THE FIGURE OF NAPOLEON III IN THE CREATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF L.N. TOLSTOY AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES

Song Jiaxuan

The presented article describes the reception of the foreign policy maneuvers of Napoleon III in the works of L.N. Tolstoy. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that the activities of Napoleon III may have played an important role in increasing Tolstoy's interest in the era of Napoleon I and his campaigns of conquest, which are a key subject of depiction in the novel War and Peace. The article examines the main foreign policies of Napoleon III. Tolstoy's judgments about the French emperor, made in different years, as well as the representations of Russian periodicals during the reign of Napoleon III are analyzed.

Keywords:L.N. Tolstoy, Napoleon III, “War and Peace”, Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Crimean War 1853-1856 Russian press