Informants, Spies and Agents of the British Ambassador to Catherine's Russia

Abstract

The goal of the article is to clarify the channels of information about the Russian Empire used by the British Ambassador Charles Cathcart in St. Petersburg in 1768—1772. On the base of mostly unpublished documents from the British National Archive and the private Cathcart archive stored in the National Library of Scotland, it can be concluded that with the limited staff of the British Embassy in St. Petersburg, in the absence of a network of secret paid agents, the ambassador could rely mainly on his personal observations and on the inquiries of compatriots invited to the Russian service. Although the ambassador achieved confidential permanent contacts with count N. I. Panin, using a mutually beneficial exchange of secret data obtained through diplomatic channels of the two countries, and managed to “buy” Panin’s employee Caspar Saldern, according to the political results, Cathcart’s mission to Russia is still considered unsuccessful. However, the ambassador's close personal relations with the Empress and her inner circle contributed to the strengthening of British cultural influence at the top of Russian society and the preservation of mutual interest, both in the economic and political fields.