PUBLIC THOUGHT IN SECURITY DURING THE POLISH UPRISING OF 1863–1864

Public opinion in Russia was formed primarily through the press, which, under the conditions of liberalbourgeoistransformations of the 2nd half of the 19th century, actually acted as the “fourth” power. The wave of anti-Russian protest in the Kingdom of Poland and the North-Western Territory of the Russian Empire, which rose in theearly 1860s, relying on material assistance from Polish land magnates and spiritual support from the local Catholicclergy, threatened the state with the rejection of its western outskirts with the full support of leading Western countries.The struggle “for the minds” of Russian society was also actively waged by revolutionary democracy led by politicalemigrant A. I. Herzen, which aimed, in close alliance with the Polish revolutionaries, to overthrow the autocratic powerin Russia. The relevance of the work lies in the need to support the official press of the government in modern conditionsin order to prevent an internal political crisis. The purpose of the article is to consider how, in the current conditions, thepress supported the government policy pursued in the Kingdom of Poland and the North-West Territory, which became an important condition for victory not only on the battlefield with armed rebels, but also on the “intellectual” field, both over the enemy himself and over the internal opposition in Russia. The work uses retrospective, problem-chronological,historical-comparative, as well as general scientific research methods. Study results. The article shows that acharacteristic sign of public thought on the “Polish question” was that it was in constant dynamics and changing, evolving from restrained-approving rhetoric in the lead-up to the Polish uprising – to condemning the rebels and supporting government policy in the region, starting in 1863. The official press provided significant “intellectual”support for government policy in the Russification of the region. The article shows that a characteristic sign of publicthought on the “Polish question” was that it was in constant dynamics and changing, evolving from restrained-approvingrhetoric in the lead-up to the Polish uprising – to condemning the rebels and supporting government policy in the region,starting in 1863. The official press provided significant “intellectual” support for government policy in the Russification of the region. The article analyzed the views of both the revolutionary democratic and liberal and conservative press on the solution of the “Polish question”.

public thought, “Polish question”, propaganda, Polish uprising, North-Western region, Russification