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Relations' History
Russo-British Trade - Distant Partners
 Russia and Britain recently celebrated 450 years of official trading links. In 1553, during the reign of Elizabeth I in England, and Ivan the Terrible in Russia, a merchant named Richard Chancellor made landfall near Arkhangelsk in North West Russia. Far from being an emissary of Her Majesty to the court of the Russian Tsar, Chancellor was in fact the pilot general of an expedition seeking the northeast passage from England to the rich markets of China and India, and was irretrievably lost.
 Making the best of a bad situation, Chancellor travelled overland to Moscow, where he was warmly, not to say lavishly received by Tsar Ivan, who was keen to find a new trading partner that would allow him to circumvent a trade blockade imposed by Poland, Sweden and Lithuania. Having now made this contact, Ivan intended to make sure that favourable relations would last, and he granted British merchants the right to trade throughout the country expempt from duties - to use a modern analogy, the whole of Russia became a special economic zone for British merchants.
Trade via the accidentally discovered sea-route flourished rapidly, and led to the formation of the Muscovy Company in 1555. Also known as the Russia Company, it survived and prospered right up until the 1917 revolution, and, in another parallel with today's business relationship between Russia and the UK, was one of the first companies to issue shares to private investors. The modern town of Arkhangelsk, now one of the major ports of North West Russia, was founded in the 16th century as a result of this increased trade.
From trade to technology
 The British were essentially interested purely in trade with Russia, but Ivan the Terrible could see other, more political advantages to the relationship, in particular the conclusion of a strategic alliance against Poland-Lithuania. This was something that England was reluctant to do, although they kept the talk of an alliance going to preserve the favourable trading terms. Anthony Jenkinson, an agent of the Musocvy company, was appointed to handle these discussions, and he made four visits to Russia on trade and diplomatic business, the last being in 1572. In 1567, the Tsar gave Jenkinson a letter for Elizabeth, which requested the Queen's permission for the Russians to hire, in England, an architect to build "fortresses, towers and palaces", a doctor, a chemist, and gold- and silver-smiths. Permission was eventually granted by Elizabeth's court, and in 1577 engineer Humphrey Lock, along with his assistant John Flinting, and a group of other
craftsmen set out for Russia. This mission was the first instance of technology-exchange which has continued between the UK and Russia to this day.
The interchange was not limited to engineering and crafts however: the science of Chemistry was founded in Russia by James Franham, who had also been sent there by Elizabeth in 1581. Franham, skilled in the preparation of chemical potions, went on to establish the first Russian pharmacy that same year. The end of Ivan the Terrible's reign marked the final chapter in the dynasty of Ryurik, and with the accession of Boris Godunov to the Russian throne in 1598, relations between Russia and England continued to develop: Godunov had far-reaching plans for the development of Russia, and key to his strategy was bringing in foreign specialists to raise the level of technology in Russia. Godunov had plans to establish Russia's first University, to be staffed by overseas scholars, and also sent 18 students abroad to study in preparation for a career in his Foreign Ministry - this was a century before Peter the Great's more well-documented travels through Europe. Four students were sent by Godunov to England, to Eton, Winchester, Oxford and Cambridge. Unfortunately, none of them returned to Russia, for the rise of the False Dmitry and the subsequent death of Godunov were to usher in the Time of Troubles which saw Russia set back once again in her ambitions to modernize.
With the advent of the Romanov dynasty in 1613, educational links were re-established, and in 1617, Ivan Almazenov, the son of a translator for foreign ambassadors, was sent to London with John Merick, the English ambassador who had done much to assist Moscow during the Time of Troubles. His name was anglicised to John Elmson, and he studied English, Latin and Greek at Cambridge, before going on to further his education in Italy and France. The plan was for him to be tutored in Physics and the other sciences upon his return to England, but here Almazenov disappears from the pages of history once again, suggesting that he either failed to make any impact upon his return home, or perhaps more likely, he chose not to return home at all.
The Kremlin Clock
In 1621, an English watchmaker, Christopher Galloway, arrived in Moscow, and three years later was commissioned by the Romanovs to replace the clock on what is now the Spassky Tower in the Kremlin. He was also to repair the clock after the fires of 1626 and 1628 - the clock is unusual in that it consisted of a fixed hour hand in the form of a sun's ray, and a moving face. The clock was set at dawn and sunset by a duty watchman. Galloway also applied his architectural skills to the Spassky Tower itself, giving it a hipped roof construction which incorporated elements of Gothic and Renaissance architecture which were popular in Scottish palace architecture of the period.
The barometer falls
The English Civil War, and in particular the execution of King Charles I in 1645, led to a sudden break in diplomatic and trade relations between England and Russia, and in 1649 Tsar Alexei Michailovich went as far as to issue a decree expelling all English merchants. At this point, at least as far as trade was concerned, the two countries dropped off each other's radar. It was not until 1661 that attempts would be made by Count Carlyle, then English Ambassador to Russia, to revive relations. Carlyle met with some success, but for the next two decades at least, trade and cooperation between Russia and England would remain far behind the heady days of the late 16th century. It was not until the accession of Peter the Great in 1682 that the situation would begin to improve.
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Putin and Prince Michael |
Margaret Thatcher and Ray
French, RBCC Director, 1987 |
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