RUSSIAN LIBERAL HISTORIANS OF EARLY XX CENTURY ON RUSSIA’S POSITION IN THE ENTENTE AND ITS NATIONAL INTERESTS

Abstract

The essay analyzesRussia's international position in the early XX century in the estimates of the pre-revolutionary liberal historiography. The historians advocatedRussia's participation in the Entente, stressed the importance of allied solidarity as the most important principle of the Tsarist government’s foreign policy.BritainandFrancewere associated with expectations (often unnecessary) on the implementation of the national interests ofRussiaand the maintenance of European equilibrium. The First World War in general did not change the attitude of  Russian liberals to the allies. On the wave of patriotic enthusiasm in the beginning of the war, they sought to form a positive image of allies in Russian society. The historians studied the Entente countries as the bearers of progress and civilization who were fighting against German militarism.Russiahad the opportunity to embody its national interests in the war of liberation. The Liberals hoped for the support ofBritainandFrancein the solution of the Eastern question for the benefit ofRussia. They noted that the transfer of theBlack SeaStraitsand Constantinople toRussiawould be the common profit of the world. The value of the Entente forRussia, according to the Liberal historians, was not limited to the sphere of foreign policy. The development of relations with the allies, mostly withBritain, could contribute to the democratization of Russian political life. The views of the Liberal historians of the early XX century on Russian foreign policy are relevant for contemporary Russian historians who are in search for new research approaches and at the same time are trying to maintain continuity with the previous academic tradition.