Diplomatic relations between Russia and Great Britain in world history different periods

Anglo-Russian Entente and the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 made both countries part of the Triple Entente. Both countries were then part of the subsequent alliance against the Central Powers in the First World War. 
 
 

See appendix 2. 
 

The First World War (1914–1918). 

Imperial, territorial, and economic rivalries led to the “Great War” between the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and Turkey) and the Allies (U.S., Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Montenegro, Portugal, Italy, and Japan). About 10 million combatants killed, 20 million wounded. So then, we have the following remarkable sequence of events that led inexorably to the 'Great War' - a name that had been touted even before the coming of the conflict. The outbreak of World War I was a pivotal moment for Russia. The war pitted the Russian Empire of the Romanov dynasty against the much stronger German Empire of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

In 1914 Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and wife assassinated in Sarajevo by Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip (June 28). Austria declares war on Serbia (July 28). Germany declares war on Russia (Aug. 1), on France (Aug. 3), invades Belgium (Aug. 4). Britain declares war on Germany (Aug. 4). Germans defeat Russians in Battle of Tannenberg on Eastern Front (Aug.). German drive stopped 25 miles from Paris.

The next year, in 1915 German submarine blockade of Great Britain begins (Feb.). Dardanelles Campaign—British land in Turkey (April), withdraw from Gallipoli (Dec.–Jan. 1916). Germans use gas at second Battle of Ypres (April–May). Lusitanian sunk by German submarine—1,198 lost, including 128 Americans (May 7). On Eastern Front, German and Austrian “great offensive” conquers all of Poland and Lithuania; Russians lose 1 million men (by Sept. 6). “Great Fall Offensive” by Allies results in little change from 1914 (Sept.–Oct.). Britain and France declare war on Bulgaria (Oct. 14).

The next important events took place in 1916. Battle of Verdun—Germans and French each lose about 350,000 men (Feb.). Extended submarine warfare begins (March). British-German sea battle of Jutland (May); British lose more ships, but German fleet never ventures forth again. On Eastern Front, the Brusilov offensive demoralizes Russians, costs them 1 million men (June–Sept.). Battle of the Somme—British lose over 400,000; French, 200,000; Germans, about 450,000; all with no strategic results (July–Nov.). Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary (Aug. 27). Bucharest captured (Dec.).

The year 1917 is full of battles, where Great Britain and Russia took part in. Events of 1917 proved decisive in ending the war, although their effects were not fully felt until 1918. U.S. declares war on Germany (April 6). Submarine warfare at peak (April). On Italian Front, Battle of Caporetto—Italians retreat, losing 600,000 prisoners and deserters (Oct.–Dec.). On Western Front, Battles of Arras, Champagne, Ypres (third battle), etc. First large British tank attack (Nov.). U.S. declares war on Austria-Hungary (Dec. 7). Armistice between new Russian Bolshevik government and Germans (Dec. 15).

And, of course, the last year of the war, 1918, was very important not only for the countries, which took part in it, but for all over the world. In December, 1917, the Central Powers signed an armistice with Russia. This released troops for use in the west. Ironically, German troop transfers could have been greater if their territorial acquisitions had not been so dramatic. With German reinforcements and new American troops pouring in, the outcome was to be decided on the Western front. The Central Powers knew that they could not win a protracted war, but they held high hopes for a quick offensive. Furthermore, the leaders of the Central Powers and the Allies became increasingly fearful of social unrest and revolution in Europe. Thus, both sides urgently sought a decisive victory.

In November 1918 the Allies had ample supplies of men and materiel to invade Germany; at the time of the armistice, no Allied soldier had set foot on German soil in anger and Berlin was still almost 900 miles (1,400 km) from the Western Front. The Kaiser's armies had also retreated from the battlefield in good order which enabled Hindenburg and other senior German leaders to spread the story that their armies had not really been defeated. This resulted in the stab-in-the-back legend, which attributed Germany's losing the war not to its inability to continue fighting, (even though up to a million soldiers were suffering from the Spanish Flu and unfit to fight) but to the public's failure to respond to its "patriotic calling" and the intentional sabotaging of the war effort, particularly by Jews, Socialists and Bolsheviks.

So, you see that the first World War changed a lot of thinhgs. Unfortunately, the same events might happen nowadays… But we shouldn’t forget about our allies, friends from other countries. If we have such good friends, we won’t afraid of changes. So, friend in need is a friend indeed.

The next great event I’m going to research is The Second World War, where Creat Britain and Russia took part too… 
 
 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

See appendix 3. 

The Second World War. 

World War II (1939-45), usually abbreviated ‘WW II’, was the largest war in history, fought between September 1939 and September 1945. More than 40 million men and women were serving in the armed forces by 1944, and civilian and military deaths exceeded 55 million. The major battles involved millions of men and thousands of tanks and aircraft. The scale of wartime mobilization exceeded that of WW I. The second global conflict was in every sense a total war.

The war was not a single, unitary conflict. It was in reality a number of different wars that gradually coalesced as the world's major powers were drawn in between 1939 and 1941. The war that broke out in 1939 was a war for the European balance of power, like the war of 1914. The immediate cause of the conflict was the German demand for the return of Danzig and part of the Polish ‘corridor’ granted to Poland from German territory in the Versailles Treaty of 1919. Poland refused to agree to German demands, and on 1 September 1939 overwhelming German forces launched the Polish campaign and defeated her in three weeks. In March 1939 Britain and France had guaranteed Polish sovereignty, and in honour of that pledge first demanded that German forces withdraw, and then on 3 September declared war on Germany.

International conflict principally between the Axis Powers — Germany, Italy, and Japan — and the Allied Powers — France, Britain, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and China. In the mid-1930s Hitler, the leader of German began secretly to rearm Germany, in violation of the treaty. He signed alliances with Italy and Japan to oppose the Soviet Union and intervened in the Spanish Civil War in the name of anticommunism. Capitalizing on the reluctance of other European powers to oppose him by force, he sent troops to occupy Austria in 1938 and to annex Czechoslovakia in 1939. After signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. Two days later France and Britain declared war on Germany. Poland's defeat was followed by a period of military inactivity on the Western Front. At sea Germany conducted a damaging submarine campaign by U-boat against merchant shipping bound for Britain. By early 1940 the Soviet Union had divided Poland with Germany, occupied the Baltic States, and subdued Finland in the Russo-Finnish War. In April 1940 Germany overwhelmed Denmark and began its conquest of Norway. In May German forces swept through The Netherlands and Belgium on their blitzkrieg invasion of France, forcing it to capitulate in June and establish the Vichy France regime. Germany then launched massive bombing raids on Britain in preparation for a cross-Channel invasion, but, after losing the Battle of Britain, Hitler postponed the invasion indefinitely. By early 1941 Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria had joined the Axis, and German troops quickly overran Yugoslavia and Greece in April. In June Hitler abandoned his pact with the Soviet Union and launched a massive surprise invasion of Russia, reaching the outskirts of Moscow before Soviet counterattacks and winter weather halted the advance. In East Asia Japan expanded its war with China and seized European colonial holdings. In December 1941 Japan attacked U.S. bases at Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines. The U.S. declared war on Japan, and the war became truly global when the other Axis Powers declared war on the U.S. Japan quickly invaded and occupied most of Southeast Asia, Burma, the Netherlands East Indies, and many Pacific islands. After the crucial U.S. naval victory at the Battle of Midway (1942), U.S. forces began to advance up the chains of islands toward Japan. In the North Africa Campaigns the British and Americans defeated Italian and German forces by 1943. The Allies then invaded Sicily and Italy, forcing the overthrow of the fascist government in July 1943, though fighting against the Germans continued in Italy until 1945. In the Soviet Union the Battle of Stalingrad (1943) marked the end of the German advance, and Soviet reinforcements in great numbers gradually pushed the German armies back. The massive Allied invasion of Western Europe began with the Normandy Campaign in western France (1944), and the Allies' steady advance ended in the occupation of Germany in 1945. After Soviet troops pushed German forces out of the Soviet Union, they advanced into Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania and had occupied the eastern third of Germany by the time the surrender of Germany was signed on May 8, 1945. Millions more civilians were wounded and made homeless throughout Europe and East Asia.  So, the War finished by the Russians and the German in May, 1945, but, unfortunately it continued in others countries. Finally, the countries made a decision to stop the War, which was really dangerous for humanity.

The meaning of the relations between Great Britain and Russia  is extremely great. It gave us an opportunity to collaborate with the country and also it helped Russian students to travel and to study abroad. Many scientists and historians still can’t certainly say what consequences the War had for the countries. The only thing we are sure in is that it would be better if such events will never happen again.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

See appendix 4. 

Diplomatic marriages. 

All of us know that diplomatic relations can’t become stronger without relative connections between royal families. So, diplomatic marriage was the best way to make good relations between two countries. As for Russian and English royal families, there were such connections between them. Frankly speaking, two marriages are considered to be the most important in the countries’ relations history.

In fact, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was married to Maria Alexandrovna, the princess of Russia, the second (and only surviving) daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Also it’s known about another diplomatic marriage between Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (later Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova) and Russian imperor Nicholas II. I’d like to research these marriages and its consequences in countries’ relations history. 

Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 1844 – 30 July 1900) was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha reigning between 1893 and 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster in the peerage of the United Kingdom on 24 May 1866. He succeeded his paternal uncle Ernst as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire on 23 August 1893.

In the Queen's Birthday Honours on 24 May 1866, the Prince was created Duke of Edinburgh and Earl of Ulster and Kent, with an annuity of £15,000 granted by Parliament. He took his seat in the House of Lords on 8 June.

On 23 January 1874, the Duke of Edinburgh married the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the second (and only surviving) daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and his wife Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Wilhelmine of Baden, at the Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg. To commemorate the occasion, a small English bakery made the now-internationally-popular Marie biscuit, with the Duchess' name imprinted on its top. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh made their public entry into London on 12 March. The marriage, however, was not a happy one, and the bride was thought haughty by London Society. She insisted on taking precedence before the Princess of Wales (the future Queen Alexandra) because she and her father the Tsar considered the Princess of Wales' family (the Danish Royal Family) as inferior to their own. Queen Victoria refused this demand and granted her precedence immediately after the Princess of Wales. Her father gave her the then-staggering sum of £100,000 as a dowry, plus an annual allowance of £28,000. They had five children and one stillborn son.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

See appendix 5.

Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (later Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova) (6 June 1872 – 17 July 1918), was Empress consort of Russia as spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire. Born a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, she was given the name Alexandra Feodorovna upon being received into the Russian Orthodox Church, which canonised her as Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer in 2000. Alexandra is best remembered as the last Tsaritsa of Russia, as one of the most famous royal carriers of the haemophilia disease, as well as for her support of autocratic control over the country. Her notorious friendship with the Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin was also an important factor in her life.

Alix was married relatively late for her rank in her era, having refused a proposal from Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence (the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) despite strong familial pressure. It is said that Queen Victoria had wanted her two grandchildren to marry, but because she was very fond of Alix she accepted that she did not want to marry him; The Queen even went on to say that she was proud of Alix for standing up to her, something many people, including her own son the Prince of Wales did not do.

Alix however, had already met and fallen in love with the Tsarevich of Russia, whose mother was the sister-in-law of Alix's uncle, the Prince of Wales and whose uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was married to Alix's sister Elizabeth. They were also second cousins as they were both great-grandchildren of Princess Wilhelmina of Baden. Nicholas and Alix had first met in 1884 and when Alix returned to Russia in 1889 they fell in love. "It is my dream to one day marry Alix H. I have loved her for a long time, but more deeply and strongly since 1889 when she spent six weeks in Petersburg. For a long time, I have resisted my feeling that my dearest dream will come true." Nicholas wrote in his diary; and Alix reciprocated his feelings. At first, Nicholas' father, Tsar Alexander III, refused the prospect of marriage. Society sniped openly at Princess Alix, safe in the knowledge that Tsar Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark), both vigorously anti-German, had no intention of permitting a match with the Tsarevich. Although Princess Alix was his godchild, it was generally known that Alexander III was angling for a bigger catch for his son, someone like Princess Helene, the tall dark haired daughter of Philippe, comte de Paris, pretender to the throne of France. The approach to Helene did not please Nicholas. He wrote in his diary, "Mama made a few allusions to Helene, daughter of the Comte de Paris. I myself want to go in one direction and it is evident that Mama wants me to choose the other one." Fortunately Helene also resisted. She was Roman Catholic and unwilling to give up her faith to become Russian Orthodox. The Tsar then sent emissaries to Princess Margaret of Prussia, daughter of German Emperor Frederick III and sister of German Emperor William II. Nicholas flatly declared that he would rather become a monk than marry the plain and boring Margaret. Margaret stated that she was unwilling to give up her Protestant religion to become Russian Orthodox. As long as he was well, Alexander III ignored his son's demands. He only relented as his health began to fail in 1894. Alix was troubled by the requirement that she renounce her Lutheran faith, as a Russian Tsarina had to be Orthodox; but she was persuaded and eventually became a fervent convert. 

Alexander III died on 1 November 1894 and Nicholas became Emperor of all the Russias at the age of twenty-six. The marriage was not delayed. Alexandra and Nicholas were married in the Chapel of the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg on 14–26 November 1894. The marriage that began that night remained unflawed for the rest of their lives. It was a Victorian marriage, outwardly serene and proper, but based on intensely passionate physical love.

Alexandra was fiercely protective of her husband's role as Tsar, and actively supported his rights as an autocratic ruler. She was a fervent advocate of the divine right, and believed that it was unnecessary to attempt to secure the approval of the people. Her aunt, German Empress Frederick, wrote to Queen Victoria that "Alix is very imperious and will always insist on having her own way; she will never yield one iota of power she will imagine she wields..." During the first world war, with the national passions aroused, all the complaints Russians had about the Empress – her German birth, her coldness, her devotion to Rasputin – blended into a single, sweeping torrent of rejection.

Alexandra was unpopular at court and with the Russian people. When she appeared she was silent, seemingly cold, haughty and indifferent. She was hurt by their unenthusiastic reception, and declared herself to be tired of the loose morals and etiquette of the Russian court. Alexandra, in turn, was called provincial, uninteresting, and haughty. Alexandra's failure to produce an heir to the Russian throne in her first four attempts was a source of great disappointment throughout the empire, and after she did bear a son in 1904 he was found to suffer from hemophilia. The tsaritsa's obsessive worry over her son's health, and her determination to protect him from possible harm, thereafter isolated her from society even further. Rather than associate with members of the highest Russian aristocracy, she sought friendships with other marginal figures such as Anna Vyrubova and the invalid Princess Sonia Obeliani. Aristocratic ladies who were accustomed to regular invitations to Tsarskoe Selo or the Winter Palace became indignant at being ignored by the Tsar's wife, and that indignation cost the monarchy much sympathy among the class that might have offered the Tsar urgently needed support later on.

Alexandra Feodorovna and Russian imperor Nicholas II had five children, but unfortunately all of them with both parents were killed during revolution. 

Relative connections had a great meaning for the countries’ relations. There are no imperors in Russia now, but the government of Russia and Great Britain still try to keep good relations between two strong countries.

  
 
 
 

See appendix 6. 

Diplomatic relations nowadays. 

After the collapse of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), relations between Britain and the new Russian Federation were initially warm. In the 21st century, however, while trade and human ties have proliferated, diplomatic ties have suffered due to allegations of spying, and extradition disputes; thus escalating political tensions between London and Moscow.

In 2003, Russia requested the extradition of "tycoon" Boris Berezovsky and Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakayev, but Britain refused, having given them both political asylum.

In early 2006, Russia accused UK diplomats of espionage. Along with accusing British diplomats of spying in Moscow with the help of hi-tech electronic rock, Russia alleged that British secret service agents had been funding Russian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – everything from human rights organisations, to political foundations, or civil liberty groups.

In late 2006, former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London by radioactive metalloid, Polonium-210 and died 3 weeks later. Britain requested the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi from Russia to face charges over Litvinenko's death, Russia refused, stating their constitution does not allow extradition of their citizens to foreign countries. Britain then expelled four Russian diplomats, shortly followed by Russia expelling four British diplomats, the dispute then continued to escalate over the following months. As of 19 May 2008 the head of Counter-Terrorism at the British Crown Prosecution Service, Sue Hemming, said: "The extradition request is still current.

In July 2007, The Crown Prosecution Service announced that Boris Berezovsky would not face charges in the UK for talking to The Guardian about plotting a "revolution" in his homeland. Kremlin officials called it a "disturbing moment" in Anglo-Russian relations. Berezovsky is still a wanted man in Russia, accused of embezzlement and money laundering.  
 

An example of a Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS bomber being escorted by an American fighter jet (USAF F-15)

In a reminder of the Cold War, Russia recommenced its long range air patrols of the Tupolev Tu-95 bomber aircraft in August 2007. These patrols have neared British airspace, requiring RAF fighter jets to "scramble" and intercept them.

In November 2007, a report by the head of security service MI5 Jonathan Evans, it was stated that "since the end of the Cold War we have seen no decrease in the numbers of undeclared Russian intelligence officers in the UK – at the Russian Embassy and associated organisations – conducting covert activity in this country."

In late 2007, Russia feared that some of its artwork, due to be shown at an exhibition in London, could be seized because of disputes about their ownership. It refused to send the art to the UK until a law was passed by the British government to protect it, initiating fears that the art would not be shown at the exhibition at all. A law was eventually passed and the art was shown.

In January 2008, Russia ordered two offices of the British Council situated in Russia to shut down, accusing them of tax violations. Britain has refuted this claim and the council initially tried to keep their offices open. However work has been suspended at the offices, the council citing "intimidation" by the Russian authorities as the reason. The "Chief Executive" of the council said 20 of their Russian staff had been interviewed by the Russian security service (FSB) and a further 10 were visited at their homes by tax police in the night of January 15. On the same night, the son of former British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, who holds the post of "office director" at the Saint Petersburg branch, was detained for an hour by Russian authorities, allegedly for driving the wrong way up a one-way street and smelling of alcohol.