Spinning and Censoring the Trial of Anton Berezowski in Imperial Russia

• In Event: Polonophobia and the Russian State (1837-1867): Conspiracy, Misrepresentation, and Memory

Abstract

In July 1867, a French jury found Polish refugee Anton Berezowski guilty of premeditated homicide, but “with mitigating circumstances,” for attempting to assassinate Emperor Alexander II in Paris the previous month. The mitigating circumstances were partly due to the defense attorney’s skillful use of established narratives about the Russian government’s persecution of Roman Catholics, forced conversion of Uniates, and martyrdom of Poland that resonated with a broad cross section of French society. This paper will examine accounts of the trial published in key official and non official newspapers within the Russian Empire. The aim is to establish what was censored out and to analyze how the accounts contributed to Polonophobia, Russian nationalist worldviews, and imperial goals.

Author

• Heather Leigh Bailey, U of Illinois at Springfield