U.S.-Russia relations have uneasy history

The war in Ukraine has reduced U.S. relations with Russia to a low point. It’s the latest chapter in a checkered history between the Americans and Russians, which spans two uneasy centuries.

Russia’s political path has played a key role, as the nation was transformed by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, leading to the rise of the Soviet Union. The breakup of the Soviets was followed by a thawing of U.S. relations, reflective of the ups and downs in relations between the two world powers.

On Oct. 28, 1803, Russia formally recognized the United States, then just two decades removed from the American Revolution. Diplomatic relations were created on July 14, 1809.

The first U.S. minister to Russia was future President John Quincy Adams, who served until April 1814. Another of the early ministers to Russia was future chief executive James Buchanan, who spent 14 months in the role in 1832-33.

During the American Civil War, the Russian government strongly supported the Union cause, and Russian representatives were welcomed in a reception by President Abraham Lincoln on Dec. 19, 1863. One of Lincoln’s secretaries, future Secretary of State John Hay, took a dimmer view, believing the Russians were “fiendishly ugly” with “vast absorbent powers.”

Relations between the two nations remained friendly in the post-Civil War era as U.S. Secretary of State William Seward brokered the purchase of Alaska from the Russians for $7.2 million.

Though the deal was dubbed “Seward’s Folly,” the purchase strengthened the American position in the Pacific, and provided a windfall of natural resources.

In late 1871, the Grand Duke Alexis, a son of Tsar Alexander II, was welcomed in an American tour that included stops in many major cities, as well as a buffalo hunt in Nebraska with George Custer and Buffalo Bill Cody.

The following spring, William Tecumseh Sherman visited Russia with, among others, Lt. Frederick Grant, the son of President Ulysses S. Grant. Tsar Alexander II received Sherman with a cordial audience. Six years later, Grant himself toured Russia, the first former chief executive to visit the nation.

During the depths of the Russian famine of 1891-93, the United States provided $1 million in humanitarian relief, the equivalent of $30 million today.

In August 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt helped broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. A decade later, the Americans and Russians were allies in World War I, the first of two global conflicts when both were on the same side.

Russia lost heavily in the war, with 1.8 million military deaths, 4.95 million military wounded, and 2 million civilian deaths. However, the Bolshevik Revolution ended diplomacy with the United States until President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an agreement with the Soviets to reestablish relations on Nov. 17, 1933.

Still, the United States remained wary of the Stalin regime throughout the decade, and was particularly concerned with a non-aggression pact between the Soviets and Nazi Germany in August 1939.

Despite the tensions, the U.S. and Britain joined with the Soviets as the principal Allies in World War II. The alliance between the Americans and Soviets was particularly uneasy, and Roosevelt repeatedly feared that relations would fall apart. But many historians consider the American-Soviet alliance as crucial to victory in Europe.

The postwar era gave rise to the Cold War, when Americans of the 1950s and 1960s lived in fear of nuclear war. Controversies such as the U-2 fiasco of 1960 were followed by the unnerving Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.

Meanwhile, the nations dueled in the space race, touched off by the Sputnik flight of 1957. But while 12 Americans walked on the moon between 1969-72, no Soviet stepped foot on the lunar surface. Tensions were also displayed in sports, leading to bitterness in Olympic and international competitions.

The fall of the Soviet Union, coupled with the receptive policies of Mikhail Gorbachev, led to the warmest relations between the powers in decades, defined by the friendship between Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan.

Later, President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin continued the cordiality between the two nations. Clinton and Yeltsin met 18 times, almost matching the total number of visits between their nation’s leaders in the entire Cold War.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Illinois. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Tom Emery: U.S.-Russia relations have uneasy history