«Russia does not step out of the role of the defendant in the Persian question…»: British discursive practices and Russian public opinion on the eve of the Great War

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the peculiarities of the British socio-political discourse functioning in the relation towards Russia and its foreign policy on the eve of the First World War. Based on the materials related to the Persian question and the activities of the Persia Committee, it was shown that a significant part of the British public opinion was biased against Russia, even after the signing of the 1907 Convention. Such invective approach had a direct and indirect impact on the policy of Foreign Office. At the same time, these British discursive practices were accepted by Russian public opinion as a constant in the mutual relations of the two Empires. Moreover, there was a tendency in Russian press to use the British Other (accusing and rebuking) as a convenient tool for affirming their own ideas and positions. Commenting on various British accusations and reproaches, Russian publicists appealed to their own government, hinting that the latter pays more attention to the British public opinion than to the interests of Russia. The government, for its part, used the appeal to Russian public opinion as an argument in its disputes with London. Thus, during the period under review, in Russia it was learned how to use the British approach to it as to a convenient Other in its own interests.