International Dimension in Colonization of the North-West of America and California at the End of the 17-18 ^th Centuries

The article reviews the initial period of European colonization of the North Pacific Ocean and California within the context of diplomatic relations between Russia and Spain during the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries. It tries to understand the policies of European powers in the American Northwest and the reasons for pursuing their colonial interests there. It analyses the history of exploration of these territories, expeditions to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, and historical maps of this region. For the first time in Russian historiography the authors touch upon the exploration of California in the 18^th century.

The exploration of the North Pacific Ocean, the northwestern American coast, including certain areas of California, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands has long attracted the attention of European powers. It was a process in which government authorities and private merchant companies took part. The expansion of the Spanish Empire into California was made possible in part because of the concerns of the Madrid court about the strengthening of the Russian and British empires in the North Pacific Ocean. The Spanish documents from the archives of Madrid, Seville and Simancas – the article introduces them into research communication the first time - show the validity of the fears of the Madrid court regarding the inevitable development of Russian colonization in the region. The advance of Russia to the shores of America has economic reasons: Cossacks and merchants reached the Pacific Ocean pursuing the desire to profit from the fur trade. As the economic influence expanded, the state interests of annexing territories and bringing the local population into citizenship followed behind. The territorial advance of the Russians to the Pacific Ocean was facilitated by the ambitious, but at the same time balanced diplomacy of Peter I, which managed to ensure the expansion of the borders of the Russian Empire.

Spanish consolidation in certain territories in California was aimed at a possible containment of the Russian advance. Russian-Spanish relations in the Northwest Pacific at the end of the 17^th – 18^th centuries contributed to the nature of the subsequent development of territories in the North Pacific Ocean.

1. Al'perovich M.S. 1993. Rossiia i Novyi Svet (posledniaia tret' XVIII veka) [Russia and the New World (the Last Third of the 18th Century)]. Moscow: Nauka. 238 p. (In Russian).

2. Berkh V.N. 1823. Khronologicheskaia istoriia otkrytiia Aleutskikh ostrovov ili Podvigi rossiiskago kupechestva. S prisovokupleniem Istoricheskago izvestiia o mekhovoi torgovle. [Chronological History of the Discovery of the Aleutian Islands or the Feats of the Russian Merchant. With the Addition of Historical News about Fur Trade]. Saint Petersburg: V tipografii N. Grecha. (In Russian).

3. Bobylev V.S. 1997. Rossiia i Ispaniia v mezhdunarodnykh otnosheniiakh vtoroi poloviny XVIII veka. [Russia and Spain in International Relations of the second half of the XVIII century]. Mosxow: RUDN. 284 p. (In Russian).

4. Bolkhovitinov N.N. 1991. Rossiia otkryvaet Ameriku, 1732–1799. [Russia Opens America, 1732-1799]. Moscow: Mezhdunar. otnosheniia. 302 p. (In Russian).

5. Volosiuk O.V. 2018. Ispantsy i russkie na Tikhom okeane. [Spanish and Russians in the Pacific.]. Ispaniia i Rossiia: diplomatiia i dialog kul'tur. Moscow: Indrik. P. 101–109. (In Russian).

6. Efimov A.V. 1971. Iz istorii velikikh russkikh geograficheskikh otkrytii. [From the History of Great Russian Geographical Discoveries]. Moscow: Nauka. 300 p. (In Russian). Ispaniia i Rossiia: diplomatiia i dialog kul'tur. Tri stoletiia otnoshenii. Espana y Rusia: diplomacia y dialogo de culturas. Tres siglos de relaciones. [Spain and Russia: Diplomacy and Dialogue of Cultures. Three Centuries of the Relations]. 2018. Otv. red. O.V. Volosiuk. Moscow: Indrik. 928 p. (In Russian).

7. Istoriia Russkoi Ameriki (1732–1867): v 3-kh tomakh. T. 1. Osnovanie Russkoi Ameriki (1732–1799). [History of Russian America (1732–1867): in 3 volumes. T. 1. Founding of Russian America (1732–1799)]. 1997. Otv. red. akad. N. N. Bolkhovitinov. Moscow: Mezhdunar. otnosheniia. 478 p. (In Russian).

8. Khlebnikov K.T. 1979. Russkaia Amerika v neopublikovannykh zapiskakh K.T. Khlebnikova. [Russian America in Unpublished Notes by K.T. Khlebnikov]. Sost., vved. i komment. R.G. Liapunovoi, S.G. Fedorovoi. Leningrad: Nauka. Leningr. otd-nie. 280 p. (In Russian).

9. Konoplev V.A. 2012. El'dorado Russkoi Ameriki: poiski pushnykh bogatstv k iugu ot Aleutskogo arkhipelaga (1741–1840). [Eldorado of Russian America: Search for Fur Riches South of the Aleutian Archipelago (1741–1840)]. Gumanitarnye i sotsial'nye nauki. № 5. P. 24– 33. (In Russian).

10. Magidovich I.P. 1962. Istoriia otkrytiia i issledovaniia Severnoi Ameriki. [History of the Discovery and Research of North America]. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo geograficheskoi literatury. 475 p. (In Russian).

11. Magidovich I.P., Magidovich V.I. 1984. Ocherki po istorii geograficheskikh otkrytii. T. 3.

12. Geograficheskie otkrytiia i issledovaniia novogo vremeni (seredina XVII – XVIII vv.) [Essays on the History of Geographical Discoveries. T. 3. Geographical Discoveries and Studies of the New Time (mid-17th – 18th Centuries)]. Moscow: Prosveshchenie. 319 p. (In Russian).

13. Magidovich I.P., Magidovich V.I. 1985. Ocherki po istorii geograficheskikh otkrytii. T.4. Geograficheskie otkrytiia i issledovaniia novogo vremeni (XIX – nachalo XX v.) [Essays on the History of Geographical Discoveries. T. 4. Geographical Discoveries and Studies of the New Time (XIX – early XX centuries)]. Moscow: Prosveshchenie. 335 p. (In Russian).

14. Makarova R. V. 1968. Russkie na Tikhom okeane vo vtoroi polovine XVIII v. [Russians in the Pacific Ocean in the Second Half of the 18th Century]. Moscow: Nauka. 200 p. (In Russian). Markov S. N. 1991. Letopis' Aliaski. [Chronicle of Alaska]. Moscow: Rus. tsentr «Peresvet». 188 p. (In Russian).

15. Okun' S. B. 1939. Rossiisko-amerikanskaia kompaniia. [Russian-American Company]. Moscow – Leningrad: Sotsekgiz. 260 p. (In Russian).

16. Петров А.Ю. 2000. Образование Российско-американской компании. Москва. 153 с. Petrov A.Iu. 2018. Vitus Bering: u istokov istoriko-kul'turnogo naslediia Russkoi Ameriki. [Vitus Bering: at the Origin of the Historical and Cultural Heritage of Russian America]. Voprosy istorii. № 7. P. 12–29. (In Russian).

17. Petrov A.Iu., Mitropolit Kliment (Kapalin), Savel'ev I.V. 2015. Stanovlenie kolonial'nogo prava v Russkoi Amerike. [Establishment of Colonial Law in Russian America]. Rossiiskaia istoriia. № 4. P. 101–111. (In Russian).

18. Postnikov A.V. 2000. Russkaia Amerika v geograficheskikh opisaniiakh i na kartakh, 1741– 1867 gg. [Russian America in Geographical Descriptions and Maps, 1741–1867]. Saint Petersburg: Dmitrii Bulanin. 470 p. (In Russian).

19. Rossiisko-amerikanskaia kompaniia i izuchenie Tikhookeanskogo Severa, 1799–1815. Sb. dok. [Russian-American Company and Study of the Pacific North, 1799–1815. Collection of documents]. 1994. T. 3. Red. A.L. Narochnitskii, N.N. Bolkhovitinov. Moscow: Nauka. 275 p. (In Russian).

20. Rossiisko-amerikanskaia kompaniia i izuchenie Tikhookeanskogo Severa, 1815–1841. [Russian-American Company and Study of the Pacific North, 1815–1841]. 2005. T. 4. Red. N.N. Bolkhovitinov, A.V. Grinev, A.Iu. Petrov, T.S. Fedorova. Moscow: Nauka. 456 p. (In Russian).

21. Rossiisko-amerikanskaia kompaniia i izuchenie Tikhookeanskogo Severa, 1841–1867. [Russian-American Company and Study of the Pacific North, 1841–1867]. 2010. T.5. Red. A.Iu. Petrov. Moscow: Nauka. 480 p. (In Russian).

22. Rossiia v Kalifornii: russkie dokumenty o kolonii Ross i rossiisko-kaliforniiskikh sviaziakh, 1803—1850: v 2-kh tt. [Russia in California: Russian documents on Ross Colony and Russian-California ties, 1803–1850: in 2 volumes]. 2005. T. 1. 2012. T. 2. Sost. i podgotov. A.A. Istomin, Dzh. Gibson, V.A. Tishkov. Moscow: Nauka. 752 s. 524 p. (In Russian).

23. Rossiia i Ispaniia na severo-zapade Ameriki vo vtoroi polovine XVIII v. (po materialam ispanskikh arkhivov). [Russia and Spain in North-West America in the Second Half of the 18th Century (According to Spanish Archives)]. 2020. Sost., pod obshch. red. A. Iu. Petrova; red.– sost. V. N. Kostornichenko ; avt.: A. Iu. Petrov, V. N. Kostornichenko, A. A. Al'vares Soler, E. V. Vilar, O. V. Neshkes; per s isp. O. V. Neshkes, A. V. Ivolgin, D. S. Shmarev Riazan': Riaz. gos. un–t im. S. A. Esenina. 218 p. (In Russian).

24. Rossiia i Ispaniia: v 2-kh tomakh. T. 1. [Russia and Spain: in 2 volumes. T. 1.]. 1991. Sost. O.V. Volosiuk, K. V. Rozhkov, Kh. M. Gonsales. Moscow: Mezhdunar. otnosheniia. 470 p. (In Russian).

25. Russkie ekspedicii po izucheniyu severnoj chasti Tihogo okeana v pervojpolovine XVIII v. Sb. dok. 1984. («Issledovaniya russkih na Tihom okeane v XVIII — pervoj polovine XIX v. Tom 1).Sost. T.S. Fedorova i dr.; vstup. stat'ya A.L. Narochnickogo (gl.red.). Moscow: Nauka. 320 p. (In Russian).

26. Russkie ekspedicii po izucheniyu severnoj chasti Tihogo okeana vo vtoroj polovine XVIII v. Sb. dok. 1989.(«Issledovaniya russkih na Tihom okeane v XVIII — pervoj polovine XIX v. Tom 2). Sost. T.S. Fedorova i dr). Moscow: Nauka. 400 s. (In Russian).

27. Tikhmenev P. A. 1861–1863. Istoricheskoe obozrenie obrazovaniia Rossiisko-Amerikanskoi kompanii i deistvii ee do nastoiashchego vremeni. [Historical overview of the formation of the Russian-American Company and its actions to date]. Ch. 1–2. Saint Petersburg: tip. E. Veimara. 780 p. (In Russian).