Russia's image of Germany: Premise for Russia's policy on Germany?

The West's euphoria at the prospect of Russia developing into a country based on a market economy and democracy, hopes which accompanied the about-turn in Central Europe (1989) and the unsuccessful coup d'etat in Moscow (1991), is already history itself. Certainly by the time of the outbreak of violence in Moscow in September/October 1993 and the election success of the so-called Communo-patriotic parties in the first Duma elections (December 1993) foreign experts on Russia have been pretty sceptical The basic tenor of assessments is often reminiscent of the bitter comments by Marquis de Custine or Zbignev Brzezinski. Particularly for Germany, on account of its geopolitical situation, historical experience and economic interests, the trends in Russia pose a serious challenge It is all the more important to explore the moods at grass-roots level and of public opinion in Russia. How can the relationship of Russians to Germany be characterised? What determines the behaviour of Russian citizens towards Germany and the Germans - historical memories, current political and economic factors, prejudices and/or common stereotypes! An investigation in September/October 1996 by the Russian Independent Institute for Social and National Problems in Moscow, which was conducted in 12 cities and 3 territorial divisions of Russia on behalf of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and which was recently presented for the first time to the German public, forms the basis for the following analysis of the Russian image of Germany by Alexander Chepurenko, who is director of the Moscow institute.