Why did French become the mother tongue of Russian aristocrats? What do you think is the reason?

/kloc-At the beginning of the 0/9th century, most Russian aristocrats communicated in French, and many people did not understand or speak Russian. Because in the 18 12 Russian-French war, this was very obvious, because some Russian officers died at the hands of Russian guerrillas at that time, because these officers from noble backgrounds could not speak Russian at all and were mistaken for French. Interestingly, in the early18th century, French was hardly used or studied in the Russian Empire. The most popular languages at that time were German and Dutch. This is due to the extensive contact between Russia and the German aristocratic dynasty, which eventually led to the rule of Queen Catherine II.

174 1 year, after Queen Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne, French began to permeate Russian land. It was this charming and naughty little daughter of Peter the Great who began to introduce "fanatical worship of France" in Russia. The reason for this is the following：

Under the guidance of Jewish scientist ViSerow, she began to study French deeply and wrote exquisite calligraphy at the same time. The reason for training in French is that parents want to marry Elizabeth to her partner Louis XV or the young Duke of Orleans. By the age of 16, Elizabeth Petrovna was already fluent in French. However, they politely and decisively rejected Peter's proposal to marry the French Bourbon dynasty.

In Elizabeth Petrovsky's court, everyone began to speak French. Her entourage pushed aside German businessmen and craftsmen and replaced them with French tailors and chefs. Therefore, people who want to be promoted in the imperial court must know French. But this is only the beginning of the cult of France. The real flowering of French in Russia began in the period of Catherine II at the end of 18. This was caused by the French Revolution in 1789.

After the decline of imperial power, French nobles began to emigrate from France. Russia has become one of the preferred destinations for immigrants. The reason why French elites flocked to Russia was that Catherine II began the educational reform in 1882. It is planned to open schools for children from all walks of life, and aristocratic children study at home.

However, due to the shortage of domestic teachers, a large number of foreigners need to be hired. But many of them are ignorant adventurers and can't teach anything valuable. So it is difficult to teach aristocratic children at home, and there is not enough tutor. Fortunately, the Queen's plan was promoted by the French Revolution, which prompted the French elite to move to distant Russia.

In addition, many French teachers also appeared in Russian military institutions. Therefore, the nobles studying in military educational institutions had to study French urgently. After all, those French people don't know Russian. When the French taught the first generation of Russian nobles, French became popular in Russia. Even many nobles don't know Russian at all.

Therefore, from the end of 18 century to the middle of 19 century, "Colomania" (referring to foreigners' fanatical worship of France) was very popular in the upper circles of the Russian empire, and it was sought after from food to literature and fashion.