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

Государственное образовательное учреждение

Лицей-интернат «Центр одаренных детей»

Г. Нижний Новгород 
 

Научное общество учащихся 
 
 
 
 

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

Научно-исследовательская  работа

 по  английскому языку. 
 
 
 

Работу  выполнила: Смирнова Ксения

Учащаяся 10 «Е» класса

Научный руководитель: Милютина М. В.  
 
 
 
 

г. Нижний Новгород

2010 год

Contents: 
 

1. Introduction. …………………………………………….……………………………………………………………3
2. The first diplomatic relations...….……………………………………………………………………….5
3. The history of wars:

3.1 Seven Years' War,……………………………………………………………………………………….8

3.2 The First World War,…………………………………………………………………………………12

3.3 The Second World War,……………………………………………………………………………15

4. Diplomatic marriages..…………………………………………………………………………..………….…18
5. Diplomatic relations nowadays..…………………...……………………………………………….….23
6. Conclusion..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………27
7. Bibliography.…………………………………………………………………………………………………………29
8. Appendixes.…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..30

Introduction. 

The world where I live is very huge. I consider that each person is a part of the Universe. We can compare the world with a large tree with its roots, branches and leaves. Leaves are people. They are born and bloom, but they are fall down, and then die. Roots of the tree are its history. Each country has its own history with culture. What does history mean? According to the dictionary, history describes us past events, all the things that happened in the past, especially the political, social, or economic development of a nation.

History is very important part in our life. There were so many great events, which happened in the past! But people try to keep them, write books about them and tell stories, so that our history will never die… Moreover, we can’t imagine our life without knowledge about the past.

The British are said to be keepers of their national history. I guess Russian people try to do the same. In my opinion, people are proud of their country, but it could be impossible without knowledge in history of the nation.

It is believed The United Kingdom of Great Britain is full of traditions and customs, which have historical roots. Yet recent changes are deeply rooted in British history.

Relations between different countries always made famous scientists, musicians, writers and just students pay attention to it. So, how could we get answers to all our questions? The answer is – history. I would like to know more about relations between two countries: Great Britain and Russia.

I need to expand my outlook in its culture and history. It is my main aim and duty, because I consider it will help me in future, I am going to be an interpreter and visiting Great Britain is my dream. More than that travelling is my hobby. Staying at one place is good, travelling broadens around the country is definitely better.

Also, I am fond of history and that’s why my research will be very exciting and useful for me.

So, the aim of my research is:

• to know more about the history of Great Britain and about diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Russia in different periods.

The tasks are:

• to practice in working with books and in writing researches,
• to expand my outlook in history not only of Russia, but especially of Great Britain,
• to practice in English language.

Working at my research I have used some special literature: reference and historic books, dictionaries, linguistic and cultural guide. Most of them are about history and diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Russia, for example:    These books have helped me to know much about the history of our countries. I get pleasure from my work because I have learnt much about culture and history of United Kingdom and Russia and following them. 

   So, the topic of my work is: Diplomatic relations between Russia and Great Britain in world history different periods. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The first diplomatic relations. 

Every nation and every country has its own culture and history. Foreign relations always take the most important place in it. The first Diplomatic relations between Russia and Great Britain started more than four hundred years ago! It takes so great period of time that, unfortunately, a few people know about them. So, I decided to ask my schoolmates what they know about the relations. Here you can see the results, which are really sad. I have asked 65 pupils to comment on the problem. To my regret, most students don’t know anything about the history of the relations between the countries. On the diagram you see, how few students know about it. I enjoy studying history and my research, to my delight, is a helpful practice for me. So, I am determined to learn as much facts as I can to expand my outlook in the countries’ history.

First of all let me tell you something about the Structure of Government in Great Britain. Parliament is the most important authority in Britain. Parliament first met in the 13^th century. Britain does not have a written constitution, but a set of laws. The queen is officially head of all the branches of government, but she has little direct power in the country. The Prime Minister, who is chosen by the Parliament, is usually the leader of the political party.

Working at my research I have read lots of interesting and exciting books, which told me so many unexpected facts. Also there were some things, about which I have never heard before! For example, I have learnt about the first relations between Great Britain and Russia. It’s considered that the first important event in making the relations was in the sixteenth century, when Elizabeth I was the queen of England. The Kingdom of England and Tsarist Russia established relations in 1553 when English navigator Richard Chancellor arrived in Arkhangelsk – at which time Elizabeth I ruled England and Ivan the Terrible ruled Russia. He returned to England and was sent back to Russia in 1555, the same year the Muscovy Company was established. The Muscovy Company held a monopoly over trade between England and Russia until 1698.

The fact is that the Russian tsar, Ivan the Terrible or Ivan Grozny, was acquainted with Queen Elizabeth and also asked the queen to marry him, but she refused.  Elizabeth continued to maintain the diplomatic relations with the Tsardom of Russia originally established by her deceased brother. She often wrote to its then ruler tsar Ivan Grozny on amicable terms, though the tsar was often annoyed by her focus on commerce rather than on the possibility of a militairy alliance. The tsar even proposed to her once, and during his later reign, asked for a guarantee to be granted asylum in England should his rule be jeopardised. Upon Ivan's death, he was succeeded by his simple-minded son Feodor. Unlike his father, Feodor had no enthusiasm in maintaining exclusive trading rights with England. Feodor declared his kingdom open to all foreigners, and dismissed the English ambassador Sir Jerome Bowes, whose pomposity had been tolerated by the new tsar's late father. Elizabeth sent a new ambassador, Dr. Giles Fletcher, to demand from the regent Boris Godunov that he convince the tsar to reconsider. The negotiations failed, due to Fletcher addressing Feodor with two of his titles omitted. Elizabeth continued to appeal to Feodor in half appealing, half reproachful letters. She proposed an alliance, something which she had refused to do when offered one by Feodor's father, but was turned down.

During the Grand Embassy of Peter I in 1697–1698, Tsar Peter I of Russia visited Britain for three months. The Kingdom of Great Britain (1707—1800) and later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1800–1922) had increasingly important ties with the Russian Empire (1721—1917), after Tsar Peter I brought Russia into European affairs and declared himself an emperor.

During the series of general European wars of the eighteenth century, the two empires found themselves as sometime allies and sometime enemies. The two states fought on the same side during War of the Austrian Succession (1740—1748), but on opposite sides during Seven Years' War (1756—1763).

The Seven Years' War was a major military conflict that lasted from 1756 until the conclusion of the treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris in 1763. It involved all of the major European powers of the period. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

See appendix 1.

Seven Years' War

The war pitted Prussia and Great Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony. Russia temporarily changed sides in the later stages of the war. Portugal (on the side of Great Britain) and Spain (on the side of France) entered the conflict later, and a force from the neutral Dutch Republic was attacked in India.

Fighting between Great Britain, France, and their respective allies in North America had broken out in 1754, two years before the general conflict, as part of an Imperial rivalry. The fighting in North America is a separate war, known in the United States as the French and Indian War.

War in Europe began in 1756 with the French siege of British Minorca in the Mediterranean Sea, and Frederick the Great of Prussia's invasion of Saxony on the continent which also upset the firmly established Pragmatic Sanction put in place by Charles VI of Austria. Despite being the main theatre of war, the European conflict resulted in a bloody stalemate which did little to change the pre-war status quo, while its consequences in Asia and the Americas were wider ranging and longer lasting. Because of its global nature, it has been described as the "first World War". It resulted in some 900,000 to 1,400,000 deaths and significant changes in the balance of power and territories of several of the participants.

The war was described by Winston Churchill as the first "world war", as it was the first conflict in human history to be fought around the globe, although most of the combatants were either European nations or their overseas colonies. As a partially Anglo-French conflict involving developing empires, the war was one of the most significant phases of the 18th century Second Hundred Years' War.

This war is often said to be a continuation of the War of the Austrian Succession that had lasted between 1740 and 1748, in which King Frederick II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great, had gained the rich province of Silesia from Austria. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria had signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle only in order to gain time to rebuild her military forces and to forge new alliances, which she did with remarkable success. The political map of Europe had been redrawn in a few years as Austria abandoned its twenty-five year alliance with Britain. During the so-called Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, the centuries-old enemies of France, Austria and Russia formed a single alliance against Prussia.

All the participants of the Seven Years' War. Blue: Great Britain, Prussia, Portugal with allies. Green: France, Spain, Austria, Russia, Sweden with allies.

Prussia's only major assistance came from Great Britain, their newfound allies, whose ruling dynasty saw its ancestral Hanoverian possession as being threatened by France. In many respects the two powers' forces complemented each other excellently. The British had the largest, most effective navy in the world, while Prussia had the most formidable land force on continental Europe, allowing Great Britain to focus its soldiers towards colonial expeditions. The British hoped that the new series of alliances that had been formed during the Diplomatic Revolution would allow peace to continue, but they in fact provided the catalyst for the eruption of war in 1756.

The second cause for war arose from the heated colonial struggle between the British Empire and French Empire which, as they expanded, met and clashed with one another on two continents. Of particular dispute was control of the Ohio Country which was central to both countries' ambitions of further expansion and development in North America. The two countries had been in a de facto state of war since 1754, but these military clashes remained confined to the American theatre.

A large French force was assembled at Toulon, and the French opened the campaign against the British by an attack on Minorca in the Mediterranean. War between Britain and France had been formally declared on 18 May nearly two years after the first fighting had broken out in the Ohio Country.

The British had suffered further defeats in America, particularly at Fort William Henry. At home however stability had been established. Since 1756 successive governments led by Newcastle and William Pitt had both fallen. The next year the two men agreed to a political partnership and formed a coalition government which gave new, firmer direction to the British war effort. The new strategy emphasised both Newcastle's commitment to British involvement on the European continent particularly in defence of Germany and William Pitt's determination to use British naval power to launch expeditions to seize French colonies around the globe. The "dual strategy" would dominate British policy for the next five years.

In late 1757 thanks to the Prussian victories at Rossbach and Leuthen, the situation appeared to have swung in Frederick's favour and the sudden decision of Russia to withdraw its troops from East Prussia offered further relief. Frederick calculating that no further Russian advance was likely until 1758 then moved the bulk of his eastern forces to Pomerania to repel a Swedish invasion. Within a short period they had driven the Swedes back, occupied most of Swedish Pomerania and blockaded the capital Stralsund.

Into late 1758 the general tide of the war continued to be in favour of the Prussians and British. In 1758 in the east, at the Battle of Zorndorf in Prussia, a Prussian army of 35,000 men under Frederick fought to a standstill with a Russian army of 43,000 commanded by Count Fermor. The Russians withdrew from the field. In the undecided Battle of Tornow on 25 September, a Swedish army repulsed six assaults by a Prussian army.

The year 1759 saw some severe Prussian defeats. At the Battle of Kay, or Paltzig, the Russian Count Saltykov with 47,000 Russians defeated 26,000 Prussian troops commanded by General Carl Heinrich von Wedel. Though the Hanoverians defeated an army of 60,000 French at Minden, Austrian general Daun forced the surrender of an entire Prussian corps of 13,000 men in the Battle of Maxen. Frederick himself lost half his army in the Battle of Kunersdorf, the worst defeat in his military career, and one that drove him to the brink of abdication and suicide. The disaster resulted partly from his misjudgment of the Russians, who had already demonstrated their strength at Zorndorf and at Gross-Jägersdorf.

By 1763 Frederick had Silesia under his control and had occupied parts of Austria. The British subsidies had been withdrawn by the new Prime Minister Lord Bute, and the Russian Emperor had been overthrown by his wife Catherine the Great who now switched Russian support back to Austria and launched fresh attacks on Prussia. Austria, however, had been weakened from the war and like most participants they were facing a severe financial crisis. In 1763 a peace settlement was reached at the Treaty of Hubertusburg ending the war in central Europe.

The Anglo-French hostilities were ended in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, which involved a complex series of land exchanges, which were very useful for the English and a bit helpful for the Russians.

The Seven Years' War was the last major military conflict on the European continent before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792.

The outbreak of the French Revolution and its attendant wars temporarily united constitutionalist Britain and autocratic Russia in an ideological alliance against French republicanism. Britain and Russia attempted to halt the French but the failure of their joint invasion of the Netherlands in 1799 precipitated a change in attitudes.

The two countries also fought each other during the Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812), after which Britain and Russia became allies against Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars.

After the Russian Revolution, Britain sent troops to Russia in the failed Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.Russian and British spheres of influence in Iran as agreed in 1907.

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.