The Russian Direction of the Prussian Kingdom's Foreign Policy. 1851-1871. The Source Studies Aspect

This article presents a description of the source base for studying the Russian direction of the Prussian Kingdom's foreign policy on the eve and during the years of German unification: 1851-1871. Taking into account the current state of German and Russian historiography, the author draws attention to the fact that only a comprehensive study of public documents, official correspondence of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both Prussia and Russia, a significant part of which is stored in the archives of Germany and Russia, periodicals and documents of personal origin can contribute to the widest coverage of this topic. The vast majority of these documents has not been introduced into scientific circulation before, so their use will enrich the study of Prussian-Russian relations on the eve of the formation of the German Empire with new information.