Elena Solodkina

Historiography of Russian-British relations in 16th - early 17th centuries. Elena Solodkina

The first half century since the British "discovery" of Russia in August 1553 and till the death of Queen Elizabeth I in April 1603 constitute a special stage in the history of mutual relations, when their main trends - trade, diplomatic, cultural - were defined. They were often studied by the Soviet epoch and at the turn of the XX - XXI centuries, especially after the World War II. The most detailed consideration of the attempts to establish Russo-British alliance and reflection of the subject of "Muscovy" in numerous notes of English diplomats and travelers. At the same time a number of important aspects of bilateral relations are controversial or remain little-studied. For the first time in world history the author outlines a range of researches of Soviet and post-Soviet period, devoted to origination of Russo-British relations, thoroughly defines problems of these works, their source base, clarifies what questions of bilateral relations were unanimously solved and what questions were the subject of discussions. The author points out factors of extra-scientific nature which conditioned interpretations of the initial stage of Russian-British relations, especially on the eve and in the first years after World War II.