Britain and Russia were notably enemies during the Crimean War (1853-1856). However, the two countries briefly clashed during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). Yet, Britain and Russia were allies for most of the coalition wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France (1792-1815). So, what prompted the Anglo-Russian War in 1807?
The answer lies in Napoleon’s form of economic warfare against Britain (the Continental System) and developments within the Baltic region. Moreover, Russian efforts to end the war laid the groundwork for the renewed conflict against Napoleon in 1812.
Historical Context of the Anglo-Russian War
Britain and Russia had been uncomfortable allies during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1801). Russian ruler Tsar Paul I resented British ambitions in the Mediterranean. Specifically, the island of Malta’s future derailed Anglo-Russian relations. Paul I had been the protector of the Order of the Knights of St. John, which had ruled Malta for centuries before Napoleon conquered the island in 1798.
Britain’s seizure of Malta and insistence on maintaining control infuriated the tsar. Soon, Russian forces were withdrawn from the battlefield. Moreover, as historian Charles Esdaile notes, the Russian ruler left the coalition against France and revived the anti-British League of Armed Neutrality, dating from the American Revolution (2007, 104-105).
France also benefited from the falling out between Britain and Russia. Not only did Russia withdraw from the coalition fighting the French, but Napoleon and Tsar Paul I entertained an alliance where Franco-Russian forces would threaten Britain’s hold on India.
Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, and several minor German states joined Russia in this anti-British alliance. However, the League quickly disintegrated in 1801 with Tsar Paul’s assassination. Moreover, Britain’s Royal Navy under Admiral Sir Hyde Parker and Vice-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson rattled Denmark by bombarding Copenhagen in April 1801. By June 1801, Britain had signed agreements with all the League’s former members.
Historian Andrew Roberts notes that Napoleon was enraged at the news of Paul’s assassination (2014, 295). Napoleon hoped to forge close ties with Paul’s successor, Tsar Alexander I. However, he would soon be disappointed as Russia once again challenged France by joining in coalitions of rival European powers orchestrated by Britain.
The Continental System and Tilsit
Napoleon’s decisive victories over Austria, Russia, and Prussia in 1805-1806 enabled the French to launch an ambitious form of economic warfare against Britain. The Continental System, initially created through the November 1806 Berlin Decrees, aimed to seal European ports off from British trade and thus cripple Britain’s economy and war-making capabilities which would bring about a favorable Anglo-French peace agreement for Napoleon.
Instead, as Andrew Roberts notes, Napoleon’s desire to impose this blockade of British goods on Portugal, Spain, and Russia would ultimately lead to his defeat and fall from power (2014, 427).
Despite a hard-fought campaign against Napoleon in Poland during 1806-1807, Russia was forced to seek peace as French forces threatened to cross the River Niemen and enter Russian territory. As a result, Napoleon met Tsar Alexander and Prussian King Frederick William III on a barge on the Niemen at Tilsit in June 1807.
Napoleon insisted that Russia join the Continental System and close ports to British trade. Alexander, for his part, agreed to declare war on Britain should his efforts to mediate a peace agreement between the British and French fail.
The Road to War
With Napoleon mainly controlling mainland Europe, British policy sought to limit France’s grip on continental ports and prevent serious naval competition with the Royal Navy. By 1807, neutral Denmark’s sizable navy posed a threat to British interests should the Danes side with Napoleon.
As a result, British forces once again attacked Denmark in September 1807. Charles Esdaile notes that the fighting marked Sir Arthur Wellesley’s (the future Duke of Wellington) first taste of battle since returning from India (2007, 312).
However, the British attack on Copenhagen is better known for the devastation caused by artillery shells and the newly invented Congreve rocket. As Esdaile points out, most of Copenhagen was built of wood, which turned the city into an inferno (2007, 311-312). The British bombardment forced the city’s surrender, but at a terrible cost. An estimated 2,000 civilians were killed, which caused outrage across Europe.
Indeed, Britain’s attack on Denmark marked one of the final events that culminated in Russia’s declaration of war on Britain in 1807. Moreover, despite seizing many Danish naval vessels, Britain’s attack fueled a prolonged naval conflict with Denmark known as the Gunboat War (1807-1814).
A “Smokeless War?”
Historian Alexander Mikaberidze explains that, in the 1920s, Russian historian Nikolai Dubrovin, described this Anglo-Russian conflict as a “Smokeless War” (2020, 753). Indeed, there were few battles beyond minor naval skirmishes in the Baltic. Neither side was invested in fighting a larger war. One reason was that Russia and Britain had enjoyed a lucrative trade relationship before 1807.
Mikaberidze points out that British officials seized several Russian vessels docked in British ports upon receiving news of war. For example, a 44-gun Russian frigate carrying the payroll of Russia’s Mediterranean Fleet was seized in Portsmouth (2020, 753).
There were also several minor naval skirmishes and raids between 1808 and 1810 in the Baltic and Barents seas. For example, the Royal Navy destroyed several Russian gunboats in the Baltic Sea in July 1809. Moreover, Mikaberidze notes that the Royal Navy raided Russian positions as far as Murmansk (2020, 358). Nevertheless, engagements between British and Russian naval forces remained limited.
However, some British officers joined the conflict against Russia by intervening in the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813). For example, Mikaberidze notes that William Monteith was an advisor to Qajar Crown Prince Abbas Mirza during an unsuccessful campaign against Russia in the Caucasus (2020, 753).
Admiral Senyavin’s Gamble
Perhaps the most unusual event in this unusual conflict involved the fate of Admiral Dimitri Senyavin’s Russian fleet. In 1807, part of Russia’s Baltic Fleet under Senyavin was stationed in the Ionian Islands. Recalled to Russia, Senyavin’s command encountered terrible weather and was forced to dock at Lisbon.
At this moment, Lisbon was in turmoil as a French invasion loomed to force the Portuguese to join the Continental System against Britain. Moreover, the Royal Navy was on the way with the offer to escort Portugal’s royal family to safety in Brazil. Historian Alexander Mikaberidze notes that Britain’s devastating attack on Copenhagen likely helped convince Portugal’s royals to accept the offer of exile in Brazil (2020, 341).
Senyavin’s Russian ships were outnumbered and outgunned by the British force that arrived in Lisbon. The Russian commander rejected British demands to surrender. In fact, Senyavin threatened to destroy Lisbon and then his ships if the British made any effort to attack the Russians.
Senyavin faced increasing pressure to surrender after British forces defeated the French at Vimeiro in August 1808. Despite Britain’s control of Portugal in the battle’s aftermath, Royal Navy commanders agreed to escort Senyavin’s ships to Britain (with Russian flags still flying).
The arrival of Russian ships with their flags flying in a time of war stunned British officials in Portsmouth, unaware of the agreement at Lisbon. Nevertheless, Mikaberidze notes that British officials delayed Senyavin’s departure for Russia on various pretexts. In fact, only after another year of virtual captivity was Senyavin transferred on British ships to Riga. The Russian vessels remained at Portsmouth until 1813 (2020, 357-358).
Russia’s War With Sweden
While Tsar Alexander was not interested in pursuing a significant conflict with Britain, the same could not be said for his attitude towards Sweden. The Swedes were British allies and historic rivals of Russia in the Baltic region.
Mikaberidze notes that Russia’s invasion of Swedish-controlled Finland had more to do with the traditional Baltic rivalry than the Napoleonic Wars (2020, 346-347). As a result, Tsar Alexander was far more invested in seizing Finland from Sweden than waging war on an important economic partner in Britain.
In 1808, Russian forces invaded and seized Finland from Sweden. The conflict formed part of a series of events that launched a succession crisis in Sweden. Sweden’s costly conflict with Russia, coupled with the sudden death of the elected crown prince, Danish prince Charles August, plunged the country into crisis.
Eventually, the Swedes elected French Marshal Jean-Baptiste-Jules Bernadotte as crown prince. Although he was Joseph Bonaparte’s brother-in-law and one of Napoleon’s senior commanders, Napoleon and Bernadotte had a contentious relationship.
Andrew Roberts notes that the Swedes were unaware of this problematic relationship. Indeed, at the time, Swedish officials hoped offering the crown to a French officer who had been kind to Swedish prisoners of war in a previous conflict would remove the threat of Napoleonic conquest (2014, 547).
Nevertheless, the decision in 1810 to elect Bernadotte as crown prince (he formally became king in 1818) proved a success for Sweden. Indeed, the dynasty founded by Bernadotte survives as Sweden’s royal family to this day.
The Path to Peace and War in 1812
Tsar Alexander’s path to forging a peace agreement with Britain involved distancing Russia from Napoleonic France. Indeed, Franco-Russian relations declined sharply between 1810 and 1812. For instance, Napoleon failed to offer promised support in Russia’s war against the Ottoman Empire (1806-1812). Relations between the two emperors also became frosty.
Another reason for the deteriorating Franco-Russian relations involved Alexander’s decision to permit Russian trade with Britain from 1810.
As war between France and Russia approached in early 1812, Alexander set out to make peace and prepare for Napoleon’s next attack. Historian J.P. Riley notes that in April 1812, Russia and Sweden signed a mutual defense pact (2001, 24). Russia also made peace with the Ottoman Empire through the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1812.
Peace with Britain came about as part of the treaties of Örebro in the summer of 1812. The Anglo-Russian agreement occurred just as Napoleon’s massive army invaded Russia. Confusingly, another treaty finalized at Örebro ended a brief state of war between Britain and Sweden. This conflict did not result in a single battle or casualty.
Napoleon’s Continental System produced many conflicts, some of them of major historical significance (such as Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia and the Peninsular War). At the same time, the Continental System also produced several relatively minor and often confusing wars, including the Anglo-Russian War of 1807-1812.
Aftermath of the Anglo-Russian War
Today, the unusual Anglo-Russian conflict during the Napoleonic Wars is largely forgotten. Indeed, few histories of the Napoleonic Wars even mention this war between Britain and Russia.
Nevertheless, as Alexander Mikaberidze points out, this conflict is of interest partly because of its connection to several significant chapters in the history of the Napoleonic Wars, including the road to Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 (2020, 356). Moreover, this brief conflict also formed part of the Peninsular War story and the Baltic region’s history.
References and Further Reading
Esdaile, C. (2007). Napoleon’s Wars: An International History. Viking.
Mikaberidze, A. (2020). The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History. Oxford University Press.
Riley, J.P. (2001). Napoleon and the World War of 1813: Lessons in Coalition Warfighting. Cass.
Roberts, A. (2014). Napoleon the Great. Penguin.
