France

Home page » France

PHJ № 1 (49) 2026 — G. I. Bayazitova, F. E. A. Giral. LETTER FROM CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU TO THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO SWITZERLAND, BRULARD DE LEON (APRIL 9, 1630)

The article is devoted to the study of a manuscript letter by Cardinal de Richelieu, First Minister to King Louis XIII of France, who managed the internal and foreign policy of France from 1624 to 1642. The autograph of Richelieu is kept in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg as part of the Dubrovsky Collection. Although it was already known to M. Avenel, the first editor of Cardinal de Richelieu’s correspondence, it had not yet been introduced to the scholarly community. Also, a transcription of the letter without commentary or translation is contained in the latest monograph by A. D. Lyublinskaya. The letter dates back to the War of the Mantuan Succession and is addressed to de Leon, French ambassador in Switzerland. The letter concerns Marshal de Bassompierre’s role in the negotiations with the Cantons of Switzerland. The introductory article provides the context for the document’s appearance, reconstructs the series of events that preceded its creation based on historical sources, and draws a conclusion about the message’s place in Cardinal Richelieu’s correspondence. The article provides a transcription, translation, annotated commentary, and a reproduction of the original letter. The publication of this autograph adds to the research on 17th-century French documents located in Russia, initiated by A. Lyublinskaya, and advances ourunderstanding of Cardinal de Richelieu’s activities.

PHJ № 1 (49) 2026 — L. A. Gerd. FRANCO-RUSSIAN RIVALRY IN EASTERN THRACE (1856–1870S)

The end of the 1850s and the 1860s were a period of the highest tension in the Greek-Bulgarian counter-action in the church-national question. The struggle of the Bulgarians against the Greek high clergy was used by the diplomacy of the powers (Russia, France and Great Britain) for strengthening of their influence in the Balkans. The Russian representatives supported Orthodoxy, while the French diplomats and missionaries tried to convert the Bulgarians into the Union with Rome. The article is focused on the methods of struggle of the Bulgarian population of Adrianople and Eastern Thrace, used by the secular and religious agents of the concurrent powers (Russia and France), and the results of their activities. Basing on the reports of French diplomats conclusions are made concerning the missionary work in the colonial policy of France in the third quarter of the 19th century.

PHJ № 1 (49) 2026 — N. A. Zherlitsina. FRENCH-OTTOMAN RIVALRY IN MAGHREB FROM 1830 TO 1848, BASED ON RUSSIAN AND TURKISH ARCHIVAL MATERIALS

The article is devoted to the study of the formation of French colonial policy towards Maghreb countries, as well as the analysis of the Ottoman Empire’s policy to protect its North African provinces from European encroachments. The work examines the entire period of the July Monarchy in France, that is, from 1830 to 1848, which allows us to draw conclusions about the goals, objectives and methods of colonial expansion of the French authorities in Maghreb. An analysis of the policy of the Ottoman Empire towards its Maghreb provinces during the period under study shows that the Sublime Porte was not indifferent to the events on its western outskirts and played a much more active role than has been previously believed in historiography in attempts to resist the European powers. The novelty of the study also lies in identifying the methods used by each of the empires in attempts to attract the Maghreb countries into their orbit of influence. France and the Ottoman Empire resorted to both violent methods and the policy of “soft power”, as well as provocations and intimidation. The article examines not only the policy of the great powers, but also the position of the object of this policy — the authorities of the province of Tunisia. The analysis of the documents shows the desire for independence of the Husseinid dynasty of Tunisia, an attempt to achieve it by playing on the contradictions between the great powers. The author comes to conclusion that the period 1830–1848 prepared the ground in Maghreb for French expansion in the following decades.

|

PHJ №1 (45) 2025 — S. N. Iskiul. REVIEW OF THE COLLECTIVE MONOGRAPH: KANDAKOU D., STROEV A. LES RUSSES À PARIS AU XVIIIE SIÈCLE SOUS L’OEIL DE LA POLICE. PARIS: L’HARMATTAN, 2024. 736 P.

The present review is devoted to a critical analysis of the aforementioned collective monograph, which was authored by professors of general and comparative literature at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris). The authors of the monograph are D. Kondakov and A. Stroev, and the title of the monograph is Les Russes à Paris au XVIIIe siècle sous l’oeil de la police (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2024. 736 p.).

|

PHJ №1 (45) 2025 — V. V. Shishkin. UNKNOWN LETTER OF HENRY III OF MARCH 10, 1585: ON THE EVE OF THE THE WAR OF THREE HENRYS

The letter of Henry III (1574–1589), the last of Valois, addressed to the French ambassador in Rome at the papal court, seigneur de Saint-Goart (Gouart). The document was submitted to the Archive of the Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a gift on April 14, 2024. This is an order to the ambassador to ask Pope Gregory XIII to approve the royal decision regarding the appointment of a new prior of the Augustinian priory in Perigord, Saint-Etienne Du Peyrat, a certain Elis Patrice. In preparation for a new civil war in France, which remained in history under the name The War of Three Henrys (1585–1589), the king placed in secular and church posts, at court and in the field, the persons who were certainly devoted to him. Henry III removed from the post of prior a supporter of the Dukes of Guise, political opponents of the king, Bishop of Amiens. The reconstruction of events, according to the dorsal notes on the back of the letter, allows to understand the dramatic history of the approval of the royal decision, which eventually took place in 1586. This was due to the expulsion of Saint-Goart from Rome on the orders of the new Pope Sixtus V, and his triumphant return a few months after the restoration of relations between Henry III and the Holy See, under a new name and in a new status, Marquis de Pisany.

PHJ № 3 (35) 2022 – M. N. Baryshnikov. Gorchakovs and operations of Russian steam navigation and trading company in Western Mediterranean

The article examines the nature of the emerging relations between the Minister of Foreign Affairs A.M. Gorchakov and his son Mikhail and the Russian steam navigation and trading company in connection with the functioning of the Western Mediterranean shipping lines focused on the development of transport links with the ports of France and Spain. The study allows not only to evaluate the effectiveness of these relations, but also to more fully present the reasons for the company’s reorientation to the Middle East and Persian areas of operations, determined by Russia’s long-term interests in these regions.