The author of article analyzes the book of the eminent French sociologist and publicist Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu (1842‑1912) «The Empire of the Tsars and the Russians» (1881-1888), published in three volumes in the wake of the Franco-Russian rapprochement. Traditionally the works of Leroy-Beaulieu are perceived in foreign and Russian historiography as an ideological basis of the Franco-Russian alliance. Leroy-Beaulieu himself is considered as a researcher who suggested a new view of Russia and a new direction in Russian studies. However, does Leroy-Beaulieu's book differ so radically from the works of his predecessors? Does it really contain a completely new look at Russia and Russians, and for this reason it has become popular and widely read? Based on a comparative analysis of the book by Leroy-Beaulieu and the works of his predecessors, the author of article concludes that Leroy-Beaulieu’s break with the previous tradition was not so obvious, and his conclusions were not so innovative. Far from idealizing Russia, Leroy-Beaulieu treated this country with great sympathy, although the traditional view through the optics of superiority is often traced in his approach. Therefore, Russia for Leroy-Beaulieu is a realm of «lacunae and gaps» that can be meliorated with the correct use of Western experience. The author of article concludes also that in the period of Franco-German tension and the emerging Russian‑French rapprochement, the book of Leroy-Beaulieu fell into place and time. That is why it was well accepted because it contained a new, friendly, and objective view on the great, immense, but not at all terrible Russia.
"The Empire of Tsars and the Russians" by Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu: A New Look at Russia?
Tanshina Natalia
The article was written on the basis of the RANEPA state assignment research program.
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