Great Britain and Russia on the Way to Restoring Diplomatic Relations (1720–1731)

Abstract

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.