Diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire and Great Britain in the first half of the 18th century

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (12_2) ◽  
pp. 69-76
Author(s):  
Ilya Kolesnikov ◽  
Marianna Dahrendorf ◽  
Inna Ovanesyan
Author(s):  
Maksim Anisimov

Heinrich Gross was a diplomat of the Empress of Russia Elizabeth Petrovna, a foreigner on the Russian service who held some of the most important diplomatic posts of her reign. As the head of Russian diplomatic missions in European countries, he was an immediate participant in the rupture of both Franco-Russian and Russo-Prussian diplomatic relations and witnessed the beginning of the Seven Years' War, while in the capital of Saxony, besieged by Prussian troops. After that H. Gross was one of the members of the collective leadership of the Russian Collegium of Foreign Affairs. So far there is only one biographic essay about him written in the 19th century. The aims of this article are threefold. Using both published foreign affairs-related documentation and diplomatic documents stored in the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, it attempts to systematize the materials of the biography of this important participant in international events. It also seeks to assess his professional qualities and get valuable insight into his role both in the major events of European politics and in the implementation of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire in the mid-18th century. Moreover, the account of the diplomatic career of H. Gross presented in this essay aims to generate genuine interest among researchers in the personality and professional activities of one of the most brilliant Russian diplomats of the Enlightenment Era.


Author(s):  
Tatyana Labutina

The article deals with the process of restoring diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Russia in the first third of the 18th century. England was the first country with which Russia established diplomatic relations 465 years ago. During this time, the countries have passed a difficult and thorny path of interaction. Often there were open military conflicts between them, and sometimes it simply came to the severance of diplomatic relations. One of these events occurred in the reign of Peter I on 14 December in 1720 year. Although diplomatic relations were interrupted, trade between the states continued to develop. The trade volume was reduced due to political tensions, which caused significant damage to the economy of England. In this regard, the British began to take active steps to establish diplomatic relations. The analysis of the correspondence between two British diplomats, T. Ward and C. Rondeau, and the Secretary of State of Great Britain, first undertaken in historical science, the author concludes that it was England that initiated the restoration of diplomatic relations, primarily to strengthen the position of the English merchants in Russia. The analysis of the ambassadors' dispatches gives valuable insights as to the strategy and tactics of the British Foreign Office in relation to Russia during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, as well as the motives that guided the diplomats involved in the preparatory process of establishing relations between the countries. The correspondence of the diplomats provides an opportunity to get acquainted with both their official and “secret” intelligence activities, which allows the author identify the true intentions of British diplomacy: to comprehensively study a potential rival which the British imagined Russia to be. It is also of great interest to learn more about how their mission went, what impressions they got from their visit to our country, what assessments they made about the top officials in the administration of the Russian Empire, as well as about the Russian people in general.


Author(s):  
K.Yu. Anders-Namzhilova

The article describes the problem of searching for unknown manuscripts in the study of new spiritual literature that occurred in the Russian Empire at the turn of 18th century. The documents of Moscow Ecclesiastical Censor’s Archive are the main information source of church and religious materials written during that period. The Moscow Ecclesiastical Censor was the first specialized authority established by Synod in 1799 for considering the religious compositions. Compositions which were banned by censors couldn’t be printed and for this reason they become unknown even for modern scientific society. However, a lot of these compositions weren’t lost: they are kept in manuscripts which are dispersed throughout different archive and library funds, that’s why they cannot be attributed without the engagement of the censor committee’s archive documents.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Gulbanu Bolatovna Izbassarova

The Kazakhs Junior Horde, due to external - internal political reasons was the first one who became the part of Russian Empire. Chinggizid Abulkhair was an initiator of the Kazakh society incorporation into the structure of the Russian Empire. The aggravation of the Kazakh-Bashkir, Kazakh-Kalmyk, Kazakh-Dzungar relations leads to a search for a strong overlord. At the beginning of the 18th century, after the Prut campaign, the interests of the Russian Empire moved from the Black Sea to Asia, which is south-east direction. Formation of the imperial concept, change in the concept of Russias historical mission on the international scene forms new strategic and political aims of the Russian Empire. The Academy of Sciences founded in 1724 by the emperor Peter I as well as representatives of local administrations started to explain to the Russian public the acquisition of new lands policy. The reflection of this event to the Russian historiography of the XVIII-XIX centuries is studied in this article. The attention is paid to the study of a concept of citizenship, an interpretation of its character, assessment of the Kazakh khan Abulkhair, the accession initiator by pre-revolutionary historiography representatives. The article considers views of P.I. Rychkov, A.I. Levshin, who are for the first time in their writings, on the basis of archival, authentic sources, gathered a wealth of factual material, scientifically substantiated opinions on the issue of incorporation.


Author(s):  
Nathan Spannaus

Following the Russian conquests of the 16th century, ulama became the foremost social authorities for Volga-Ural Muslims. Tsarist efforts at governing the Muslim population increasingly focused on them in the 18th century, with greater tolerance and state support for Islamic institutions alongside a co-optation of scholars’ authority. In 1788, the Orenburg Spiritual Assembly was founded, placing all ulama under a hierarchy controlled by the state. The Spiritual Assembly offered stability and permanence to Islamic institutions, allowing for a flourishing in Islamic scholarship, but it also transformed the ulama and application of Islamic law. This chapter addresses Muslims’ shifting relationship to the Russian state and the structural changes to Islamic institutions, and how this impacted scholarship. Focusing specifically on ulama in the 18th and early 19th centuries, it places Qursawi’s life and career within this context, particularly his education, the formation of his thought, and his condemnation in Bukhara for heresy.


Author(s):  
Adrian Brisku

Four-centuries-long encounters between the Ottoman Empire and the Grand Duchy of Muscovy/Russian Empire point to complex relations that have been triggered and defined mostly by territorial, trade disputes, and wars, and maintained by diplomatic rivalry and occasional military alliances. Starting as friendly encounters during Sultan Bayezid II reign at the beginning of the 16th century, these relations, essentially and persistently asymmetrical, reveal an initial and long Ottoman dominance over the Muscovy/Russian side; one that lasted from the early 16th to the late 18th century—whereby the two sides shared no direct borders, traded and did not fight each other until the late 17th century—followed by a late 18th-century and mid-19th-century Russian ascendency. This ascendency was achieved largely thanks to the military reform that Tsar/Emperor Peter the Great undertook, namely, the establishment of a standing and professional army and consequentially due to the many wars that Russia won throughout the 19th century; the decisive ones being those fought during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great. The mid-19th century and the early 20th century—which witnessed the implosion of the Russian Empire due to the Bolshevik Revolution and the break-up of the Ottoman Empire by Britain and France—was a long period that saw few and brief military alliances, contested trade relations and yet continued wars. It was ultimately marred by an Ottoman drive to counterbalance Russia’s dominance, while the latter sought to preserve it, by involving other European powers (British and French)—the most crucial moment being the British, French, and Ottoman armies defeating the Russian one in the Crimean War (1853–1856)—transforming their bilateral interactions into multilateral but unsustainable relations.


Neophilology ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 413-418
Author(s):  
Theodosius Vasnev

Tambov Governorate in the Russian Empire until the beginning of the XX century was the largest region of the country. The borders of the Tambov diocese and the Tambov Governorate coincided with the end of the 18th century. There were 16 monasteries and monastic communities. Bishop Theophan paid special attention to the development of spiritual life in the Tambov Governorate. He fed seminars and schools for girls (the diocesan women's school). Saint Theophan founded the first periodical journal in the diocese, the Tambov Eparchial Journal. For a short period of stay in Tambov, he proved himself to be an active organizer of various areas of church life, including missionary and educational significance. Bishop Theophan was keenly interested in all questions that were connected with the activities of the clergy, their behavior and relations among themselves. The Saint always showed love and compassion for his flock, and especially in the days of severe trials. Bishop Theophan left a bright mark in the history of the Tambov diocese as a trustee of the theological seminary and diocesan schools, the founder of temples and the organizer of decency in the cloisters, a writer and a teacher of morality, caring for the spiritual education, education and perfection of the inhabitants of the Tambov territory.


Author(s):  
Sunnatillo Hamraev ◽  

The first research on the history of diplomatic relations between the Emirate of Bukhara and the Russian Empire began in the XIX century. It is expedient to study how the diplomatic relations between the two countries were studied by Russian historians in the XIX and early XX centuries through historical research. This article discusses the general features of research in this period and the issues that are in their focus.


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