Agree. My undergraduate degree was in history.
Russians as Asiatics: Memory about the Present
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2013
Dmitry Shlapentokh
Abstract
History as recorded very often follows the desire of political pragmatists. Nineteenth-century French views of Russia are a good example. France was in conflict with Russia through most of that century. As racism grew across Europe, French historians presented Russians as brutish Asiatics and a mortal threat to civilized Europe. The Russo-French alliance in 1894 changed these views, but the stereotypes continued to hibernate in the collective subconscious of the West to be resurrected in times of political expediency.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-review/article/abs/russians-as-asiatics-memory-about-the-present/D2E4D5A6721A5B2D69DFA41025841F1D