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Abstract

This article examines how the State Secretary (the head of the Council’s chancery) could change the course of a case by negotiating with the right people and predisposing them „against“ or „in favor of“ a particular individual or project. In the case at hand, Korf, who harbored ill feelings toward Uvarov, used all his connections and powers of persuasion to obstruct the Council’s decision to abolish the established teaching posts for Polish-language teachers in the Lithuanian provinces. He saw this decision as a threat: Polish parents would choose for home education, and in that case any hope of raising Polish youth in a spirit loyal to Russia could be forgotten they would be brought up not only in the Polish language but also in the Polish spirit. This, he believed, was more harmful than teaching Polish in schools under the control of the Russian authorities. As a result of Korf’s efforts, the teaching posts for Polish-language teachers in the Lithuanian provinces were not officially abolished under Nicholas I or his successor. Questions remain: how did Korf bring himself to take such a step, and why did the emperor not see the matter through? The contradictory „testimonies“ of Uvarov and Nicholas I do not allow us to fully clarify the situation. Perhaps the discovery of new sources will one day provide answers.