The evolution of the formation of the Vilna Province as part of the Russian Empire

Individual European city historiography research is an urgent area of scientific activity in history as it helps to get a comprehensive understanding of the development of individual territories, their society, ethnography, culture, and economy. Despite political transformations that actively influence views on historical events, requiring constant analysis and revision of the values of historical changes, science is obliged to consider all cause-and-effect variations of relationships. It is a comprehensive and sometimes impartial analysis of the national idea that can present the historical appearance of the city more realistically. The study object was the city of Vilna during its incorporation era into the Russian Empire of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The study subject was the historical, political and socio-ethnological transformations of Vilna's urban environment. The study's purpose was to identify the features of the historical, political and socio-ethnological transformation of the urban environment of Vilna. To achieve the purpose and solve the study tasks, comparative historical, logical, problem-chronological and retrospective methods of analysis were applied. The study used materials published during the period of the Russian Empire, just like in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, including publications in Lithuanian Internet resources. The author concludes that for more than 120 years of Vilna's presence in the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire, there was a gradual urban environment integration into the Russian community. The urban population perceived the Russian language and culture of everyday life and relationships, just like technology without any special negative costs, facilitated by the increased level of urbanisation of the territory, unlike neighbouring provinces.