Russian Historiography on Russian-Spanish Relations in the XVIIIth century: traditions and new methods

Abstract

This article explores the different views on Russian-Spanish Relations and Spanish Foreign Policy of the XVIIIth century to be found in Russian scholarship. It begins with the perceptions of Spanish Policy in the XIXth century and how these evolved in subsequent centuries. In recent times, historians have sought to overcome the different stereotypes that abounded in previous centuries and, in Post-Soviet scholarship, fresh and as yet unreconciled facets of Spanish history of the XVIIIth century continue to emerge, providing the basis for a rather different portrait of the events and persons.