Oleksandr Polianichev
@opolianichev.bsky.social
Historian of Tsarist Russia at Södertörn University, Stockholm | URIS Fellow at @unibas.ch | Colonial and transimperial history | Ph.D. from @eui-eu.bsky.social
A British colonial official in India, one month before the 1857 uprising:
“The manner in which India is governed by a few thousand English is very wonderful, but our impunity entirely depends on the want of combination among the natives. If they were to combine we all must come to a crash.”
“The manner in which India is governed by a few thousand English is very wonderful, but our impunity entirely depends on the want of combination among the natives. If they were to combine we all must come to a crash.”
September 30, 2025 at 5:22 PM
A British colonial official in India, one month before the 1857 uprising:
“The manner in which India is governed by a few thousand English is very wonderful, but our impunity entirely depends on the want of combination among the natives. If they were to combine we all must come to a crash.”
“The manner in which India is governed by a few thousand English is very wonderful, but our impunity entirely depends on the want of combination among the natives. If they were to combine we all must come to a crash.”
If anything, Alaska was a laboratory for Russia’s legal colonial vocabulary — the only place in the empire where Russian settlers and their descendants were officially classified as “Creoles” or “colonial citizens” inhabiting in a “colonial territory.” 5/
August 15, 2025 at 5:13 PM
If anything, Alaska was a laboratory for Russia’s legal colonial vocabulary — the only place in the empire where Russian settlers and their descendants were officially classified as “Creoles” or “colonial citizens” inhabiting in a “colonial territory.” 5/
The plan was to place Alaska under the Chief Ruler of the Colonies, appointed by the emperor, and to create a Colonial Council composed of both government officials and RAC representatives. 4/
August 15, 2025 at 5:13 PM
The plan was to place Alaska under the Chief Ruler of the Colonies, appointed by the emperor, and to create a Colonial Council composed of both government officials and RAC representatives. 4/
Administered by the joint-stock chartered Russian-American Company, which created its own system of governance, exploitation, and resource extraction, Russian America emulated the practices of St. Petersburg’s Western colonial rivals, with British India as the prime example. 2/
August 15, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Administered by the joint-stock chartered Russian-American Company, which created its own system of governance, exploitation, and resource extraction, Russian America emulated the practices of St. Petersburg’s Western colonial rivals, with British India as the prime example. 2/
Saying Alaska was “part of Russia” is like saying India under the East India Company was “part of Britain.” A textbook overseas colony of the empire that, according to Putin, “never colonized anyone,” Alaska was the Russian imperial state’s most peculiar possession. 🧵
August 15, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Saying Alaska was “part of Russia” is like saying India under the East India Company was “part of Britain.” A textbook overseas colony of the empire that, according to Putin, “never colonized anyone,” Alaska was the Russian imperial state’s most peculiar possession. 🧵
Happy to share that over the next six months I’ll be researching and teaching on Ukraine and the Russian Empire at the University of Basel as the new URIS Fellow. Excited for the semester ahead!
August 13, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Happy to share that over the next six months I’ll be researching and teaching on Ukraine and the Russian Empire at the University of Basel as the new URIS Fellow. Excited for the semester ahead!
PK Porthcurno. The most breathtaking location for an archive one could imagine.
August 8, 2025 at 8:04 PM
PK Porthcurno. The most breathtaking location for an archive one could imagine.
Just back from UK archives with mind-blowing finds linking James Watt, Jeremy Bentham, Prince Potemkin, West Indies sugar plantations, and Russia’s first bid to acclimatize exotic plants in its colonial south. Couldn’t imagine a better starting point for my book manuscript.
August 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Just back from UK archives with mind-blowing finds linking James Watt, Jeremy Bentham, Prince Potemkin, West Indies sugar plantations, and Russia’s first bid to acclimatize exotic plants in its colonial south. Couldn’t imagine a better starting point for my book manuscript.
A fascinating one: Slavophile Ivan Aksakov, trying to prove that Ukrainians had no historical continuity with medieval Rus', supported his claim by arguing that the imperial term "Little Russia" wasn’t used by the people—who called their country "Ukraine."
May 28, 2025 at 4:38 PM
A fascinating one: Slavophile Ivan Aksakov, trying to prove that Ukrainians had no historical continuity with medieval Rus', supported his claim by arguing that the imperial term "Little Russia" wasn’t used by the people—who called their country "Ukraine."
In the late 1830s—some 80 years before the Bolsheviks allegedly "invented" Ukraine—Russian intelligentsia described Odessa as an imperial trade hub built to allow Ukraine to "sell off the surplus of its riches."
May 27, 2025 at 6:39 AM
In the late 1830s—some 80 years before the Bolsheviks allegedly "invented" Ukraine—Russian intelligentsia described Odessa as an imperial trade hub built to allow Ukraine to "sell off the surplus of its riches."
In 1891, Nicholas II ended his trip to Japan with two lasting marks: a 9-cm scar on his head from an assassination attempt, and a dragon tattoo on his arm. It was with these traces on his body that he set his sights on expanding Russia’s colonial empire in East Asia:
newlinesmag.com/essays/the-h...
newlinesmag.com/essays/the-h...
May 12, 2025 at 4:32 PM
In 1891, Nicholas II ended his trip to Japan with two lasting marks: a 9-cm scar on his head from an assassination attempt, and a dragon tattoo on his arm. It was with these traces on his body that he set his sights on expanding Russia’s colonial empire in East Asia:
newlinesmag.com/essays/the-h...
newlinesmag.com/essays/the-h...
Welcome to a brave new world.
February 24, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Welcome to a brave new world.
In Boston! Looking forward to seeing so many of you here at ASEEES 2024 in the next few days.
November 20, 2024 at 1:06 PM
In Boston! Looking forward to seeing so many of you here at ASEEES 2024 in the next few days.
"Barbaric peoples will disappear; they will be annihilated, absorbed, or assimilated under the efforts of civilized nations. Among educated nations, once they rid themselves of the barbarians, armed struggle will inevitably be replaced by economic struggle."
1912. It didn't age well, did it?
1912. It didn't age well, did it?
November 17, 2024 at 1:19 PM
"Barbaric peoples will disappear; they will be annihilated, absorbed, or assimilated under the efforts of civilized nations. Among educated nations, once they rid themselves of the barbarians, armed struggle will inevitably be replaced by economic struggle."
1912. It didn't age well, did it?
1912. It didn't age well, did it?
A unique group photo of members of Russia's expeditionary corps in Persia, taken by Australian wireless signalers in Qasr-e Shirin (near the modern Iraq border) in May 1917, after the Russian Empire was no more. From the Australian War Memorial collections.
November 15, 2024 at 7:34 PM
A unique group photo of members of Russia's expeditionary corps in Persia, taken by Australian wireless signalers in Qasr-e Shirin (near the modern Iraq border) in May 1917, after the Russian Empire was no more. From the Australian War Memorial collections.
Feels like a rare find: a travel account describing prostitution in Samarkand, published in a military journal in 1912. The author claims that brothels were legalized after the Russian conquest.
@siobhanhearne.bsky.social, thought you might be interested!
@siobhanhearne.bsky.social, thought you might be interested!
November 14, 2024 at 6:22 PM
Feels like a rare find: a travel account describing prostitution in Samarkand, published in a military journal in 1912. The author claims that brothels were legalized after the Russian conquest.
@siobhanhearne.bsky.social, thought you might be interested!
@siobhanhearne.bsky.social, thought you might be interested!
"Homesick Imperialists: Boredom and Nostalgia at the Edge of the Russian Empire"
That's the paper I'll be presenting at ASEEES 2024 in Boston, so come join us for our "Imperial Pain" panel next week!
That's the paper I'll be presenting at ASEEES 2024 in Boston, so come join us for our "Imperial Pain" panel next week!
November 13, 2024 at 5:50 PM
"Homesick Imperialists: Boredom and Nostalgia at the Edge of the Russian Empire"
That's the paper I'll be presenting at ASEEES 2024 in Boston, so come join us for our "Imperial Pain" panel next week!
That's the paper I'll be presenting at ASEEES 2024 in Boston, so come join us for our "Imperial Pain" panel next week!
Besides being an absolutely stunning place, @hagleycenter.bsky.social is also one of the most comfortable and enjoyable archives I’ve had the pleasure of researching in.
November 11, 2024 at 7:53 PM
Besides being an absolutely stunning place, @hagleycenter.bsky.social is also one of the most comfortable and enjoyable archives I’ve had the pleasure of researching in.
Here’s a rare one: Prabhu Narayan Singh, Maharaja of Benares (center), with the future Nicholas II (left) and his cousin, Prince George of Greece (right).
November 11, 2024 at 5:35 PM
Here’s a rare one: Prabhu Narayan Singh, Maharaja of Benares (center), with the future Nicholas II (left) and his cousin, Prince George of Greece (right).
If I were to publish something on Nicholas II, I would make sure this photo was included.
November 8, 2024 at 5:49 PM
If I were to publish something on Nicholas II, I would make sure this photo was included.
I came across this 1900 Russian plan of Beijing, published after its capture by tsarist troops as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance. It portrays the city’s urban landscape as empty and undifferentiated, emphasizing European buildings and placing the Legation Quarter as the central visual element.
October 24, 2024 at 10:03 AM
I came across this 1900 Russian plan of Beijing, published after its capture by tsarist troops as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance. It portrays the city’s urban landscape as empty and undifferentiated, emphasizing European buildings and placing the Legation Quarter as the central visual element.