ABSTRACT
St Petersburg has always been a ‘special case’ – it was the capital of Russia when Russia was a participant in the ‘European concert’ and St Petersburg was one of the diplomatic capitals of Europe. Against the background of Russian history, whether one starts counting from Dmitriy Donskoy or Ivan III, the period when St Petersburg served as a capital is pretty short – slightly over two centuries. But it was precisely at that time when a political and economic basis was given to Russia’s claim to be called a European state. Since the time of Tsar Alexey Mikhaylovich Russia had been involved in a wide network of communication with Europe. St Petersburg inherited from Novgorod traditions of North European culture, democratic politics and trade. St Petersburg also imported from Novgorod the traditional rivalry of northwestern Russia with Moscow. 1 In Soviet times
This Lenin’s town had a firm and clearly defined position in the Soviet ideology as well as a distinct hierarchy of influence and power. It was firmly linked with various statist concerns, above all defence, and was part and parcel of an anti-western stance. 2
