Historiographical analysis of virgin lands everyday history problems

Russian liberals had a positiveattitude to the tendency of formation of national states. But B.N. Chicherin did not agree with the interpretation of the right of nationalitiesto establish their state as a universal principle, which was supposed to be binding and be secured in international standards. Herather thought of it as of opportunities that are implemented by each nation, according to its ability to public life, which included theability of people to obey the state in order to solve common problems. It was not only a special talent of the people, but also of thetotality of external and internal circumstances favouring or hindering the formation of national states. Therefore, no declaration of therights of nations to their state is able to create conditions for their implementation, and the problem of creation of national states wassolved by policy, not law. Russian liberals in the 1860s rejected the idea of historical peoples present in the views of the Zapadniki,but the understanding of the stages of ethnic development remained. As a result, recognizing the equality of the potentials of all nationalitiesthere still was the idea of differences in their level of maturity for independent historical activities at the present stage, includingstatehood support. In fact, this led to an artificial differentiation of various ethnic categories: nations could realize the opportunity tocreate their own state, while tribes could not. In the Russian Empire virtually all liberals recognized the status of a nation for thePoles, Finns, rarer - for the Little Russians. Other peoples of the Russian Empire were seen as tribes. This attitude is especially noticeablein regard to the peoples of the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia, and can be described as utilitarian-colonial. Works of liberalwriters and liberal publications depicted them as backward tribes, to which Russia, a European state, brings economic and cultural progress.Therefore, liberal literature demonstrated a will to discuss the issue of autonomy for Poland (theoretically, in the distant future).The prospects for the tribes were to be parts of the Russian state. In a fairly long term, Russia was to continue as a multi-ethnic community.But the Liberals did not consider the Russian Empire as a multinational state. The only state nation should be the Great Russians.This approach can be interpreted as a realization of the principle of single citizenship, when representatives of all nationalities(ethnic groups) acquired the status of the Russian, as citizens of the Russian state, with equal rights, which allowed realizing their ethnicidentity, but restricted claims to political autonomy of national character.

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