The issues of nation and empire in Germany and Russia of the ninteenth century, as viewed from the Northern Germany

Abstract

The article concerns the issues of a nation and an empire in Russia and Germany in the nineteenth century, discussed by young historians of St. Petersburg State University and Greifswald University (Germany). Those problems were debated in summer 2015 at the scientific conference in Greifswald. The authors of the article characterize the main clusters of topics surveyed by the young researchers, point out the conclusions derived by the participants, and mark out the aspects which caused controversy during the conference. The chief difference between the historiographical approaches of the Russian and German scholars seemed to be the choice of topics and viewpoints of a research: while historians from Greifswald focused on the issues of ethnic minorities, persecution policies and struggle for independence, their Russian colleagues rather dealt with the international relations of both countries as well as image of Germany constructed by their Russian contemporaries and scholars of the XIXth – XXth centuries. The article also provides information on the academic and educational contacts established between the departments of history of the both universities, with the perspectives of the future collaboration being outlined. Refs 13.