On the visit of N. S. Khrushchev to the French Republic on March 23 - April 3, 1960

The subject of the research is the visit of the leader of the Soviet Union, N. S. Khrushchev, to the French Republic in the spring of 1960, during which negotiations between the top leadership and governments of both countries, contacts between public and cultural organizations, exhibitions, talks and discussions on bilateral cooperation took place. The trip of the representatives of the Soviet delegation was preceded by the process of improving Franco-Soviet relations in the second half of the 1950s. The coming to power in France of General de Gaulle in 1958 was of great importance. The trip took place at a time when the concept of peaceful coexistence of countries from different military and political blocs was spreading, which was welcomed by many Western politicians, especially President de Gaulle and his closest supporters. The purpose of the work is to show the impact of the event in question on improving the image of the USSR and its leadership in the eyes of the French political elite and the media. The article examines in detail the perception of the Soviet leadership by French politicians and media of the Fifth Republic. The individual mechanisms of forming the image of a foreign leader in periodicals and television reports are indicated. In this case, the author resorts to using the methods of historical imagology. The novelty of the proposed study lies in an accentuated consideration of the peculiarities of the emergence of ideas about a particular country as a result of a significant foreign policy event, in particular, the visit of the head of another state. The author of the work comes to conclusion about the significance of this visit in the historical context. Despite the lack of specific political agreements, the visit was important for Franco-Soviet contacts and, in general, relations between the Soviet Union and Western European countries. Such meetings influenced the improvement of mutual perception of capitalist and socialist states in the conditions of bipolar confrontation and the Cold War; in fact, active cooperation in various fields was initiated: in science, technology, culture and economics. N. S. Khrushchev, as the leader of the Soviet Union, demonstrated openness to mutually beneficial relations with France, confirmed the peaceful intentions of the Communist Party and the viability of ideas of peaceful coexistence.

visit, N. S. Khrushchev, Ch. de Gaulle, negotiations, franco-soviet relations, peaceful coexistence, 1960s, foreign affairs, France, the Soviet Union