Relevance of the study. The attitude towards the Russian Federation in the modern world is highly complex and contradictory. This is due, in part, ’to the traditional perception of Russia in the west in the context of the binary “Friend-or-Foe” juxtaposition. Studying the origins of these processes is undoubtedly relevant.  

The object of the study is the perception of Russia in the public opinion of France in the XIX century, and the development of the image of Russia in the public opinion of France during the XIX - XXI centuries.  

The purpose of the study is to examine the historical roots of the perception of Russia in the public opinion of France and in the French intellectual circles, based on the analysis of the works of French authors of the 1840s-1880s, and to compare this image with modern ideas about Russia in the French intellectual and political circles.   

The study was conducted in 2021 as part of the RANEPA research work.  

Research method or methodology: The research involves the use of an interdisciplinary synthesis methodology based on classical historical analysis. The study of stereotypes of mutual perception and the reconstruction of the “image of the Other” require applying the methodology of imagological research. In addition, the study of political ideology involves applying the methodology of intellectual history and the history of ideas.   

The results of the study: using the example of the analysis of the image of Russia formed in the public opinion of France in the XIX - XX centuries, the authors attempt to:  

- identify the main circle of authors writing about Russia in the period under review, to determine the main circle of sources and to classify them;   

- study the works about Russia written in the 1840s, after the publication of the book by  Astolphe de Custine;  

- analyze the transformation of the view of Russia on the eve and during the Crimean War (1853-1856);   

- study the changes in the perception of Russia after the Crimean War, given the improvement of Franco-Russian relations in the years preceding the conclusion of the Franco-Russian Union.