EN
This article is devoted to attempts of Croatian bishop, politician and philanthropist Josip Juraj Strossmayer (1815-1905), to establish a dialogue with Russian officials during the 1860-70s. He had meetings with the Russian consul in Belgrade N.P. Shishkin in 1868 and Russian ambassador in Vienna E.P. Novikov in 1870, and tried to persuade them to help the Croatian national movement in its struggle against the Habsburg regime. However, Shishikin and Novikov did not believe him. Moreover, his ideas were not acceptable for the Russian government because of their desire to save current geopolitical situation. In 1876 Strossmayer wrote the “Memorandum for Russian government” in which he tried to prove that only an agreement with the Vatican would help Russia to solve its internal problems and to streng- then its influence in Europe. Although Strossmayer's attempts failed, his experience can be useful nowadays, as the problem of understanding between the Catholic and Orthodox worlds seems still to be relevant.