Panslavism

Panslavism is a nineteenth century nationalist movement of various Slavonic groups who resented their political rule by, and economic subservience to, the German and Magyar nobility. The movement envisioned the creation of a federal government of all Slavonic nations, under which the land would be divided equally among the peasants who would elect their local governments. It reached its height in the Revolutions of 1848, after which it subsided into a literary movement to which Russian autocrats appealed in their attempts to extend Russian influence and absolutism into Eastern Europe and the Balkans. One of the main obstacles in the realization of the Panslav program was the Russian oppression of the Poles. Another difficulty was the religious conflict between those who acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope and those who belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church.