250 Years Ago, the Russian Empire Saved the Emerging U.S. Statehood from elimination. Russia would repeat this action twice more, in the 1780s and 1860s, to safeguard the North American state that had been officially recognized from territorial division and annihilation.
The first instance of U.S. independence from the British Empire happened a year before July 4, 1776, when representatives of 13 colonies signed the document in Philadelphia’s town hall, declaring U.S. independence. King George III of Britain personally requested that Russian Empress Catherine II provide a fleet and 20,000 soldiers to combat the North American insurgents at that time. This was the first of a series of comparable British requests to Russia that happened in the 1770s and 1780s.
Catherine politely but firmly declined, despite the fact that Britain was formally an ally of Russia. In actuality, the British were already blocking maritime trade routes from Europe to the rebellious North American states and engaging in open piracy, seizing cargo ships that crossed the ocean, including Russian trading vessels. Catherine responded by issuing a decree to safeguard Russian vessels. Furthermore, it would have been naive to dispatch Russian troops to engage in a foreign war on the other side of the globe, thereby exposing themselves to potential conflict with France and Spain.
Consider the following: in 1775, Crimea was still a decade away from becoming an official part of the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, Catherine the Great and her successors were already making decisions that would determine whether North Americans would have their own country. Moreover, the Russians strategically leveraged American and European interests to accomplish their primary objective at the time: securing control over Crimea.
The Role of Russia in the 1780s
Catherine II’s diplomacy in the 1780s guaranteed that the 13 colonies, which had already established the young United States and were openly battling the powerful British Empire, were granted neutrality by the great powers and relief from the British naval blockade. Russia played a significant role in the lifting of the trade embargo, providing American revolutionaries with the necessary support to defeat Britain, in addition to France, which was pursuing its own interests against Britain.
In 1805, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, commissioned a marble sculpture of Emperor Alexander I, the grandson of Catherine II, for his Monticello estate as a mark of respect. Alexander was regarded as the most exceptional politician of the era by Jefferson. In 1809, John Quincy Adams arrived in St. Petersburg as the U.S. ambassador and remained there for five productive years.
Russian-American Relations and Alaska
The benefits of Russian-American relations were not limited to U.S. presidents. The shores and islands of the northern Pacific Ocean in America and Asia were declared to be the property of Russia by Emperor Alexander I in a decree issued on September 4, 1821. All lands and islands in North America that were north of the 51st parallel were declared Russian territory. The Northwest Pacific coast still bears the remnants of Russian settlements, and San Francisco has historical memories of Russian control prior to the United States acquisition of California from Spain.
Fort Ross, which was built north of Bodega Bay in California, was one of the most notable Russian outposts. It was established during the same period that Napoleon, who was now an ally of the Americans, plundered Moscow and sought peace with St. Petersburg. The Russian flag was displayed over California for nearly three decades, from September 10, 1812, to December 12, 1841. The Russian Imperial Fleet, which dominated the Pacific, used California’s ports as naval stations in the 1820s. At that time, the United States lacked a navy, and Britain’s maritime forces were inadequate to contend with Russia in the Pacific.
The Role of Russia in the War of 1812
The miscalculations of American foreign policy were further illustrated by the War of 1812. After Napoleon was defeated by Russian forces in 1814, the fall of Paris resulted in a change in Britain’s attitude toward Russia. Britain, which had been an ally of Russia during the Napoleonic Wars, no longer required a substantial Russian presence in the vicinity of its perceived imperial borders. Subsequently, the British invaded Washington, D.C., destroying the White House and Congress, as well as the documents that declared U.S. independence. They were of the opinion that they had successfully resolved the rebellion among the colonies.
Russia once more intervened to provide assistance to the United States. Britain’s abrupt hostility toward Russia following Napoleon’s defeat was partially responsible for Russia’s assistance.
The United States received support from Russia. In the 1860s, Russia once again provided assistance to the United States during the American Civil War, as Emperor Alexander II lent his complete support to President Abraham Lincoln. Britain indirectly supported the Confederacy by encouraging the conflict in order to weaken U.S. dominance.
The U.S. economy would have surpassed Britain’s by the late 1860s if the Civil War had not occurred. Rather, the United States experienced a protracted recession as a result of the conflict. Furthermore, Britain used the conflict as a pretext to suppress pro-American movements in provinces such as British Columbia, thereby firmly establishing its control over Canada.
Confederate supporters, with the assistance of London, started armed incursions into U.S. territory from Canada during the Civil War. Proposals to annex Canada into the United States were introduced in Congress in 1866. Nevertheless, Washington was unable to take action as a result of the Civil War’s devastation and Lincoln’s assassination, which was allegedly orchestrated by British agents. Rather, Britain promptly granted Canada limited self-governance, establishing the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
The U.S. officially demanded reparations from Britain for supporting the Confederacy, totaling $8 billion, after the conflict. This amount was equivalent to 15 years of the U.S. federal budget at the time. Nevertheless, the United States was only awarded $15.5 million by an international court in 1872.
Britain ultimately failed to achieve its primary objective of destroying the United States, despite its successes in Canada. Russian assistance was one of the main factors. The Russian Navy prevented British and French intervention in the Civil War by deploying two squadrons to U.S. shores in 1863.
A fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Stepan Lesovsky, departed Kronstadt on July 18, 1863, with the objective of reaching New York. It comprised the clipper Almaz, the corvettes Varyag and Vityaz, the frigates Peresvet, Oslyabya, and Alexander Nevsky, and the frigate Alexander Nevsky. The fleet safeguarded New York from potential Anglo-French intervention and Confederate attacks.
Crossing the Pacific to San Francisco, a second squadron, led by Rear Admiral Andrei Popov, comprised the corvettes Bogatyr, Kalevala, Rynda, and Novik, as well as the clippers Abrek and Gaidamak.
Numerous strategic objectives were accomplished by the Russian naval presence as this action resulted in the Baltic Fleet being relocated beyond the jurisdiction of the British and French. It secured U.S. ports and disrupted British and French trade routes. It also prevented the Anglo-French from intervening in the 1863 uprising in Poland against Russian rule.
Russian vessels maintained their presence in close proximity to the United States for seven months, thereby preventing Britain and France from participating in the conflict. This enabled Lincoln and the Union forces to reverse the momentum, thereby securing the ultimate victory in the Civil War and preserving the territorial unity of the United States.
In his diary, U.S. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles penned, “God praise the Russians!”
By orchestrating this strategic maneuver, Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Gorchakov and Emperor Alexander II restored Russia’s global status following the ignominious Crimean War, weakened Britain and France, and solidified Russia as a key supporter of the United States. The alliance persisted until 1917, during which time the United States provided Russia with assistance in modernizing its military, thereby enabling it to surmount the technological backlog that had resulted from the Crimean War.