France–Russia relations

France–Russia relations

France	Russia

France–Russia relations (French: Relations entre la France et la Russie, Russian: Российско-французские отношения, Rossiysko-frantsuzskiye otnosheniya) date back to the early modern period.

In a 2013 BBC World Service poll, 25% of French people viewed Russia's influence positively, with 63% expressing a negative view, while 49% of Russians viewed French influence positively, with 10% expressing a negative view.

France–Russia relations date back to early modern period, with sporadic contact even earlier, when both countries were ruled by absolute monarchies, the Kingdom of France (843–1792) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). Diplomatic ties go back at least to 1702 when France had an ambassador (Jean-Casimir Baluze) in Moscow. Following Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, the foundation of Saint Petersburg as the new capital in 1712, and declaration of an empire in 1721, Russia became a major force in European affairs for the first time. The geographical separation between the two countries meant that their spheres of influence rarely overlapped. When involved in the same war, their troops rarely fought together as allies in or directly against each other as enemies on the same battlefields. However both were crucial states in the European balance of power. They were on opposite sides of the 1733–1738 War of the Polish Succession and were allies during the Seven Years' War of 1756 to 1763.

After the French Revolution, Russia became a center of reactionary antagonism against the revolution, and Russia fought in the War of the Second Coalition. Once Napoleon Bonaparte (later Emperor Napoleon I) came to power in 1799, Russia remained hostile and fought in the Wars of the Third and Fourth Coalitions, which were victories for France and saw French power extend into Central Europe. This led to the establishment of a French-backed Polish state, the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, which threatened Russia and caused tensions that led to the French invasion of Russia in 1812. This was major defeat for France and a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars, leading to Bonaparte's removal and the Bourbon Restoration. Russia was part of the conservative Concert of Europe which sought to stifle revolution. Russia was again hostile when the Revolutions of 1848 broke out across Europe, bringing Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (later Emperor Napoleon III) to power in France. Napoleon III favoured a "policy of nationalities" (principe des nationalités) or support to national revolutions in multinational countries like Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, something fervently opposed by the Tsarist regime in Russia. France's challenges to Russia's influence led France to participate in the Crimean War, which saw French troops invade the Crimean peninsula.

...
Wikipedia