Abstract

The newspaper Kievlyanin, the principal periodical of the South-Western Region, allows more detailed consideration of the main aspects of the implementation of the peasant reform in the 1860s–1870s, including its Malorossian specificity. On the basis of archival documents and periodicals, the author shows a sharpness and complexity of the confrontation between supporters and opponents of the serfdom preservation even aft er the official approval of the “Regulations” of 19 February 1861. The defense of the nobility interests in the western provinces was undertaken not only by the supporters of Russian “aristocratic party”, but also by the local Polish landlords. Therefore, the emergence of the newspaper Kiyevlyanin, whose editorial board began to stand up for the basic principles of the reform, in such conditions in the summer of 1864 was a momentous event. The newspaper’s editors actively participated in the public debate and tirelessly stressed not only the importance of liberating the peasants, but also the need to overcome the Polish landownership as one of the major obstacles to the establishment of the “Russian element” in the region. The period of A.P. Bezak’s governorship (1865–1868) was especially active. An analysis of the Kievlyanin articles demonstrates that the editors and correspondents not only constantly reported on the peasant reforms, but also took a direct part in their implementation through the participation in the Association for Acquisition of Estates. However, a change of governmental course in the early 1870s, namely the switch to a policy of “conciliation” in the Western region and appointment of a new Kyiv Governor General, A.M. Dondukov-Korsakov, led to the ending of the Peasant reform. The attempts to solve the “peasant question” by organizing a long-term loan did not let the peasants be freed from the land shortage. Th e Kiyevlyanin repeatedly reported on the aggravation of relations between the landowners of the South-Western Region. Unable to influence the course of peasant reforms, the editorial board called for a return to the old track pursued by the Governor General A.P. Bezak.

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