, 245-52.Google Scholar

22 Wojciechowski, Z., L'état Polonais au moyen âge (Paris, 1949).Google Scholar

23 Kuczynski, S. M., Ziemie czernihowsko-siewierskie pod rzadami Litwy (Warsaw, 1936), p. 309.Google Scholar

24 Halecki, O., “Imperialism in Slavic and East European History,” The American Slavic and East European Review, XI, 6–7. (Hereafter cited as Halecki, Imperialism).Google Scholar

25 Halecki, Imperialism, p. 12.

26 Kuczynski, , Ziemie czernihowsko-siewierskie, pp. 378-79.Google Scholar

27 Halecki, Imperialism, p. II.

28 Halecki, Imperialism, p. II.

29 Hobson, J. A., Imperialism, 3rd ed. (London, 1938), pp. 8-11.Google Scholar