Russia – Great BritainThe History of Relationships

First ContactsOn the 28th of August, 1553 three vessels during their expedition to the North-East reached the shores of Russia.

Richard Chancellor

The Queen Elizabeth

Tsar Ivan the Terrible

The first contacts were set between the English Queen Elizabeth and the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible

After the returning of R. Chancellor to England it was decided to establish the new trading company the “Fellowship of English Merchants for the discovery of New Trades” (1555)

Russian Company SealRussia exported to England

wax, tallow, tar, hemp, flax, and furs. And imported from England military stores – lead, copper, saltpeter, sulfur, and gunpowder.

Old English Yard. Moscow (4 Varvarka Street)The Residence of Muscovy Company

News of the execution of Charles I in 1649 was received in Russia with indignation. Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich immediately published a decree banning the English from trading in the Muscovite state (except Archangel). Even though representatives of both camps – the Royalists and envoys of the ‘perfidious thief and rebel’ Oliver Cromwell - petitioned Alexey Mikhailovich to restore trading links, the ‘golden chain of traffic’ had been broken. The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 brought about a temporary warming of relations between the two countries.

Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich

Charles I

Oliver Cromwell

Peter’s important  step was quite untypical of a Russian ruler up to that time: he made a long visit to Europe (1697-1698) known as the ‘Great Embassy’.

It’s known, that Peter during the above-mentioned mission stayed in England for 3 months, where the Tsar conducted negotiations with William III of England, acquainted himself with shipbuilding visited shipyards and artillery plants, and recruited about 60 foreign specialists. Among them were doctor Robert Areskin, mathematician, who founded The Navigation School in St. Petersburg in 1701 and captain John Perry, who was responsible for the building of Volga-Don channel. A lot of doctors were among the tsar court during 18th century.

Tsar Peter the Great spent in England 3 months (1698)

George II left the conduct of domestic affairs in the hands of his wife and his great minister, Sir Robert Walpole. In 1743 he concluded with the Tsarina Elizabeth a defensive treaty which marked the entrance of Russia into restricted circle of the “Great Powers”. Elizabeth was involved in Westminster Convention The old friendship of England and Russia, thus, was ensured by different international coalitions.

The 18th century

To characterize the Russian-British relationships in the 19th century, Great Britain had a rivalry with Russia. During the 19th century, both countries viewed to fill the power vacuums that had been left by the declining Ottoman, Persian empires. This rivalry in Eurasia came to be known as the “Great Game“ (1813-1907). The Great Game or Tournament of Shadows in Russia, were terms for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The two countries reached an agreement on their respective spheres of influence in the region in 1878.

“Great Game” the cartoon from 1878

The 19th century

In 1907 Britain and Russia agreed on the Anglo-Russian Entente, thus the two countries were allies in the

1st World War.

The 20th century

After the revolution of 1917 Great Britain was the first country to sign an agreement on trading and diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union (1924). Prime Minister David Lloyd

George

In 1939 after the seizure by Germany of the rump of Czechoslovakia the British Government began to coordinate their policy with the Soviet Union. The bilateral British-Soviet relationships were significant during the war years. Churchill’s visit (Churchill was the Prime Minister at that time) to Moscow in 1942 was the first East-West summit.

The Second World War

On the 29th of November 1943 The Sword of Stalingrad was presented to Stalin by Winston Churchill as a token of homage from the British people to the Soviet defenders of the city.

A big period of time, approximately. 1945-1979, is known in history as the “Cold War”. 1946 at Fulton Winston Churchill publicly declared the emergence of a 'Cold War' between east and west.

After coming to power Mikhail Gorbachev Margaret Thatcher's government moved quickly to establish close ties to the USSR.Thatcher was one of the first Western leaders to respond

warmly to reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Following Reagan–Gorbachev summit meetings and reforms enacted by Gorbachev in the USSR, she declared in November 1988 that "We're not in a Cold War now"

In nowadays the bilateral relations remain stable. The two governments primarily focus on economic issues between the two countries. Currently, Russian-British foreign trade turnover is in excess $20 billion per year, with Britain ranking as a leader of foreign investment in the Russian Federation. British oil companies, such as BP and the Royal Dutch Shell, have been partially active in the Russian sector, as well as developing pipelines in Russia’s near abroad.

In 1994, Queen Elizabeth visited Russia, the first royal visit by an English monarch since the execution of Nicholas II in 1918.