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Source: Russia Beyond
How the English once planned to seize the Russian North
April 20, 2023 | By Yukia Khakimova
When he was expanding diplomatic relations with England, the first Russian tsar, Ivan the Terrible, could hardly have anticipated that, shortly afterwards, his "partners" would want to turn part of the Tsardom of Muscovy into their own colony.
The English set foot on Russian soil for the first time on August 24, 1553. The 'Edward Bonaventure' ship belonged to an English trading company known as the 'Mystery and Company of Merchant Adventurers for the Discovery of Regions, Dominions, Islands, and Places Unknown' and Richard Chancellor was its captain. The ship entered the mouth of the Northern Dvina and moored not far from the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery, 35 km from Arkhangelsk. From there, Chancellor went to Kholmogory and then on to Moscow, where he handed Ivan the Terrible a letter from King Edward IV. From that moment on, the tsar allowed the British to trade in Russia (read more here.)
In 1555, they opened an office in the capital - the Old English Yard. Also at that time, the 'Mystery and Company of Merchant Adventurers' became the 'Muscovy Company'.
English trading stations appeared in Kholmogory, Vologda and Moscow. In 1569, the company was granted the greatest possible privileges:
- duty-free trade throughout the Tsardom of Muscovy;Russian historian Nikolai Kostomarov describes these events in his book 'Essay on the Trade of Muscovy in the XVI and XVII Centuries'. The English actively imported flax, hemp, rope, resin, tar, cured pork fat, mast timber, furs, wax, honey, animal hides, leather, potash, butter and caviar from the Russian North (read more here).
- trade with the Near East via Russia;
- the opening of iron and rope factories in the country;
- the circulation of English coinage in Moscow, Novgorod and Pskov.
Ivan the Terrible wanted to make England his "strategic partner", which explains his considerable hospitality. With the beginning of the Livonian War (1558-1583), ships of the Muscovy Company supplied Russia with saltpeter, sulfur, lead and tin; they also brought English engineers and doctors to Russia.
And, in 1570, Ivan the Terrible even wooed Queen Elizabeth I, trying to secure political asylum for himself in London in the event of defeat in the Livonian War. He also intended to form a military alliance with the English, but Elizabeth I ignored this overture, as she did his proposal of marriage (read more here).
After the Livonian War, other foreigners were also allowed to trade in northern Russia. As for the English, they could no longer freely cross Russian territory on their way to Persia and China. Nevertheless, the Muscovy Company enjoyed the privilege of extensive duty-free trade until the middle of the 17th century.
The Time of Troubles and new opportunities
"Ivan the Terrible shows his treasures to the English ambassador Horsey", 1875.
Alexander Litovchenko
Even under Ivan the Terrible, agents of the Muscovy Company provided the English Court with services in the field of military and economic intelligence: They recruited, bribed and blackmailed Russian merchants and officials, according to Soviet historian Viktor Virginsky.
The 'Time of Troubles' ensued (1598-1613), bringing with it a dynastic crisis, popular uprisings and interventions by Poland and Sweden. All this opened up fresh opportunities for the English to extend their influence in Russia. For instance, John Meyrick, head of the Muscovy Company, personally obtained promises of an extension of his company's privileges, first from False Dmitry I (the self-proclaimed "son" of Ivan the Terrible) and then from his successor on the throne, Vasily Shuisky.
The 'Time of Troubles' ensued (1598-1613), bringing with it a dynastic crisis, popular uprisings and interventions by Poland and Sweden. All this opened up fresh opportunities for the English to extend their influence in Russia. For instance, John Meyrick, head of the Muscovy Company, personally obtained promises of an extension of his company's privileges, first from False Dmitry I (the self-proclaimed "son" of Ivan the Terrible) and then from his successor on the throne, Vasily Shuisky.
"In Time of Troubles."
ะก.V. Ivanov
When, in 1611, Swedish troops, recruited by Shuisky to crush his rival, False Dmitry II, seized the lands of Novgorod (northwestern regions of modern-day Russia), the English calculated that the time was right to "seize" the Russian North.
In the latter half of 1612, a dispatch was sent to London with a detailed account of events in Russia. The probable author of the document was Captain Thomas Chamberlain.
Plan for the establishment of an English protectorate
The text of the proposal asserted that in the North, which was untouched by war, "the people themselves […] are willing and even by necessity compelled to cast themselves into the arms of some prince that will protect them and to subject themselves to the government of a stranger, seeing they have none left of their own fit to undertake it".
Please go to Russia Beyond to continue reading.
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The plunder of Russia:
This is why the racist British went into a collective rage when Russia went into Ukraine to de-Nazify the place on 24 February 2022:
The Czech general has it partially correct. It is the British who are largely behind NATO.
You mean people are finally waking up to this reality?
The UK is the West's most authoritarian country. Its elite culture is repressive. No free press guarantees.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 31, 2023
They're imprisoning Assange (as most British journalists cheer). They forced the Guardian to destroy its computers. Now, redolent of what they did to my husband in 2013: https://t.co/L7thygK2g3
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