From borderland to center: the integration of Smolensk Province into the Russian Empire (18th – first third of the 19th century)

This article examines the complex and protracted process of integrating Smolensk Province into the administrative, legal, and mental space of the Russian Empire during the 18th and first third of the 19th centuries. It focuses on the evolving governance practices of the central authorities, particularly the province’s inclusion in various supra-provincial formations: governorates-general, viceroyalties, and departmental districts (educational, gendarme, and postal). The author demonstrates how, for over a century, Smolensk’s status as an «internal borderland» – marked by the preservation of distinct estate groups (notably the «Smolensk szlachta») and elements of autonomy – shaped its positioning within imperial geography. Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, both implemented and unrealized administrative-territorial projects alternately oriented Smolensk toward the northwestern (Riga, Pskov) or southern (Orel, Belgorod, Kursk) regions of Russia. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, however, Smolensk Province came to be oriented toward the imperial center (Moscow) and the western (Belarusian) provinces.