4

Wikipedia article on Tsardom of Russia claims that acquisition of Wild Fields and Kiev Academy caused an influx of intellectuals in Russia, which in turn kick-started later reforms by Peter The Great and transformation from local power overshadowed by much stronger Polish-Lihuanian Commonwealth to a global world power.

Did anything similar happened after Partitions? Including Congress Poland acquired soon after, Russia annexed cities such Lublin, Vilno and Warsaw, presumably with most of the scholarly elites still living there.

Or, since this question concerns the time in history when Russian Empire was more powerful and modern than ever before and The Commonwealth fell into the state of disrepair and stagnation, perhaps the same effect happened in opposite direction, modernizing former Polish and Lithuanian lands?

Improve this question
3
  • Well, you said it yourself, in 1815 Poland was more of a backwater compared to Russian Empire, plus ravaged by war and instability that actually lasted since Kościuszko Uprising. Also, after November Uprising in 1830-31, university of Warsaw was actually closed until 1862, and then closed again in 1863 after January Uprising.
    – rs.29
    Oct 7, 2021 at 9:55
  • Frankly speaking, the claim about Peter the Great reforms seems very far-fetched to me. Because 1). They happened much later 2). The prime motivation was not cultural but the need to compete with modern European powers (and Sweden at that time was one of the leading ones). It's like Meiji restoration in Japan. No influx of westernized intellectuals caused it to happen but rather black ships of commodore Perry
    – OON
    Oct 8, 2021 at 16:24
  • In a later period (WW1 and the socialist revolution) some universities based in Poland were relocated to Russia and thus gave rise to some well-known Russian universities. See here, e.g.: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
    – Roger V.
    Oct 9, 2021 at 13:28

0

Reset to default

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.