THE PROBLEM OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE BORDERLANDS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AT THE TURN OF THE 19-20TH CENTURIES IN THE TEACHING OF HISTORICAL AND LEGAL DISCIPLINES

The article analyzes the approaches to the consideration of the imperial policy of Russia at the turn of the 19-20th centuries in the teaching of historical and legal disciplines in Russian universities. The authors state the discrepancy between the results of modern research on the Russian empire and the idea of the Russian empire as an ethnically homogeneous state that remains in the practice of teaching. Adjusting such an outdated view requires greater attention to the issues of heterogeneity of the Russian empire, its place among other empires at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the nature and typology of the Russian imperial borderlands and their relationship with the imperial center. Using the example of the Volga-Ural region, the authors consider the processes that took place at that imperial borderland of Russia at the turn of the 19-20th centuries, and its place in imperial politics. The Volga-Ural is characterized as the first imperial borderland of the Russian Empire, where a model of Russian imperial politics was formed. The central place in Russian imperial politics was played by the Christianization of the local population, which could be either violent or voluntary. The results of the imperial confessional policy were contradictory. The success of Christianization led to the beginning of the 20^th century to the formation in the region of new identities among residents, who perceived themselves as Orthodox, but distinguished themselves from the ethnically Russian population. On the other hand, the opposition to Christianization by local Muslims contributed to the identity of the Volga-Ural Tatars, which was based on adherence to Islam. The article offers a number of specific recommendations for updating the teaching of historical and legal disciplines by introducing into their content issues of imperial control at the borderlands of Russia at the turn of the 19-20th centuries.