“With great regret we had to …notify you that rather dangerous
spirit of resistance and disobedience to law is unfortunately taking
place in the province of Massachusetts Bay and in other places. It shows
in other places via new and more severe cases of violence.”
Military expenses of Great Britain reached an astronomical amount
of 1 million pounds per year (7 mln. rubles). The affair resulted in “a
matured crisis”. The English rushed to recruit people wherever possible.
The citizens of His Majesty unwillingly went under the banners.
In May 1775 R. Ganning, an envoy in St. Petersburg, was instructed by
the King to present this sensitive issue before Empress Catherine II.
Catherine II had
Count Nikita Panin express Russia's commitment to friendship with Britain. Nikita Panin, habitually, emitted smiles.
Ganning laid his cards on the table. Britain needs a detachment of twenty thousand Russian troops with two years commitment. The Exchequer was prepared to pay Russia seven pounds sterling for/to every soldier. The diplomat was urged by London: “The increase in military forces is so desirable, that expenses are not important”. King George III also sent a handwritten letter to the Empress.
Catherine II realized that her politeness had been taken seriously and
affirmed her decision. She was not about to send her subjects to die in
America and put her denial in diplomatically eloquent form: "After the recent war the army needs to rest. It is inhumane to separate soldiers from Motherland for a long time".
In private conversations Nikita Panin was heard to had said with
indignation: “John Bull fancies that guineas would always get him
allies”, not understanding that one can’t equal “noble powers” and
“petty German princes who are used to fix-price the blood of their
nationals and sell it for cash”. (George III was of German [thus Protestant] descent)
In her message Catherine II answered to George III the following:
“It is not worthy and honorable for two great powers to join their
strengths with the purpose to crush the nation which hadn't any allies
in its fair struggle for independence”.
The Americans appreciated the service done to them: “We’re greatly
delighted to find out on good authority, that requests and offers of
Great Britain to the Russian Empress have been rejected with contempt”, — wrote George Washington.
The War for Independence of the USA was conducted both on land and at
sea. The powerful British fleet that had blockaded the coast of
rebellious colonies, captured trading vessels of neutral countries,
including Russian, and had their freights confiscated. All this looked
like piracy.
In February of 1780 Catherine published the
Declaration of the Armed Neutrality.
This document became well-known. It proclaimed the right of the neutral
states to trade in all goods except weapons and ammunition with the
states being at war. This declaration provided the basis of codification
of the International Marine Law. Denmark, Prussia, Austria, Portugal,
the Kingdoms of both Sicilies signed it as well and formed the
League of the Armed Neutrality.
France and Spain have recognized its principles. In the United States
of America the Continental congress welcomed it, having recognized the
proclaimed rules as “useful, reasonable and fair”. Russia showed the
increase of political weight and the leading part in business of the
global importance.
Americans recognized Catherine’s II action as her direct support of their struggle. In 1782 their representative
Francis Dana
arrived to St. Petersburg. The Congress instruction, which he was
supplied with, expressed the desire to achieve Russian recognition of
the independence of the United States, an inexperienced and even naive
step of new born American diplomacy. Though the Russian government did
not hurry rush to establish diplomatic relations
with USA, vice-chancellor Ivan Andreevich Osterman issued
an official assurance that personally he and his countrymen will
provide warm welcome and safety to those “who happen to come to Russian
empire on trading or other affairs”.
The proposal to be an intermediary in order to settle the conflict was
made by St. Petersburg and Vienna but it had no success. It flattered
Catherine’s II ambition to acquire “an enviable role of a mediator at
current world-wide war”. However the initiative of two royal courts was
unpromising from the very beginning. While the Americans insisted on a
recognition of their independence, of all 13 states were still partially
occupied by the British armies in 1780.
In such a complex, but nevertheless favorable conditions, the Russian-American relations were born.
The relationships were favorable, because USA remembered
Catherine’s II refusal to send Russian troops to suppress the American
Revolution and fight for the British, and the establishment of the
League of the Armed Neutrality, which according to George Washington,
undermined “the pride and force of Great Britain at seas”.
The testimony of an outstanding diplomat Lee stated the following:
“The Big power of Russian empire, wisdom and a breadth of views
of its ministers and respect which Empress enjoys, give to the royal
court the greatest weight in confederation of the neutral states”.
The American foreign policy was based on a fair and strong foundation.
From the moment of its founding the
Russian-American Company (RAC)
became an important factor of the Russian-American politics. In 1808
under Alexander I reign the first Russian general consul A. Dashkov was
appointed as the Ambassador and Proxy to the USA. At the same time being
an honorable correspondent and a member the RAC.
J. Q. Adams, who later became the sixth American President, was appointed as USA ambassador to Russia (St. Petersburg).
Russian Empire 1827
In
the mid XIX century the point of view on the privileges of the RAC and
its very existence changed. The basic decision of the land sale was
accepted in 1866 at the special session in which Alexander II and A.
Gorchakov participated. After the transfer of Russian America to the USA in 1867
the mutual relations of two countries continued to deepen. In 1871 the
grand Duke Alexei Aleksandrovich visited America as the first
representative of the Romanov royal family.
The opinion of Russian imperial government was further clearly expressed
by the Emperor Alexander II in the dispatch to the Russian ambassador
prince Gorchakov in the USA:
“The American Union, -- is not only an essential element of the
world balance in our view; it represents the nation to which our most
Augustus Sovereign, and all Russia with him ,
have the most friendly interest, since both sides which are located on
the ends of both hemispheres, both in the blossoming period of their
development, seem to be devoted to a natural unity of mutual interests
and sympathy the proofs of which they have displayed.”
