This book discusses Marx relations with Russia, which have always been ambivalent. In his youth, and indeed a good way into the 1860s, Marx might even be called a “Russophobe.� Around 1870, however, his views on Russia undergo a change; he becomes acquainted with a new kind of Russian radical and revolutionary movement and begins to study Russian. It becomes clear that Marx begins to feel that Russia is some kind of a “touchstone� for his theories. Offering a new and original interpretation of Marx theoretical development, Marx Russian Moment analyzes the following themes: Marx concept of ideology (as developed in the German Ideology) and its fortunes in Russia; Marx encounter with Bakunin and Russian nihilism; Marx and Engels studies of primitive societies; Engels views of the developmental perspectives of small Slavic nations; and Marx views on Finland, the Russian Grand Duchy. Considering these topics as “case studies,� Oittinen argues that Marx encounter with Russia substantially influenced Marx (and Engels) views not just on current political and economic matters but also on a philosophical and methodological level.