Dealing with the Great Bear: Edward VII’s Visit to Russia

Abstract

In the aftermath of the development of the Entente Cordiale, and other international developments, the British government was modifying its foreign policy in the direction of a new entente with the Tsarist state. For most of the nineteenth century, Russia had been seen as the greatest threat to Britain’s imperial interests. In the post-‘splendid isolation’ diplomatic world with which this volume is concerned, Britain had been reconsidering its imperial over-stretch, and as a result, during 1907, Britain and Russia came to a series of diplomatic agreements. This took the shape of a substantial number of individual treaties dealing with a range of aspects of Anglo-Russian imperial tensions in regions stretching from Afghanistan to Persia. Effectively, it was the ending of the Great Game. The resulting Anglo-Russian Entente, similar to that Britain had with France and Spain, was more to do with a lessening of tension than with formal treaties, however. In this particular process, there seemed to be neither a role nor a need for royal diplomacy. The Anglo-Russian Entente was achieved without a state visit. However, in its aftermath, a state visit was made in 1908 by Edward VII to Russia, followed by a 1909 return formal visit by the Tsar to Britain. These visits are significant, especially the former, because of the further insight given into the pomp and ceremonial aspects of royal diplomacy.