In The First Cold War Barbara Emerson describes how Britain and Russia maintained a frosty civility for a few years after Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 but how, by the 1820s, their relations degenerated into constant acrimonious competition and rivalry over Persia, the Ottoman Empire, Central Asia - the ‘Great Game’ - and, towards the end of the century, East Asia. In her talk Barbara Emerson will explore these developments and outline the key features of the Russo-British relationship throughout the 19th century, which was marked by continuous competition and tension. Not until Britain and Russia recognised that they had more to fear from Wilhelmine Germany did they largely set aside their rivalries in the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, which also had major repercussions for the balance of power in Europe. The book also presents the Russian perspective on the Great Game, drawing on the archives of the Tsars’ Imperial Ministry, and in her talk Barbara will outline the key elements in this. Both world powers became convinced of the expansionist aims of the other, and considered these to be at their own expense. When one was successful, the other upped the ante, and so it went on. London and St Petersburg were at war only once, during the Crimean War (1854-1856). But Russophobia and Anglophobia became ingrained on each side, as these two great empires hovered on the brink of hostilities for nearly 100 years.
Copies of The First Cold War will be available for sale at KCL.
Barbara Emerson is a long-standing member of the Society and has been Vice-Chairman since 2019. She has written three biographies and numerous articles. Barbara received her MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, where she was subsequently a visiting fellow. She was also a faculty associate at Harvard University. Barbara lived in Moscow in 1990s and travelled extensively in the former Soviet Union, including Central Asia.
Booking will close 48 hours before the scheduled date for the event, i.e. by 7.00 pm on Tuesday,18th June, so that we can notify KCL in advance of the names of those who have booked to attend in-person. GBRS will disseminate the Microsoft Teams link by email to online attendees on Wednesday, 19th June the day before the talk on Thursday, 20th June. As with Zoom, those attending the Microsoft Teams meeting will be able to take part in the Q & A session, either by putting questions orally or by the Chat mechanism. This event will also be attended by KCL staff and students. For GBRS members and non-members booking via the GBRS website, 35 tickets have been allocated for in-person attendees and 40 tickets have been allocated for online attendees. Tickets, particularly for in-person attendance, are likely to be taken up very quickly and so, if you would like to attend in-person, you are encouraged to book early.
It would be helpful if on 20th June you could aim to arrive at the Strand Building between 6.30 pm and (at the latest) 6.45 pm so as to register in good time at reception. KCL will kindly be providing drinks from 6.30 pm on.
