Knowra Anti-Russian sentiment Anti-Russian sentiment Anti-Russian sentiment is hostility, prejudice, or distrust directed toward Russia, Russians, or Russian culture. It can arise from political conflict, historical grievances, and national identity.
Great Game : A nineteenth-century rivalry between the British and Russian empires for influence in Central Asia. British fears of Russian expansion helped shape suspicions that persisted beyond the rivalry itself.
Red Scare : Periods of intense fear of communist subversion in the United States, especially after 1917 and during the early Cold War. Anti-communist campaigns sometimes treated Russian identity or heritage as evidence of political disloyalty.
Anti-Sovietism : Opposition to the Soviet Union, its government, or its political system. Criticism of Soviet institutions is not necessarily hostility toward Russians or Russian culture.
Collective blame : The assignment of responsibility to members of a group for actions they did not individually commit. It explains how anger at Russian state actions can become hostility toward Russians generally.
Crimean War : An 1853–1856 war in which the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France, and Sardinia fought Russia. The conflict made Russia a prominent military adversary in British and French public life.
Palmer Raids : A series of 1919–1920 raids and arrests targeting suspected radicals in the United States. Many immigrant communities, including Russian-speaking ones, faced suspicion amid the raids.
Anti-communism : Opposition to communism as a political ideology or to governments organized around it. Anti-communism can motivate suspicion of Russia without being directed at Russians as a people.
National identity : A sense of belonging to a nation, shaped by shared history, culture, institutions, or political ties. Ideas about Russian identity influence who is included in, or excluded from, anti-Russian rhetoric.
Russo-Japanese War : A 1904–1905 war between the Russian Empire and Japan over control in northeast Asia. Its defeat of Russia challenged European assumptions and sharpened debates about Russian power.
Russian language : An East Slavic language and the most widely spoken language in Russia. Cultural boycotts and public suspicion can target language and heritage alongside state policy.
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