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Chapter 4 - The Russia Question

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2021

Shane Weller
Affiliation:
University of Kent, Canterbury
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Summary

One of the abiding questions in the discourse on the idea of Europe since the Enlightenment has been whether Russia belongs within European civilization, or is essentially Asiatic. Following Peter the Great’s attempts to Europeanize Russia at the end of the seventeenth and in the early years of the eighteenth century, culminating in the construction of St Petersburg as a European city, Russia’s relation to (the rest of) Europe became a hotly disputed question both within and beyond Russia when Peter Chaadayev published his Philosophical Letters (1826–31), in which he claimed that Russia lacked all the qualities of a European nation. This led to a long-lasting debate between Westernizers and Slavophiles in Russia, culminating in the profoundly Slavophile views of Fyodor Dostoevsky, who took issue in particular with the Westernizing views of Ivan Turgenev. Russia’s relation to Europe was also explored by Western European writers, including Germaine de Staël and Astolphe de Custine. This Western European vision of Russia was often profoundly negative, with Russia being seen as an Asiatic threat to Europe. Chapter 4 explores this enduring debate on Russia’s relation to (the rest of) Europe, one that continues to this day.

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The Idea of Europe
A Critical History
, pp. 94 - 113
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • The Russia Question
  • Shane Weller, University of Kent, Canterbury
  • Book: The Idea of Europe
  • Online publication: 14 May 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784252.005
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  • The Russia Question
  • Shane Weller, University of Kent, Canterbury
  • Book: The Idea of Europe
  • Online publication: 14 May 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784252.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Russia Question
  • Shane Weller, University of Kent, Canterbury
  • Book: The Idea of Europe
  • Online publication: 14 May 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784252.005
Available formats
×