How Russia Freed America in the War of Independence — Transcript

Explore Russia's crucial yet overlooked role in America's War of Independence and its lasting impact on global diplomacy.

Key Takeaways

Russia's neutrality was strategically crucial in enabling the success of the American Revolution.
The League of Armed Neutrality protected neutral trade and hindered British economic warfare.
Russia prioritized its own regional conflicts over involvement in the American war.
Historical diplomatic actions like the League have lessons for modern international relations and economic sanctions.
Russia's role in American independence is underrecognized in Western narratives but emphasized in Russian historical tradition.

Summary

Russia played a significant but often forgotten role in the American War of Independence by remaining neutral and refusing British requests for military support.
Empress Catherine the Great rejected British offers of strategic territories, including Jamaica, to join the war on Britain's side.
Russia established the League of Armed Neutrality in 1780 to protect neutral shipping rights against British interference, aiding the American cause indirectly.
The League included several European powers and complicated British economic warfare and logistics during the conflict.
Russia's neutrality and diplomatic stance helped weaken Britain's ability to enforce blockades and economic sanctions on the American colonies.
The video discusses parallels between 18th-century imperial politics and modern international relations.
Russia and the USA maintained relatively good relations until 1917, with shared history highlighted by leaders like Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
The video is based on Jeff Rich's interview with Russian television, exploring six key questions about Russia's role in the American Revolution.
Russia's geopolitical priorities at the time focused on conflicts with the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Prussia, and issues in Poland, making the American conflict less significant.
The League of Armed Neutrality serves as a historical example of diplomatic resistance to economic sanctions, relevant to contemporary global politics.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Did you know that Russia helped establish the successful American Revolution? It helped save America. It helped free America from the British Empire back in 1776 and the 10 years afterwards. It's a story I didn't know until quite recently, but it's a story

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I'm going to share with you today in this video. I'm Jeff Rich. Welcome back to the channel or welcome if it's your first time here at the Burning Archive.

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Yes indeed, Russia did play a role in the successful American War of Independence. It was a role that has perhaps largely been forgotten but was actually reminded to Donald Trump when Vladimir Putin called the president of the United States on the

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4th of July and reminded him of the importance of preserving the shared pages of Russian-American history and of Russia's contribution to the emergence of American statehood.

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That is the role that Russia played. And that role is something that I actually discussed with Russian television on the evening of July 4th.

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And most of this video is going to be my presentation to Russian television about those questions, answering six interesting questions about the role of Russia in the successful American wars of independence in freeing the USA, the

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13 colonies from the British Empire. And what some of the lessons even of those events from over 200 years ago under the stewardship of Catherine the Great, George Washington, what they might tell us about international politics today because there are some

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uncanny resonances that I discuss in this program. But first, I think it's helpful perhaps just to reinforce the basic story of what the Russian role in the American wars of independence was because it is not well known and it is

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terribly, it is quite surprising in many ways. Russia and the USA enjoyed relatively good relationships until, well, until 1917 in the first 100 or so years of the American state's existence.

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But the key role that Russia played in the American War of Independence was really sort of three-fold, I guess. One was it was neutral in the war. It rejected repeated requests by the British government, by the British Empire via

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the monarch King George to supply troops to support the British effort to retain the colonies under British control and to send naval forces to weaken the French and Spanish flotillas that were also supporting the American colonists. And not only that, they were

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also supporting the French and Spanish colonial interests in the United States as well. There were still quite large French and Spanish colonies in North America at that point. Britain was quite determined. It actually offered a range of strategic territories to Russia

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in exchange for getting involved in the war. But Empress Catherine the Great repeatedly said no. At one point, the British even offered Jamaica, the sugar island, the slave island, to Russia and Russia said no. The second big role

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was the League of Armed Neutrality which I discuss in this interview. And in 1780, in fact, Catherine II issued a declaration establishing the first League of Armed Neutrality, which asserted the right of neutral nations to trade freely without British

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interference, boarding ships, that sort of thing, stopping boats on the high seas. Goodness me, some of that is still going on today.

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And the league aimed to protect neutral shipping from British searches for contraband destined for France and Spain, who were the two belligerents allied with the American revolutionaries. It was, if you like, a version of economic sanctions.

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And this league involved Russia sending naval squadrons to the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and North Sea to enforce these rights with Denmark and Norway then joining and Sweden quickly joining with Prussia, Austria, Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, and Naples also joining,

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of course Naples. The Kingdom of Naples preceded the Kingdom of Italy forming in the latter half of the 19th century.

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And this league restrained Britain's ability to pressure neutral shipping and complicated British logistics and diplomacy during the war. And then the third broader role that Russia played was Russia was another Enlightenment imperial state just like the United States was, I guess, in the late 19th

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century and there were some similar equivalent ways in which the Enlightenment and changing political structures, expectations, and institutions were affecting the organization of the state.

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So Russia had to respond with a view as to whether it supported the aims of the American Revolution or whether it wanted to go down a similar path or whether it wanted to block the American Revolution. Of course, a few years

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later, the French Revolution happened and all this whole period is a major period of imperial revolutions and the way in which Russia navigated that, choosing not to oppose the American Revolution even though it didn't really agree with the ideological

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aims of the American Revolution was quite crucial. Hence, Russia's neutrality helped free America from the British Empire. Now, I've got this segment in two parts. My interview with Russian television is in two parts.

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There's the live segment and then there's a follow-up afterwards where I'm talking off air to an interviewer and you can follow that along. It goes for about 10 minutes and at the end I will tell you the thing that most surprised

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me about the way in which this series of perhaps forgotten historical events has resonance for the world today.

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Now Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on the 250th anniversary of the United States independence. Now, in an official letter, the Russian president underscored the two countries' joint history in saving humanity from Nazism in World War II and establishing

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a new world order. Putin further emphasized that Washington and Moscow share responsibility for ensuring global security and wished the American people health and prosperity.

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Now, let's discuss this topic more with a historian and host of the Burning Archive YouTube channel, Jeff Rich.

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Jeff, I'm glad to have you join me now. So, let me ask this way. How did Russia's refusal to support Britain influence the outcome of the American war for independence?

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Well, the most important thing about it was Russia took a neutral position, I guess, in that war. And although the military impact of that may not have been so great, Britain was seeking 20,000 troops and some naval action

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against France and Spain. The diplomatic position of neutrality was crucial and then really flowed through into the most decisive role that Russia played in the American War of Independence which was establishing a league of armed neutrality which significantly weakened

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I guess the economic warfare that Britain was conducting against the American colonists through an economic blockade. I guess the 18th-century version of economic sanctions today. And it was really that league of armed neutrality that Russia established with

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some of the other northern European powers and ultimately with Austria and Prussia as well which had the most significant impact in terms of enabling the successful establishment of the American Republic.

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Right. What motivated the Russian Empire at the time to reject Britain's request for assistance in its war against the American colonies?

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Well, of course, we look back at 1776, especially Americans look back at 1776 and think that is the central event of the world at the time. But from Russia's point of view, it was a small war far away,

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and it simply wasn't so significant for Russia's interests. Russia was involved in a conflict with the Ottoman Empire, you know, south and Turkey, etc. It had conflicts and important diplomatic relations with Austria and Prussia. It also had a significant problem with Poland as well.

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This slow disintegration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was beginning in the 1770s. It had issu...

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cause was not that important. Uh so and in many ways it actually presented more of an opportunity for uh Russia uh to sort of consolidate its European diplomatic position with the northern states and with uh Austria and Prussia

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also into Poland and to sort of further continue the uh sort of advance into what's now Nova Rosia into Crimea uh and with the the conflict with uh the Ottoman Empire. So there was a bit of a shift I guess in position. So

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fundamentally Russia was motivated by that times balance of power politics primarily in Europe. All right. Now let's talk about the League of Armed Neutrality. How did its creation influence the American Revolution?

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Well, the League of Armed Neutrality was a an initiative, diplomatic initiative of uh Russia, Queen Cath or Empress Katherine the Great uh which brought together the sort of Scandinavian states, the Dutch, ultimately Prussia and Austria to refuse to conform with

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British demands to um blockade the sort of maritime trade uh with the American colonists.

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uh you know literally if you like the 18th century version of economic sanctions. Uh and so it it uh had a significant impact weakening that enabling uh goods etc to get into um into America and weakening the sort of British naval

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position. But it also established a very significant diplomatic pre precedent as well in terms of neutrality and similarly strengthened uh Russia's position in Europe as well. So this is generally seen as the most important uh I guess contribution that Russia made

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into the war of uh the American independence, the American Revolution uh as well. So it was really the the most important thing and you know it's sort of like uh refusing to to conform with requests to board ships uh you know th

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those kind of things uh and and to raise I guess the costs for Britain to implement such if you like economic sanctions. It's perhaps an interesting example uh for diplomatic practice today even perhaps. All right, that we have to

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leave you here now. Jeff Rich, historian and host of the Burning Archive YouTube channel. Thank you so much for your time.

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Thank you. [snorts] Well, I think it, as I think I was saying in the main interview, it was really quite important that Russia took a neutral position. uh and the the impact on the naval blockade, the the the League of Arut was very important,

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[gasps] but it also it also sort of freed up, I guess, Russia for other uh diplomatic and and uh strategic objectives within Europe. um strengthening its relationships with Prussia Austria uh and also advancing its position into with the conflict with the Ottoman

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Empire and moving into um southern Russia then because the Russian Empire didn't actually recognize the United States as a state until 1807 uh which was you know I guess 20 years after these events uh and In between that time there was the French

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revolution and polonic wars. Uh so quite a few events uh it certainly gave some level of uh status I guess to the new United States within uh European diplomacy uh but it didn't necessarily make uh Russia and the new United States strong

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friends. However, in a broader context, I think it's important to see uh this uh period as being a time where what one historian John Darwin describes as greater Europe forms, which is North America, Europe, and Russia. And there's

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a growing sort of convergence in many ways in terms of political ideologies, modes of social and political organization that are are occurring. So in the longer term you can see it as part of that process of the formation of

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uh a greater Europe which ultimately I guess culminates in the early 19th you know after the congress of Vienna etc to I guess the long piece within Europe but also the uh the agreement of the European powers not to intervene into

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North America which significantly enabled the then quite more 13 colonies to expand across the whole continent of North America.

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Well, it certainly played a positive role. Uh, and historians from different countries tend to uh value that differently. There's a strong Russian tradition that uh gives it quite a significant role. The Americans tend not to recognize that so much. Although

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there's, you know, there is some American historians who see it as the start of a beautiful friendship that went tragically wrong in 1917.

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Uh but I think in the broader context historians increasingly are seeing the American re you know the American Revolution in 1776 as part of a broader context of uh revolutions uh imperial conflicts uh across the world including in Russia. I

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mean there's the Pugachev rebellion in the 1770s 1770s uh which is um making the American Revolution less of an exception and more of a another case of a a processes in which all of these states are participating over a sort of a 70-year

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period between 1750 and 1820. So I think the broader historical assessment is seeing Russia's uh contribution if you like not so much as helping the success of the American Revolution as it being you know one of the other empires that's

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going through a process of transformation as part of this age of imperial revolutions and also through the gradual emergence of the sort of idea of the west based on greater to Europe which includes North America, Russia and Europe which holds

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together for a 100red years or so after the Congress in Vienna but then sort of breaks apart uh after World War I and after the Russian Revolution. I hope you enjoyed that discussion. Um and as I said at the start, I was going to share

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what uh most surprised me about these events and their resonance for the world today cuz there were there are some quite uncanny uh resonances. Of course, one of those is the whole question which I raised in the interview of the

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similarity if you like between the British naval blockade and economic sanctions today. uh and sanctions have become uh western uh nations, United States primarily perhaps which apply sanctions to approximately 40% of the population of the earth uh preeminent among those

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states. It's an ironic change, isn't it, that uh it Russia helped free uh the United States in its early years from the grip of economic sanctions and today the United States is playing the role of the bad British Empire of King George

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and applying economic sanctions to the rest of the world. And I said during the interview, it's possible that countries like the BRICS nations perhaps need to learn the lesson of the League of Armed Neutrality that it's no point simply

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talking about high principle if you can't back it up with real action. Perhaps we need a third league of armed neutrality to rid the world of uh US American economic sanctions. And then of course the other surprising thing is the

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connection with events in Ukraine today. One of the opportunities that these uh that the American war of independence provided Russian the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great in the 1770s was to redirect its attention from the Northern Alliance uh states more secure

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in the knowledge that it had a strong diplomatic relationship with Prussia, Austria, uh the Scandinavian states and so on uh the Dutch and to weaken the hold of British commerce over the continent, which would uh become a major

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issue again during the Napoleonic Wars and redirect a lot of its attention to its southward and southwestward expansion through Nova Rousia and uh towards the Black Sea and its conflict with the Ottoman Empire.

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uh large parts of the territory of uh what is now Ukraine uh were established in this period and indeed Crimea became fully integrated into the Russian Empire in 1783 partly because of the free hand that uh Russia was able to play uh due to its

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strong European diplomacy and its refusal to get involved in the American war of independence.

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a small war far away that was not its fight. I hope you've enjoyed this program that looks at the uh Russia's role in the American War of Independence and you can find more on this subject at my Substack at jeffrich.substack.com.

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If you become a paid subscriber there, you get all of my history guides, my slow reads, my deep dives, my long reads. It's really great value and I'd love your support. And if nothing else, why not just give this video a share and

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a like and I'll see you again in another one soon. [music]

Topics:RussiaAmerican RevolutionWar of IndependenceCatherine the GreatLeague of Armed NeutralityBritish Empire18th century diplomacyJeff Richinternational relationseconomic sanctions

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Russia influence the outcome of the American War of Independence?

Russia's neutrality and refusal to support Britain militarily, combined with the establishment of the League of Armed Neutrality, significantly weakened British economic blockades and helped the American colonies succeed.

What was the League of Armed Neutrality and why was it important?

The League of Armed Neutrality was a coalition led by Russia to protect neutral nations' shipping rights against British interference, complicating Britain's ability to enforce economic sanctions during the American Revolution.

Why did Russia refuse Britain's requests for military support during the war?

Russia viewed the American conflict as distant and less significant compared to its own regional conflicts with the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Prussia, and issues in Poland, leading Empress Catherine the Great to decline British offers.

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