The Emergence of the Idea of Unifying the Northwestern Borderlands of the Russian Empire in Russian Public Thought during the First Half of the 19th Century

This article examines the development of the conceptual foundations and practical approaches to integrating the northwestern outlying regions of the Russian Empire, which included the northwestern and Baltic provinces, in the governmental and social environment of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. Contradictions are revealed between the class-oriented government policy and the growing national sentiments of the Russian public and the interests of the indigenous peoples of the region. The article analyzes the first attempts to formulate the concept of unification of the northwestern outskirts, which represented an intellectual reaction to the government policies pursued there, undertaken by M.N. Karamzin, G.-F. von Parrot, and Y.F. Samarin.