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Abstract. In the existing literature, the concept of “Russophobia”, as a rule, is used in an unreflected form, to denote extremely heterogeneous phenomena. The article on the material of the extensive corpus of the English-language press of the 19th century examines the content of the concepts “Russophobia”, “Russophobe”, etc. in England and the USA. In England of the 19th century, “Russophobia” (meaning “unfounded fear of the Russian threat”) was most often spoken about by radicals in the context of condemning militarism and colonial policy. In the conservative press, condemnation of “Russophobia” as a phantom fear could be combined with an acknowledgment of the reality of the Russian threat. During the Eastern crisis of 1876–1878 and later the Tories were predominantly called “Russophobes”, and the most influential part of the liberals, led by W. Gladstone, acted as critics of “Russophobia”. A special group among those who were classified as “Russophobes” were ideological liberals and democrats who sympathized with the national liberation movements in Europe, primarily the Polish, Italian and Hungarian ones. After 1878, the intensity of the controversy around “Russophobia” subsided again, and the controversy itself, as before the Eastern crisis, concerns mainly Russian politics in Asia. In the American press about “Russophobia” spoke relatively rarely and almost always in connection with English politics. In the British press, the word “Rusomania” was used either as a synonym for political “Russophobia” or, on the contrary, political “Russophilia”. In America at the end of the 19th century it acquired a new meaning: passion for Russian culture.
Keywords: Political language, national phobias, Russian-English relations.