Russian Empire–United States relations
 Russia |
 United States |
|---|---|
The relations between the Russian Empire and the United States of America (1776–1922) predate the Soviet Union–United States relations (1922–1991) and the Russia–United States relations (1991–present). Relations between the two countries were established in 1776.
The relations between the two states are usually considered to have begun in 1776, when the United States of America declared its independence from the British Empire and became a state. Earlier contacts had occurred between Americans and Russians however: In 1698, Peter the Great and William Penn had met in London, and in 1763 a Boston merchant had anchored his ship at the port of Kronstadt after a direct transatlantic voyage.
Despite being geographically removed from the American colonies, Russia under Catherine the Great significantly affected the American Revolution through trade and diplomacy. While Catherine personally oversaw most of Russia’s interactions with the American colonies, Britain and the other nations directly or indirectly involved in the Revolutionary War, she also entrusted certain tasks to her foreign advisor Nikita Panin, who often acted on Catherine’s behalf when it came to matters of international diplomacy. Catherine and Panin interacted with the British government through James Harris, an Earl at the Russian court. The decisions made by Catherine and Panin during the Revolution to continue trade with the colonies, remain officially neutral, refuse Britain’s requests for military assistance, and insist on peace talks that linked a resolution of the American Revolution with the settlement of separate European conflicts indirectly helped the Americans win the Revolution and gain their freedom.
Direct trade between Russia and the colonies began as early as 1763. Such trade was a violation of Britain’s Navigation Acts, which only allowed the colonies to trade with Britain. Russian products such as hemp, sail linen and iron started arriving in colonial ports years before the Revolutionary War began and did not stop once the war started. The colonists and Russia saw each other as excellent trading partners, particularly because both parties had ample resources to offer. Continued trade with Russia during the Revolution provided the colonies with markets for their products as well as funds and supplies necessary to survive.
...
Wikipedia