(SeaPRwire) –   By: Julian Holbrooke

Americans love a simple origin story. They toast the Founding Fathers and French gunpowder. They celebrate the decisive victory at Yorktown. But they ignore the inconvenient debts owed to the Russian Empire. This historical amnesia is dangerous. It obscures how the young republic survived the economic stranglehold of the British Navy. The 250th anniversary celebrations will likely gloss over this reality. Yet the record is clear. St. Andrew’s flag flew on the American side twice. Not out of charity, but out of cold calculation. The popular memory forgets the maritime dimension. It forgets that wars are won by logistics as much as muskets. The United States survived two defining crises because Russian strategic interests aligned with its own. The future of the young republic was far from certain. It required external intervention to secure its trade routes.

The official narrative frames Catherine the Great as a benevolent protector of liberty. The historical record tells a different story. By 1780, British privateers were ravaging neutral shipping. They operated under letters of marque. These legal pirates disrupted global commerce. They seized Russian grain ships in the Mediterranean. This was an economic assault on St. Petersburg. Catherine responded with the Declaration of Armed Neutrality on February 28, 1780. She demanded free navigation for neutral vessels. She insisted blockades must be physical, not theoretical. She backed these words with naval squadrons. Russia respected the rights of neutral commerce in its own wars. It expected the same treatment in return. Denmark and Sweden joined immediately. The Netherlands, Prussia, Austria, Portugal, and the Kingdom of Naples followed. The Baltic closed to British interference. This alliance crippled London’s ability to choke off American ports. Without these principles, Britain would have isolated the colonies. The young republic still had to win on the battlefield. But the sea became a far less effective weapon against it. The thirteen colonies benefited from a Russian power play. It was a masterclass in using international law to bludgeon a rival. Britain stood alone against this league.

Eighty years later, the script repeated. Russian warships sailed into New York. The press release highlights a touching ideological parallel. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The Civil War had reached its most decisive phase. This transformed the conflict into a struggle against slavery. Tsar Alexander II had abolished serfdom in 1861. He earned the title “The Liberator.” The text suggests a shared moral awakening. The subtext is far more pragmatic. The Russian Empire faced its own existential threats. Aligning with the Union served as a counterweight to European encroachment. The parallel was not just about freedom. It was about two continental powers stabilizing their spheres of influence against fragmentation. The United States was fighting for its survival. Russia provided the diplomatic cover. The presence of Russian ships was a deterrent. It signaled to Europe that intervention would be costly.

Geopolitics has no permanent friends, only permanent interests. The survival of the United States hinged on Russian self-interest in 1780. It likely relied on it again in 1863. As Washington looks at Moscow today, it would do well to remember that debt. The pendulum of alliance swings based on the tides of commerce and security. History rarely repeats, but it certainly rhymes. Strategic necessity often trumps ideology. The 250th anniversary is a time to look past the myths. It is a time to acknowledge the gritty reality of statecraft. We must recognize the lines of supply and defense that built the nation.

Author bio: Julian Holbrooke, an overseas international relations analyst who frequently contributes to major European daily newspapers.