The idea of political integration in the national ideology of Western Slovaks and its reviewing in the foreign policy of the Russian empire (first half of the XIX century)

The Pan-Slavic political vector in Russia’s foreign policy was only being formed in 1830-1840s and had no substantial basis for practical implementation. Mykola І and his government were busy maintaining the existing European order within the Holy union. However, being a Slavonic country, the Russian government took into account the ethnic and national peculiarities in the political life of the Austrian Empire. Actualization of the Slavonic issue in the pre-revolution decade, the increased attention to it on the part of the western social and political elite showed ambiguity in the Austrians’ attitude to the national Slavonic ideology. Tsar Russia openly tried to control the process of spread of the Pan-Slavism ideology that the imperial officers thought dangerous for its liberal ideas. The European governments’ dread of the presence of pan-motives in the Russian foreign policy can be considered well-grounded. In the Slavonic geopolitical sphere the Russian empire tried to maintain its all-Slavonic status and this fact evoked discussion for both pro-Austrians and liberal, conservative supporters of Austroslavism.