Russian nobility in the 18th and 19th century spoke French. Some did not even know Russian. Why is this? How did this custom get started. Where they still speaking French at the time of the 1917 revolution?
I’m sorry but none of the answers so far are satisfactory. Let me therefore ask a factual question. Who was the first Czar to speak French?
#1 by Charlie on May 3rd, 2010
Quote
You listed some nobles as not even being able to speak Russian. This was probably because in Europe, all the royal families were linked through marriage. This was because nobles had selective partners, you couldn’t marry beneath you, which really limited your partners. Second, it was an effective political technique to keep the peace, you would be less likely to attack a country if your sister was queen. So the nobles who didn’t know any Russian were probably from the nobility of other countries.
French was also seen as very sophisticated at the time. Russia had suffered defeats under Napoleon and Crimean War, which were both devastating and included the French. It should be remembered that France was the powerhouse of continental Europe. Up until WW1 it was considered to have the most powerful land army. Russian younger generations that saw the backwardness of Russia, the corruption, and the previous humiliations, were disillusioned and looked to France as a great nation and adopted their customs. Many nobles also received their education out of the country, sometimes in France.
#2 by brian t on May 3rd, 2010
Quote
Tsar Peter the Great had the vision of opening up Russia to Western ideals and of importing western concepts in architecture etc. At the time, France of Louis IV ‘The Sun King’ was seen to have been the most stylish and developed of all Western nations. Peter the Great toured the west in about 1705 and learnt about modern ship building and architecture in France, Netherlands and England.
Peter wanted to reform Russia – to get rid of Russia’s backwardness in technology. The Empress Catherine the Great, who succeeded her husband Peter III in 1763, also wanted to reform Russia. Catherine corresponded with the French philosopher Voltaire and designed her own palace according to French styles such as that of the Versailles palace.
The French style was probably copied just as much as what some people might look to the United States for latest fashions and information and ideals.
France also held great attraction as the home of the enlightenment – of ideals of humanity and technology. French writers as Voltaire corresponded with both Catherine the Great and Prussia’s Frederick the Great.
As Russia became much more developed and nationalistic under later tsars Nicholas I, Alexander III and Nicholas II, France was seen as much more of a threat – after the French revolution there was the threat of French ideals of revolution penetrating Russia. Even Tsar Alexander I, known for his wide spread knowledge from his french Tutor La Harpe, turned his back on the ideals of humanity, liberty etc.
However, Tsar Alexander II known as the ‘Tsar Liberator’ was well tutored and one of the most educated of Russia’s Emperors. But unfortunately his son Alexander III and grandson Nicholas II, were educated by Russian conservatives who were more slavic and nationalist in their world view.
But under Tsar Alexander III and Nicholas II, Russia did develop close relations with France against Imperial Germany. The Russian nobles never ceased to look to France culturally for a way out of Russian backwardness and to develop Russia along Western ideals of the revolution.
Despite the obvious contradictions between French ideals of liberty and freedom with that of Russian autocracy and backwardness, France and Russia maintained close cultural as well as political connections right up to the 1917 revolution.
#3 by sjpatejak on May 3rd, 2010
Quote
In the 18th century the French court at Versailles was considered to be the last word in elegance and sophistication. It was copied throughout the courts of Europe.(The English word etiquette derives from the list of rules to be followed by visitors to Versailles.) This included the French language which was seen as much more refined than “barbarous” languages like Russian. It had the cachet that English currently enjoys throughout the world. The fashion began to fade after Napoleon’s invasion, when anything French became unpatriotic. However, the Russian nobility and intelligentisia continued to study foreign languages to keep in touch with European literature, science and philosophy, although Russian was used in everyday speech.
Trackback: Russian Revolution - ????????? ? ??????