On the role of the European periodicals in the case of Ye.F. Azef

The subject of the study is a newspaper campaign in 1909, when leading European and Russian publications discussed the exposure of Ye.F. Azef, the head of the Socialist-revolutionary’s Combat Organization, responsible for a series of terrorist attacks. Sensational news that Azef at the same time was an agent of the Russian political police became an informational occasion for sharp criticism of Russia's domestic policy. The purpose of this work is to examine the ways of interaction between the press and government structures on an acute issue that affects not only the internal policy of the state, but also international relations. Press materials, archival documents and memoirs were used as sources. The methodological basis of the work is the principles of historicism, objectivity, reliance on sources and a problem-based approach. The study concluded that the European press played a leading role in the information campaign on the Azef case. The Russian government had to neutralize negative publications, but practical measures were primarily aimed at protecting departmental interests than at a comprehensive investigation of a high-profile political case.