Russia–United Kingdom relations
Encyclopedia
Russia–United Kingdom relations is the bilateral relationship between the countries of Russia
and the United Kingdom
and their predecessor states
. Spanning nearly five centuries, it has often switched from a state of alliance to rivalry. Presently there is a diplomatic row going on over extradition
s
According to a poll conducted by The Gallup Organization
, the United Kingdom has one of the most favourable opinions of Russia in Western Europe
along with Greece
and Iceland
.
The Kingdom of England
and Tsardom of Russia
established relations in 1553 when English navigator Richard Chancellor
arrived in Arkhangelsk
– at which time Mary 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.
During the Grand Embassy of Peter I
in 1697–1698, Tsar
Peter I of Russia
visited Britain
for three months.
(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), although did not at any time engage in the field.
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.
Britain occupied Malta
, while the Emperor
Paul I of Russia
was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller. That led to the never-executed Indian March of Paul
, which was a secret project of a planned allied Russo-French expedition against the British possessions in India
.
The two countries fought each other (albeit only with some very limited naval combat) during the Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812)
, after which Britain and Russia became allies against Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars
.
The Eastern Question
and the fate of the Ottoman Empire
became of interest to both countries, and they both intervened in the Greek War of Independence
(1821—1829), eventually forcing the London peace treaty on the belligerents.
The issues surrounding the Ottomans were not resolved, however, and lead to the Crimean War
(1853—1856) fought by Britain, France, and the Ottomans against Russia.
Rivalry between Britain and Russia developed over Central Asia
in the Great Game of the late nineteenth century, as Russia desired warm-water ports on the Indian Ocean while Britain wanted to prevent Russian troops from gaining a potential invasion route to India. The Pandjeh Incident caused a war scare in 1885. There was cooperation in Asia, however, as the two countries intervened in China during the Boxer Rebellion
(1899—1901).
In October 1905 a Russian fleet mistakenly engaged a number of British fishing vessels in the north sea resulting in Britain briefly beginning preparation for war. This included a flotilla of Holland class
and A class submarines leaving harbour to engage the fleet before they were recalled.
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.
, Britain sent troops to Russia in the failed Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
.
Following the withdrawal of British troops from Russia, negotiations for trade began, and on March 16, 1921, trade agreement was concluded between the two countries. The United Kingdom
recognised the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union, 1917—1991) on February 1, 1924. Relations between then and the Second World War were tense, typified by the Zinoviev letter
incident. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken in 1927, and restored in 1929.
with Nazi Germany
. The USSR opposed to the pact and refused to recognize Germany's annexation of part of Czechoslovakia
.
The Soviets felt excluded from Western consideration and vulnerable to possible hostilities by the West or Germany, and in response the USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet pact. This complicated relations with Britain as the British leadership was sympathetic to Finland
in her war against the USSR (the Winter War
), yet could not afford to alienate the Soviets while an attack from Germany was imminent. The USSR however supplied fuel oil to the Nazis which was used for Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Blitz against the United Kingdom. Because of the Soviet connivance with the Nazis, Hitler's troops were able to overrun most of Western Europe in the summer of 1940.
In 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa
, attacking the USSR. The USSR thereafter became one of the Allies of World War II
along with Britain, fighting against the Axis Powers
. The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
secured the oil fields in Iran
from falling into Axis hands. The Arctic convoys
transported supplies between Britain and the USSR during the war.
deteriorated quickly. British prime minister Churchill said that the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe was like 'an iron curtain
'. Relations were generally tense during the ensuing Cold War
, typified by spying and other covert activities. The British and American Venona project
was established in 1942 for cryptanalysis
of messages sent by Soviet intelligence. Soviet spies were later discovered in Britain, such as Kim Philby
and the Cambridge Five
spy ring, which was operating in England until 1963.
The Soviet spy agency, the KGB
, was suspected of the murder of Georgi Markov
in London in 1978. A High ranking KGB official, Oleg Gordievsky
, defected to London in 1985.
British prime minister Margaret Thatcher
pursued a strong anti-communist
policy in concert with Ronald Reagan
during the 1980s, in contrast with the détente
policy of the 1970s, although relations became warmer after Mikhail Gorbachev
came to power in 1985.
After the collapse of the USSR, 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
.
The Foundations of Geopolitics, a Russian textbook published in 1997, has been one of the most influential books among Russian military, police, and statist foreign policy elites. The book argues that Russia must isolate the United Kingdom from the politics of continental Europe.
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
.
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. 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. However, later in the year a Moscow court threw out most of the tax claims made against the British Council, ruling them invalid.
In 2008, MI5
warned that Russia is a country which is under suspicion of committing murder on British streets.
During the 2008 South Ossetia war
between Russia and Georgia
, the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband
, visited the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi
to meet with the president and said the UK's government and people "stood in solidarity" with the Georgian people.
In November 2009, Miliband visited Russia in an attempt the rift with Russia, he described the state of the current relationship as "respectful disagreement".
Earlier in 2009, then then Solicitor-General, Vera Baird
, personally decided that the property of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom
, which had been the subject of a legal dispute following the decision of the administering Bishop and half its clergy and lay adherents to move to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, would have to remain with the Moscow Patriarchate. She was forced to reassure concerned Members of Parliament that her decision had been made only on legal grounds, and that diplomatic and foreign policy questions had played no part. Baird's determination of the case was however endorsed by the Attorney-General Baroness Patricia Scotland. It attracted much criticism. However, questions continue to be raised that Baird's decision was designed not to offend the Putin government in Russia.
In 2010 MI5
warned that Russian spy operations in the United Kingdom are at Cold War levels.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and their predecessor states
Succession of states
Succession of states is a theory and practice in international relations regarding the recognition and acceptance of a newly created sovereign state by other states, based on a perceived historical relationship the new state has with a prior state...
. Spanning nearly five centuries, it has often switched from a state of alliance to rivalry. Presently there is a diplomatic row going on over extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
s
According to a poll conducted by The Gallup Organization
The Gallup Organization
The Gallup Organization, is primarily a research-based performance-management consulting company. Some of Gallup's key practice areas are - Employee Engagement, Customer Engagement and Well-Being. Gallup has over 40 offices in 27 countries. World headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Operational...
, the United Kingdom has one of the most favourable opinions of Russia in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
along with Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
.
Relations between England and Tsarist Russia
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
and Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
established relations in 1553 when English navigator Richard Chancellor
Richard Chancellor
Richard Chancellor was an English explorer and navigator; the first to penetrate to the White Sea and establish relations with Russia....
arrived in Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
– at which time Mary I
Mary I
Mary I or Maria I may refer to:*Maria, Queen of Sicily *Mary, Queen of Hungary *Mary I of England , often called "Bloody Mary"*Mary, Queen of Scots *Mary I of Portugal...
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
Muscovy Company
The Muscovy Company , was a trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint stock company, the precursor of the type of business that would soon flourish in England, and became closely associated with such famous names as Henry Hudson and William Baffin...
was established. The Muscovy Company held a monopoly over trade between England and Russia until 1698.
During the Grand Embassy of Peter I
Grand Embassy of Peter I
The Grand Embassy was a Russian diplomatic mission, sent to Western Europe in 1697-1698 by Peter the Great....
in 1697–1698, Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Peter I of Russia
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
visited Britain
Early Modern Britain
Early modern Britain is the history of the island of Great Britain, roughly corresponding to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Major historical events in Early Modern British history include the English Renaissance, the English Reformation and Scottish Reformation, the English Civil War, the...
for three months.
United Kingdom—Russian Empire relations
The Kingdom of Great BritainKingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
(1707—1800) and later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
(1800–1922) had increasingly important ties with the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(1721—1917), after Tsar Peter I brought Russia into European affairs and declared himself an emperor.
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
(1740—1748), but on opposite sides during Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
(1756—1763), although did not at any time engage in the field.
The outbreak of the French Revolution and its attendant wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
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.
Britain occupied Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, while the Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Paul I of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller. That led to the never-executed Indian March of Paul
Indian March of Paul
The Indian March of Paul was a secret project of a planned allied Russo-French expedition against the British dominions in India. It was scuttled following the assassination of Emperor Paul I of Russia in March 1801....
, which was a secret project of a planned allied Russo-French expedition against the British possessions in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The two countries fought each other (albeit only with some very limited naval combat) during the Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812)
Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812)
The Anglo-Russian War occurred during the Napoleonic Wars. Hostilities were limited primarily to a small number of naval actions in the Baltic, though there were also attacks in the Barents Sea...
, after which Britain and Russia became allies against Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
The Eastern Question
Eastern Question
The "Eastern Question", in European history, encompasses the diplomatic and political problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire. The expression does not apply to any one particular problem, but instead includes a variety of issues raised during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including...
and the fate of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
became of interest to both countries, and they both intervened in the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
(1821—1829), eventually forcing the London peace treaty on the belligerents.
The issues surrounding the Ottomans were not resolved, however, and lead to the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(1853—1856) fought by Britain, France, and the Ottomans against Russia.
Rivalry between Britain and Russia developed over Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
in the Great Game of the late nineteenth century, as Russia desired warm-water ports on the Indian Ocean while Britain wanted to prevent Russian troops from gaining a potential invasion route to India. The Pandjeh Incident caused a war scare in 1885. There was cooperation in Asia, however, as the two countries intervened in China during the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
(1899—1901).
In October 1905 a Russian fleet mistakenly engaged a number of British fishing vessels in the north sea resulting in Britain briefly beginning preparation for war. This included a flotilla of Holland class
Holland class submarine
The Holland-class were the first submarines built for the Royal Navy. They were built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. The first three were designed by John Philip Holland. The Hollands were built under licence from the Holland Torpedo Boat Company/Electric Boat Company during the years 1901 to 1903...
and A class submarines leaving harbour to engage the fleet before they were recalled.
Anglo-Russian Entente
Anglo-Russian Entente
Signed on August 31, 1907, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 brought shaky British-Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries that identified respective control in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet...
and the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 made both countries part of the Triple Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
. Both countries were then part of the subsequent alliance
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
against the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
in the First World War.
United Kingdom—Soviet Union relations
After the Russian RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, Britain sent troops to Russia in the failed Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War
The Allied intervention was a multi-national military expedition launched in 1918 during World War I which continued into the Russian Civil War. Its operations included forces from 14 nations and were conducted over a vast territory...
.
Following the withdrawal of British troops from Russia, negotiations for trade began, and on March 16, 1921, trade agreement was concluded between the two countries. The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
recognised the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union, 1917—1991) on February 1, 1924. Relations between then and the Second World War were tense, typified by the Zinoviev letter
Zinoviev Letter
The "Zinoviev Letter" refers to a controversial document published by the British press in 1924, allegedly sent from the Communist International in Moscow to the Communist Party of Great Britain...
incident. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken in 1927, and restored in 1929.
Second World War
In 1938 a few Western countries, including Britain, signed the Munich AgreementMunich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. The USSR opposed to the pact and refused to recognize Germany's annexation of part of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
The Soviets felt excluded from Western consideration and vulnerable to possible hostilities by the West or Germany, and in response the USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet pact. This complicated relations with Britain as the British leadership was sympathetic to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
in her war against the USSR (the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
), yet could not afford to alienate the Soviets while an attack from Germany was imminent. The USSR however supplied fuel oil to the Nazis which was used for Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Blitz against the United Kingdom. Because of the Soviet connivance with the Nazis, Hitler's troops were able to overrun most of Western Europe in the summer of 1940.
In 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, attacking the USSR. The USSR thereafter became one of the Allies of World War II
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
along with Britain, fighting against the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was the Allied invasion of the Imperial State of Iran during World War II, by British, Commonwealth, and Soviet armed forces. The invasion from August 25 to September 17, 1941, was codenamed Operation Countenance...
secured the oil fields in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
from falling into Axis hands. The Arctic convoys
Arctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
transported supplies between Britain and the USSR during the war.
Cold War
Following the end of the Second World War, relations between the Soviet and the Western blocWestern Bloc
The Western Bloc or Capitalist Bloc during the Cold War refers to the powers allied with the United States and NATO against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact...
deteriorated quickly. British prime minister Churchill said that the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe was like 'an iron curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
'. Relations were generally tense during the ensuing Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, typified by spying and other covert activities. The British and American Venona project
Venona project
The VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II...
was established in 1942 for cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
of messages sent by Soviet intelligence. Soviet spies were later discovered in Britain, such as Kim Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
and the Cambridge Five
Cambridge Five
The Cambridge Five was a ring of spies, recruited in part by Russian talent spotter Arnold Deutsch in the United Kingdom, who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and at least into the early 1950s...
spy ring, which was operating in England until 1963.
The Soviet spy agency, the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, was suspected of the murder of Georgi Markov
Georgi Markov
Georgi Ivanov Markov was a Bulgarian dissident writer.Markov originally worked as a novelist and playwright, but in 1969 he defected from Bulgaria, then governed by President Todor Zhivkov...
in London in 1978. A High ranking KGB official, Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky , CMG , is a former Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate and bureau chief in London, who was a secret agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1974 to 1985.-Early career:Oleg Gordievsky attended the Moscow State Institute of International...
, defected to London in 1985.
British prime minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
pursued a strong anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
policy in concert with Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
during the 1980s, in contrast with the détente
Détente
Détente is the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation. The term is often used in reference to the general easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s, a thawing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War...
policy of the 1970s, although relations became warmer after Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
came to power in 1985.
United Kingdom—Russian Federation relations
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
The Foundations of Geopolitics, a Russian textbook published in 1997, has been one of the most influential books among Russian military, police, and statist foreign policy elites. The book argues that Russia must isolate the United Kingdom from the politics of continental Europe.
In 2003, Russia requested the extradition of "tycoon" Boris Berezovsky and Chechen
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
separatist Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev is the former Deputy Prime Minister and the current Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria , which is unrecognised by other countries...
, but Britain refused, having given them both political asylum.
In early 2006, Russia accused UK diplomats of espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
. 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
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
was poisoned
Alexander Litvinenko poisoning
Alexander Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB and KGB, who escaped prosecution in Russia and received political asylum in the United Kingdom...
in London by radioactive metalloid, Polonium-210 and died 3 weeks later. Britain requested the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi
Andrei Lugovoi
Andrey Konstantinovich Lugovoy is a Russian politician and businessman and deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation for the LDPR. He is a former KGB bodyguard and the ex-head of the security firm "Ninth Wave."...
from Russia to face charges over Litvinenko's death, Russia refused, stating their constitution
Constitution of Russia
The current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication...
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
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
, 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
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
about plotting a "revolution" in his homeland. Kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
officials called it a "disturbing moment" in Anglo-Russian relations. Berezovsky is still a wanted man in Russia, accused of embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
and money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
.
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
Scrambling (military)
In military aviation scrambling or a scramble is the act of quickly getting fighter aircraft airborne to intercept hostile aircraft.-Historical use:...
" 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
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
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. 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
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
leader Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
, who holds the post of "office director" at the Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
branch, was detained for an hour by Russian authorities, allegedly for driving the wrong way up a one-way street and smelling of alcohol. However, later in the year a Moscow court threw out most of the tax claims made against the British Council, ruling them invalid.
In 2008, MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
warned that Russia is a country which is under suspicion of committing murder on British streets.
During the 2008 South Ossetia war
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
between Russia and Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband
David Miliband
David Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...
, visited the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
to meet with the president and said the UK's government and people "stood in solidarity" with the Georgian people.
In November 2009, Miliband visited Russia in an attempt the rift with Russia, he described the state of the current relationship as "respectful disagreement".
Earlier in 2009, then then Solicitor-General, Vera Baird
Vera Baird
Vera Baird is a British Labour Party activist, barrister, author and lecturer. She serves as visiting lecturer at London Southbank University and is co-director of Astraea: Gender Justice...
, personally decided that the property of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom
Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh
The Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh is a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church which has for its territory the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Its name is taken from an ancient see in the Crimea that no longer has a bishop...
, which had been the subject of a legal dispute following the decision of the administering Bishop and half its clergy and lay adherents to move to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, would have to remain with the Moscow Patriarchate. She was forced to reassure concerned Members of Parliament that her decision had been made only on legal grounds, and that diplomatic and foreign policy questions had played no part. Baird's determination of the case was however endorsed by the Attorney-General Baroness Patricia Scotland. It attracted much criticism. However, questions continue to be raised that Baird's decision was designed not to offend the Putin government in Russia.
In 2010 MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
warned that Russian spy operations in the United Kingdom are at Cold War levels.
Soviet and Russian espionage and influence operations
Examples
- The British newspaper Guardian also noted that Russia uses a shadowy army of Russian nationalists to influence opinions on western newspaper websites, including the Guardian's site. Anyone who dares to criticise Russia's leaders, or point out some of the country's deficiencies, is "immediately branded a CIA spy or worse".
- Budget figures showed that Russia was going spend $1.4 billion on international propaganda in 2010, more than on things such as fighting unemployment. Russia purchased a major Russia Today advertising campaign in the United Kingdom.
- Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers – An affiliate of the International Association of Democratic LawyersInternational Association of Democratic LawyersInternational Association of Democratic Lawyers is an international organization of jurists' associations.-Subsidiaries and affiliated organizations:Local:* Bangladesh - Democratic Lawyers Association of Bangladesh...
, which has been an international front organization of Russian intelligence services. Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers has retained its pro-Moscow line over the years while also serving as an umbrella organization for supporting regimes such as Cuba and Libya.