Socialist Europe and Revolutionary Russia : Perception and Prejudice 1848-1923

This book analyses perceptions and images of Russia held by European socialists from 1848 to the 1920s.

Socialist Europe and Revolutionary Russia: Perception and Prejudice 1848–1923 analyses perceptions and images of Russia held by European socialists in the period between the revolutions of 1848 and firm establishment of the Soviet regime in the early 1920s. Professor Naarden investigates in detail the sometimes pernicious influence of the age-old Western image of Russia on the ideological outlook and actions of the largest organised political movement in Europe. Whereas the history of socialism has been largely written from a national point of view, or within a national framework, this survey of a major pan-European theme permits an alternative perspective on contemporary East-West relations, and on numerous important aspects of nineteenth-century socialism, not least the powerful role in its development of a number of Russian writers, whether as protagonists or opponents.