The borderland policy of the Russian empire in the 19th century: essence, trends, results

The present study analyzes the essence and main trends in the development of the policy of the Russian autocracy in the national question in the 19th century. The factors that influenced the complication of interethnic relations in the period under consideration are identified. The study considers active foreign policy of the Russian Empire that resulted in the annexation of new territories which population was the traditional antagonist of Russians, the nation that made the core of the empire’s population. The contradictory nature of the borderland policy of the autocratic government in the 19th century is emphasized. In this connection, the present study provides analysis of the content of two radically opposite models of the policy implementation. In conclusion it is substantiated that lack of foresight and wrong policy decisions of the supreme authority of the Russian Empire with regard to the acquired territories and their peoples, became one of the key determinants of the rapid development of the revolutionary crisis and the collapse of the imperial state at the beginning of the 20th century