Xenophobia in the history of Russia: factors of formation and dominant types

The factors of formation and the dominant types of xenophobia in Russia during the period of the 9 th - early 20 th century has been considered in the article. The characteristic of the main types of xenophobia and their dependence on the set of cultural, historical, socio- political, socio- economic factors in the development of the Russian society during the analyzed period of history has been presented. The author concludes that xenophobia in the Russian history performed as an adaptive defense mechanism of ethno-religious identity and an effective way for integration and mobilization of society at the time of crisis or external threat as well as political technology that uses "images of strangers" for the manipulation of mass consciousness.