Between Empire and Nation: Language Control in the Western Borderlands of Late Imperial Russia

This talk will address linguistic regimes in the Russian Empire’s western borderlands—a region encompassing modern-day Poland, Right-Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. While focusing on this region, it will also engage with broader historiographical debates and demonstrate that identifiable factors—the Russian mental map, the hierarchy of the Empire's enemies, and pressure by non-Russians—shaped a framework within which officials had to navigate their policies. By addressing debates about the Empire’s nationality policy and revealing tensions between imperial and nationalist strategies, the study provides new insights into the interplay of empire, language, and identity.

Darius Staliūnas is Chief Researcher at the Lithuanian Institute of History. His academic interests include Russia’s nationality policy and ethnic conflicts. He is the author of Making Russians: Meaning and Practice of Russification in Lithuania and Belarus after 1863 (2007) and Enemies for a Day: Antisemitism and Anti-Jewish Violence in Lithuania under the Tsars (2015).

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