The January Uprising in Vasylkiv District: Parties of the Conflict in the Judicial and Investigative Case of E. Zelenski

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to outline the sides of the conflict during the January Uprising in the Vasylkiv District of Kyiv Province.

The research methodology. General scientific and special-historical research methods are applied, in particular, the tools of historical demography.

The scientific novelty consists in the introduction into the scientific circulation of data on the course of the January Uprising on the territory of the Vasylkiv District and the investigation of its participants.

Conclusions. The parties to the conflict in the Vasylkiv District were seven social groups. The uprising was being prepared in the estates of Count W.M. Branicki (aristocracy). The beginning of the uprising fell on April 26, 1863, when a cavalry unit of about 40 horsemen (private officials) was formed. Soon the insurgents left their weapons and dispersed. However, they were noticed by a local resident, T. Viter (peasants). Arrests and investigations began, which lasted until 1866. Attention was focused on the figure of the main manager E. Zelenski (landowners). Most of the evidence base came from the testimony of T. Viter and the persons he indicated. The gentry and the Jews silently withdrew from testifying against the rebels. The moderate thoroughness of the investigation at the district level led to the gradual denial of any connection with E. Zelenski’s uprising. The investigative commission (imperial administration) came to the conclusion that the reason for T. Viter’s testimony against E. Zelenski was their conflict over the land plot.