Development of the trade project and its role in Russian-french relations in the early 1680s

Abstract

Introduction. The article considers the problems of Russian-French negotiations on the organization of trade between Russia and France in the first half of the 1680s.Materials and methods. The uniqueness of the study is facilitated by the use of materials from both Russian (Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents) and French archives (Archives du ministère des affaires étrangères), which have not previously been widely used in research. Thanks to the comprehensive use of documents from both sides, the study clarifies the details of the events that took place in the embassies and the specifics of their perception by the Russian and French courtiers. The analysis of the negotiations, their preparation and their procurement is conducted in the context of the methodology of new diplomatic history in order to establish the role of the trade question in the development of diplomatic relations between Russia and France.Results. The results of the study show the essential role of the Russian-French trade project in establishing direct connections between Russia and France, independent of changes in both countries policies towards the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. In the context of Russian court politics of the early 1680s, it is shown that both supporters of confrontation with Sweden and their adversaries, focusing on Russian participation in the anti-Ottoman coalition, were interested in rapprochement with France. At the same time, the preparation of the trade project led to analytical work in both countries that broadened their perceptions of each other, intensified contacts between representatives of both states, and led to the emergence of conjugate foreign policy projects.Conclusion. The work supplements the established in historiography conceptions of the organization of Russian diplomatic missions to France, the information about the role of the management of the Ambassador's office in this process, as well as the envoys and interpreters sent to France and their own perceptions of their place in this process.