Russia and France in the eve of the Revolution

The article aims at tracing the news about the events happening in France and the diplomatic relations in Constantinople in the first months of 1789, which were being received in Petersburg via various channels. The information from France was comprehensive enough to provide the ruling circles in Russia with clues to the degree of change going on in the spring of 1789. However, at that point the rulers of Russia were convinced that whatever was going on in France, it would not have a negative effect on the situation in Europe or affect Russia's interests. France was regarded as one of the major European powers with influence on the development of the relations between the different states and on the Russian Turkish conflict in particular. Nevertheless, the events that would follow would prove right those who as early as the spring of 1789 had anticipated the global change which France was not the only one to experience. The changes that had come about turned into a major diplomatic problem in Constantinople and influenced the relations between Russia and Turkey significantly in the last decade of the 18(th) century. The Russian newspapers quickly grasped the major symptoms of the forthcoming events of the following years. The French Revolution and the events in Europe connected with it, along with the problems of the Russian Turkish relations that they brought about, were basically the events covered by the newspapers.