The paper deals with the process of formation of national consciousness in Russia XVIII century. It is demonstrated that the development of a new principle of identity - national - was the result of a series of discussions in the Russian social thought of the second half of the XVIII century. In particular, the controversy on the «Norman question» and «disputes about the customs». Formation of the Russian national consciousness was the result of reactions to Europeanism, the period of apprenticeship and mindless copying of European culture