Abstract
The chief aim of the article is to consider the western historiography’s view (first of all Norwegian) to the “Russian threat” to Norway and compare this conception with the available home sources. There are at least four directions pointed out by the historians as the ways of the probable Russian expansion to Norway and the most popular of them was Northern direction. According to the historiography the roots of the “Russian threat”-idea could be English, Swedish or Norwegian. The idea gained its adepts among military and conservative circles of Norwegian society during Swedish-Norwegian union’s dissolution, but wasn’t supported by Northern-Norway’s inhabitants engaged with so called “Pomor trade”. It was held up by British and Swedish foreign policy in the middle of the XIX century and by German central power on the border of XIX – XX centuries. Nevertheless, the modern Norwegian historian J.P. Nielsen convincingly argued that the “threat” itself was a myth skillfully used as an instrument in the home and foreign policy of Scandinavian states and the Great Powers from Napoleonic Wars-period. This point in general is not refuted by Russian diplomatic sources which consider the Russian-Norwegian relations in the European context.
Keywords
history of Norway in 19th century, historiography, Russian-Norwegian relations, “Russian threat”
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