Russian Liberals and the Conceptual Foundations of Russian Foreign Policy in the Early Twentieth Century

The article deals with the topic of how Russian liberal parties of the early twentieth century - the Party of the Constitutional Democrats (the Kadets), the Octobrist Party (the Octobrists) and the Progressive Party (the Progressives) - interpreted the range of issues associated with the foreign policy of the Russian Empire, such as imperialism, militarism, colonial policy, nationalism and pacifism. The authors hypothesize that the above-mentioned Russian liberal parties, despite all the differences in their political, economic and social views, adhered to the same foreign-policy approach which could be referred to as liberal imperialism. In particular, all three parties called on the Russian government to prepare for the intensive economic competition for new markets and trade flows, as well as for a potentially possible imperialist war between great European powers. According to the Kadets’, Octobrists’ and Progressives’ concepts, Russia's foreign policy should be highly proactive and imperialistic, and should be based on a strong military presence both in Europe and in Asia. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.