How Peter I planned to cut a window to India, and how the Russian Tsar's expedition to Madagascar ended

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

By the time Peter the Great set up to reign, the states of Western Europe, with a more developed fleet, managed to colonize almost all known overseas lands. However, this did not bother the active tsar - he decided to equip an expedition to Madagascar in order to make the island a zone of Russian influence. The purpose of such a maneuver was India - a country with the richest resources, which attracted all the major maritime powers at that time.

Who was the first, or why the Russians were racing with the Swedes to Madagascar

Madagascar is an island in southeastern Africa that became famous in the 16th century thanks to Portuguese sailors. Later it fell under the rule of the French, and by the beginning of the 18th century Madagascar was taken over by corsairs who controlled trade routes to India from Europe and back. Weak attempts by the British, French and Dutch to fight pirates, organizing punitive expeditions for this, ended in nothing.

In 1721, Sweden, having lost the Northern War and hoping for new sources of income, decided to conclude a mutually beneficial alliance with the Madagascar pirates. But already in the process of preparing the expedition, the head of which was to be Vice Admiral Daniel Wilster, it was discovered that the budget was so depleted that it would not even be enough for half of the equipment and food for the campaign.

Meanwhile, the failed head of the expedition, Wilster, seeing the deplorable state of affairs in the Swedish camp, arrived in St. Petersburg. Having got to an appointment with Peter I under the pretext of an important state matter, he revealed the plans of Sweden, proposing to the Russian tsar to bring them to life. Describing the corsair island, the nosy naval officer called it the Kingdom of Madagascar, hinting that the agreement with the pirates could be concluded peacefully, without military pressure.

In fact, the pirates themselves called the island the kingdom, organizing life in their settlements on a free basis, without any state structure.

How the Russian Tsar's Madagascar expedition was prepared

Peter was so fired up with the proposed idea that, without hesitation, he began preparations for the expedition. Mindful of the revealed plans of the Swedes, and not wanting the same fate, the tsar kept secret all preparations for the campaign, primarily from Daniel Wilster. The latter was sent away from harm to the Rogervik fortress, where he was practically in the position of a prisoner until his departure as the head of the operation.

Meanwhile, secretly from the College of Foreign Affairs and the Admiralty, an expedition strategy was developed at the headquarters of the fleet commander. The tsar ordered her, observing the same secrecy, to allocate three thousand gold rubles from the treasury. In the documents related to the Madagascar campaign, there was not even a hint of the final destination - instead of it, the vague phrase "follow to your assigned place" appeared.

Two warships - 32-gun frigates, which participated in the expedition, sailed under the trade flag. However, due to the impossibility of concealing the true purpose of the ships, the route for them was outlined not through the English Channel (aka the English Channel), but around the British Isles. Upon departure, the captains of the ships received sealed secret instructions, which they undertook to open only after entering the North Sea. Thanks to such secrecy, it was possible to avoid publicity about the preparation, purpose and final point of the expedition: before the departure of the ships, not a single foreign citizen had learned about it.

How Peter I was ready to enter into an alliance with pirates in order to cut a window to India and gain access to its fabulous riches

Peter the First planned that upon arriving on the island, Daniel Wilster would convey the message of the king to the "ruler of Madagascar", after which he would establish diplomatic and trade relations with the pirate authorities. The tsar also hoped to organize in the future the embassy of Madagascar in Russian St. Petersburg. After finishing business on the island, Wilster had to sail to India in order to establish a similar relationship with the Mughal Empire.

Violent colonization was not envisaged in either case - everything was based on agreements of a peaceful nature. Madagascar was planned to be used as a staging post on the way to Bengal, as India was called in the old days. India itself represented an object where it was profitable to purchase a variety of goods due to very inexpensive prices.

Why the Madagascar epic of Peter I was not realized

Departure of the ships "Amsterdam-Galey" and "Dekrondelivde", on board of which there were a total of 400 people, took place on December 21, 1723. However, having safely departed from the pier, the ships, not even reaching the Kingdom of Denmark, fell into a violent storm. As a result, one of the frigates received a hole, and the other lost stability - the ability to return from a state of heel to a position of balance. It was not possible to continue the journey with such problems, and therefore the frigates simply returned to their port.

Failure did not discourage Peter the Great from getting to the Black Continent - he began a new, more thorough and thoughtful preparation for the second expedition. However, the death of the emperor prevented the completion of the plan, after which they put an end to the project. However, even if Peter's plans had come true, there was no one to establish diplomatic relations in Madagascar - soon, as a result of a successful military operation by the British, the corsairs lost control of the island.

Subsequently, the Russian Navy historian Theodosius Veselago explained the collapse of the Madagascar expedition for several reasons. Among them: lack of experience in ocean navigation of sailors - especially in stormy weather; lack of allocated funds for the very preparation of the operation; poor technical equipment of the ships due to the youth of the Russian fleet.

Although not all of Theodosius Fedorovich's contemporaries agreed with the last point, arguing that in the years before the death of Peter the Great, the Russian fleet was already on a par with the best in Europe. In addition, the tsar consisted of many experienced foreigners in the naval service, who, with their knowledge and practice, helped to raise the Russian fleet to the world standards existing at that time.

In general, the tropics are quite wild and still mysterious place. Some strange and frankly wild traditions will frighten even seasoned travelers.