The thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the source base and scholarly materials which consider the administrative activity of Governor-General Mykola Repnin (Volkonsky) in Left-Bank Ukraine in the historiographical reflections of the 19th – early 21st century.
The research analyzes scholarly interpretations regarding the influence of various factors on the formation of moral, ethical, and political views of Prince M. Repnin during his military and political career with emphasis on the time periods when he held the post of viceroy of Saxony (1813–1814) and was appointed by Emperor Alexander I governor-general of Little Russia (1816–1834). Scholars have established that by means of his activity, Governor-General M. Repnin formed sociopolitical sentiments in the region entrusted to him. The prince believed that the society was to be built on the principles of humanism, justice, and prosperity, based on private property and the rule of law. At the same time, the dominant viewpoint in historiography states that while Alexander I in most cases supported active attempts to form the society on the principles of European humanism, prosperity, and justice, Nicholas I impeded such development, completely departing in his governance from the foundations of liberalism. As a ruler, he was more attracted to reactionary methods, unacceptable for M. Repnin, which became one of the key reasons for his resignation in 1834.
The thesis traces transformations of historiographical accents concerning the assessment of M. Repnin’s relations with the local aristocracy, Cossacks, serfs, merchants, Jews, and German colonists. Scholars have established that at the beginning of his service, the military governor M. Repnin sometimes acted harshly towards the local people, and used authoritarian and conspiratorial methods to benefit from his solutions. However, later, according to researchers, following central orders, he pursued the policy of further integration of Left-Bank Ukraine into the Russian Empire, taking into account the interests of the region and local population. He based relations with his subjects on the European principles of humanism by means of compromise. He considered his obligation to care for every subject, and thus directed his actions at the improvement of conditions for all strata, including the oppressed. Due to the means used in the social sphere, he improved the life of all social classes, contributed to the satisfaction of their needs and fulfillment of rights.
The thesis covers academic literature which elucidates the measures for institutionalization of the cultural and educational sphere, carried out by the governor-general to raise the territory under his control to the level of Western European states. Historians have proved that in a short period of time the prince managed to have achieved significant results, and thus raised the profile of the region so that Left-Bank Ukraine received a special territorial status within the Russian Empire. The thesis substantiates the prevailing historiographical idea that the main merit of M. Repnin and D. Bantysh-Kamensky in the preparation and writing of the history of Ukraine was not only their proposal of a concept validating the loyalty of the Ukrainian nobility, and thus its right for higher Russian ranks. Their main achievement consisted in fulfilling the plan of numerous previous historians by summarizing and presenting the historical materials from ancient times to the 1760s as a certain integral system of the Ukrainian history, which had shown the specifics of Ukrainian lands, foremost Hetmanate, in the historical context.
Also, the thesis outlines the complex of unsolved and scantily explored problems, as well as the prospects for their actualization.
