Formation of the Ideology of Great-Power Chauvinism (1864–1876)
Against the backdrop of large-scale territorial conquests, the empire conceptualizes its superiority over the colonized peoples. The ideologue Katkov formulates: "to recognize some element as a distinct nation does not mean granting it freedom, but giving it power, endowing it with binding force. In the recognition of a nation the question of power, of government, of the state is decided"[1] – the recognition of Ukrainians as a nation was ruled out as a question of power.
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0009 | Russian Empire | 2 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0008 | Government | 1 |
| S0010 | Regular Army | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The systematic imposition of the metropole's logic of superiority. Researchers reconstruct Katkov's logic thus: "a nation must be a tribe capable of creating a state; only a state nation can establish order in a given territory; tribes incapable of creating a state have to submit to the state nation"[1]. Katkov himself wrote: "In the recognition of a nation the question of power, of government, of the state is decided"[1]. Hrushevsky records both the thesis and its reach: Valuev invoked an imaginary "majority of Little Russians" who allegedly "know neither a Ukrainian nationality nor language, only one Russian people and tongue," while the ideology's mouthpieces carried it to the formula "there are no Ruthenians — there is only one 'Russian people' from the Carpathians to Kamchatka"[2].
The use of Ukrainians within the imperial army in large-scale wars of conquest in the Caucasus and Central Asia – recruit conscription had extended to the Ukrainian governorates since the liquidation of the autonomy[3].