Mission of the Vixen

The mission of the Vixen was a conflict between the Russian Empire and Great Britain that occurred in 1836.

Preconditions

Under the treaty of Adrianople the Russian Empire had been granted the East coast of the Black Sea by the Ottoman Empire. However Russia had no complete control over these territories (The Circassians Coast) from Anapa in the north to Sochi in the south. The mountaineers resisted the Russian authorities and did not admit the Russian Control over their country Circassia, because Circassia was not part of the Ottoman Empire and the relations between Circassia and the Ottoman Empire were mainly a commercial and religious relations only. The mountaineers (Adyghe) were supported by English, French and the Polish immigrants. They were supplied with weapons and ammunition from abroad. On March 4, 1832 an instruction for the Black Sea cruisers was published in attempt to stop these deliveries. It said:

"For preservation of the Russian possessions from infection and to prevent the delivery of military supplies to the mountain people, military cruisers will permit foreign commercial vessels only to two points – Anapa and Redoute-kale in which there is a quarantine and customs...."

Great Britain regarded it as infringement of the principle of freedom of commerce.

Provocation

In November 1836 the Russian military brig Ajax detained the British schooner Vixen in (Adyghe: Цӏэмэз,Ts'emez) in the sea port Sudzhuk-Kale (nowadays Novorossiysk). At the moment of detention, 8 guns, 28,800 pounds of gunpowder, and a significant amount of other weapons had already been unloaded. This was deemed a provocation by the Russians, instigated by the first secretary of the British embassy in Constantinople David Urquhart. The Polish immigrants also participated in the organisation of the incident. The crew received instructions to go in Sudzhuk-Kale where meeting with a Russian cruiser was almost inevitable. The owner of a schooner was recommended not to avoid it, but, on the contrary, to search for this meeting in every possible way.

Reaction

The reaction in London to the seizure was one of outrage. The Conservatives brought up in parliament a question on the legality of Circassia being under the jurisdiction of the Russian empire. Russia was threatened with war. After angry statements from London Nikolay I ordered the army and fleet into a condition of raised battle readiness. The schooner, according to the instruction, was confiscated, and its crew was sent to Constantinople.

Consequences

The conflict threatened to develop into war between Russia and Great Britain, but by April 1837 relations had settled down. Urquhart was withdrawn to London. Britain was reluctant to antagonise Russia further, as it could not find a continental ally willing to lend support in a war. The official answer of the government and the Liberal Party to an inquiry by the Conservatives stated that Russia owned Circassia lawfully under the Adrianople peace treaty. Russia therefore continued its blockade of the east coast of Black sea. The conflict became one of a number of episodes of Russian-British rivalry of the 1830's & 1840's which were eventually to contribute to the Crimean war.

References

• Peter Hopkirk The great game: On Secret Service in High Asia, Chapter 12 “The Greatest Fortress in the World”, pp. 158–159, Oxford University Press, 2001 ISBN 0-19-280232-1
• O. Ayrapetov "The foreign policy of Russian Empire (1801–1914)"("Внешняя политика Российской империи (1801–1914)") pp. 149–153