A History of U.S.-Russian Relations

In this article, Garrison Gove will summarize the complex history between the United States and Russia.

History of US and Russia Relations

By Garrison Gove

To say that relations between the United States and Russia are currently strained is an understatement. Relations between the U.S. and Russia are currently at their lowest point in history since the Cold War. Despite this, the U.S. and Russia share many common interests, where cooperation is essential. Being the world’s two nuclear superpowers, the two nations are responsible for ensuring nuclear security and world peace. The two nations also share interests in counterterrorism, space exploration, stopping climate change, governing the Arctic, and combating COVID-19. Even southern Oregon shares connections with Russia; Grants Pass’ only sister city is Rubtsovsk, Russia. The helicopter company Erikson, Inc., whose main facilities are in Central Point, has a contract with the Russian airline Volga-Dnepr to transport its helicopters around the world. In order to understand the current relationship between the two countries, it is important to examine how they went from allies to enemies to frenemies.

A Russian Antonov An-124 descending into Rogue-Valley Medford International Airport. Photo credit: KTVL

Crew of the Russian frigate Osliaba during the American Civil War. Photo credit: U.S.-Russian relations.org

During the era of the Russian Empire, relations between the U.S. and Russia were fairly positive. Although Russia remained neutral during the American Revolution, it favored the United States. During the Civil War, the Imperial Russian Navy dispatched two fleets to American waters to prevent them from getting trapped in case of a war against Britain and France, according to the website U.S-Russia Relations: Quest for Stability, which is run by the Carnegie Corporation. While many Americans viewed this action in support of the Union, several historians dispute this claim. In 1867, the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.

American troops were just starting to see combat in the First World War when the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and removed Russia from the war. During the Russian Civil War, the United States sent two expeditionary forces to Russia to aid the Allied invasion of Russia, according to Military.com. While the goals of the Americans were to prevent Germany from gaining access to war supplies controlled by Bolsheviks, the U.S. government favored the White Movement against the Bolsheviks.

American troops in Arkhangelsk, Russia in 1918. Photo credit: Military.com

2nd Lt. William Robertson of the U.S. army with Lt. Alexander Sylvashko of the Soviet Army near Torgau, Germany, 1945. Photo credit: The Ohio State University

The American government viewed the fledgling Soviet Union as an increasing threat to American values, and refused to formally recognize it until 1933. In June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, bringing the Soviet Union into the Second World War on the Allied side. Four months later, the Japanese bombed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the U.S. onto the Allied side, as well. For the first time in history, the two nations were fighting side by side. Despite this, the mutual distrust between the two persisted. Famed American general George S. Patton said of the Russians: “They are a scurvy race and simply savages. We could beat the hell out of them. The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognizance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously.” Despite the mutual resentment and distrust, cooperation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union proved instrumental in defeating Nazi Germany.

Following the war's end, tensions between the two nations resumed. The U.S. continued to see Communism as a threat to the American way of life, and were weary of Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical rule. The Soviet Union resented America’s long refusal to recognize them as a legitimate nation, as well as their delayed entry into World War II, in which tens of millions of Russians had died. The Cold War had begun.

Throughout the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were both faced with the prospect of mutual assured destruction: if either country used nuclear weapons against the other, both would be destroyed. Therefore, the two nations engaged in several proxy wars, most notably in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. During the presidency of Richard Nixon, both nations experienced a period of détente, or relaxed hostilities. However, tensions resumed under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who described the Soviet Union as an “evil empire”.

U.S. and Soviet tanks facing each other at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Germany, 1961. Photo credit: Rare Historical Photos

To the Struggle Against World Terrorism. Photo credit: NJ.com

In 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved. For a brief instant, it seemed that the two nations would finally enter a state of peace. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Vladimir Putin announced that any pre-existing hostilities between the two nations would be postponed, and condoned a tough response to “these barbaric acts”. The Russian government gifted a 10-story tall sculpture, To the Struggle Against World Terrorism, which currently stands in Bayonne, New Jersey, according to 911 Monument.com.

Sadly, tensions between the two nations have grown worse since 2014. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine, military intervention in Syria, and alleged interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections, as well as NATO expansion, American support of Georgia during its armed conflict with Russia in 2008, and Russia’s portrayal in American media have all significantly soured relations between the two nations. Nevertheless, as someone who has always greatly admired Russian history, culture, music, and innovation, I remain hopeful, but not optimistic, that relations between the U.S. and Russia will improve.

Anti-American protesters outside of the U.S. embassy in Moscow, Russia, 2015. Photo credit: Voice of America

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