Two Centuries of Russian-Australian Relations 1807 - 2007. Ed. by A. Massov, J. McNair, Th. Poole. Adelaide: Crawford House Publishing, 2007. 419 p.

The joint work of Russian and Australian historians is of a jubilee nature. At the same time, it continues the long tradition of mutual study of each other, which dates back to the first decades of the XIX century. The Australian editors and at the same time the authors of two interesting essays continued their fruitful collaboration with their Russian colleagues, which several years ago already brought the first significant result - a very informative collection of articles [Russia and the Fifth Continent, 1992]. In the same years, two collections of documentary materials on the history of Russian-Australian relations were prepared in Russia [Russian Sailors..., 1993; Australia..., 2007].

The reviewed collection is divided into six parts. The first two are devoted to the history of Russian-Australian relations in the pre-revolutionary period, and the next two are devoted to Soviet-Australian relations before and after World War II. The fifth part deals with the history of Russian immigration to Australia and the history of cultural interaction between the two peoples. In conclusion, the author gives an outline of relations between Russia and Australia at the present stage. Thus, the reader is presented with a complete panorama of our joint history over 200 years.

The author of the first two parts, A. Y. Massov, begins with an overview of the visits of the Russian Navy ships to the ports of the Fifth Continent, which for a long time were the main form of communication and occupied a central place in the history of relations between the Russian Empire and the British colonies located there. Massov traditionally divides the history of naval visits into a "honeymoon" (1807-1835) and a much longer period of "war panics" and "growing Russophobia" in Australia (1853-1903). Despite the well-known conventionality of these formulations, the author's idea is quite clear, and the tasks set by him are being solved quite successfully. One can only disagree with Massov in the interpretation of the classification of naval visits proposed by him. In particular, he singles out "political visits" in a special category, which includes visits to Australian ports by the corvette Rynda in 1888 and the cruiser Gromoboy in 1901. However, in the first case, we were talking about another familiarization and reconnaissance voyage, practiced by the Russian Fleet in these waters since 1862, and in the second-about the "flag demonstration", undertaken on the Highest instructions in response to the dispatch of the newest British cruiser to the Pacific Ocean.

In the next chapter, written by A. Y. Masov in collaboration with Yu. D. Aksenov, the history of the Russian consular mission in Australia for the entire period of the consuls ' activity (1857-1918) is also considered in detail. The significance of this topic is all the more important because there were no diplomatic relations between Russia and the British colonies, so the consuls were the only official representatives of the Russian government there. It is worth noting that it is incorrect to call a consulate a "diplomatic mission", as the authors sometimes do. It is also regrettable that the personal characteristics of the consuls have been overlooked. For example, N. P. Passek was a very outstanding person. He graduated from a fashionable school in England and the law school of Moscow University. The consulate in Melbourne was his first

* Meetings under the Southern Cross. Two centuries of Russian-Australian relations. 1807-2007 / Edited by A. Massov, J. McNair, T. Poole. Adelaide: Crawford House Publishing House, 2007. 419 p.

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a foreign appointment received already in adulthood. Burdened by his service on a distant continent, Passek was transferred to Bushehr, where he pursued an active anti-English policy and even contributed to the failure of the visit of the Viceroy of India to Persia (Chirkin, 2006).

The personal aspect of the history of relations between Russia and Australia is considered on the example of N. N. Miklukho-Maklay, to whom a special chapter is devoted quite deservedly. The multi-faceted activity of the famous Russian researcher was not limited to serving science, so A. Massov showed not only his research work, but also his socio-political activity, including attempts to establish a Russian settlement in the neighborhood of Australia. Special attention should be paid to Miklukho-Maclay's secret correspondence with the Foreign Ministry at the time of the Afghan crisis in 1885, which contains important military and political information, although the author himself tends to underestimate its significance. It should be noted that Massov was a member of the team of historians who prepared the complete edition of the epistolary heritage of Miklukho-Maklay, in which these letters were first introduced into scientific circulation [Miklukho-Maklay, 1996].

The section devoted to the relations between the Australian colonies and the Russian Empire concludes with an essay by E. Govor about the life of former Russian subjects who came to the Fifth Continent in different ways.

The chapters on Soviet-Australian relations have been prepared by leading Australian experts on this subject. The section opens with a comprehensive review of sources and literature on Soviet influence on the formation of the Communist movement in Australia, prepared by C. Windle (Australian National University). In the introduction, the author provides interesting data on the participation of Australians in the Entente military intervention in Soviet Russia and precedes the main test with biographical information about the most active Russian figures of the revolutionary movement.

D. Lavell (Australian Defence Force Academy) highlighted the Comintern's activities on the Fifth Continent, clearly showing that the "hand of Moscow" reached there as well. The author examines in detail all stages of the relationship between the leadership of the Third International and the Australian Communist Party from its foundation in 1920 to its ban in 1940. Having carefully studied the archives of the Comintern, Lavell comes to the conclusion that he played a more significant role in the formation of the KPA than was previously thought.

Of great interest is also the research of J. R. R. Tolkien. McNair (University of Queensland), dedicated to the "pilgrimage" of Australians to the "workers ' paradise", as some of them imagined the Soviet Union. The most famous of the admirers of the Soviet experiment was the writer K. S. Prichard, whose works are well known to the Russian reader.

T. Poole, one of the largest Australian Russian scholars, chose the topic of his research combat cooperation between Australia and the USSR during the Second World War. The strained relations between the two countries were completely transformed after June 22, 1941, when they suddenly found themselves in the same camp. It was during the war that Australia and the USSR established diplomatic relations. The author draws attention to the fact that the alliance was asymmetric in nature, since until the very end of the war, the Soviet Union remained neutral towards Japan, the most dangerous Axis power for Australia. Poole opens new pages to this unique chapter in the history of Russian-Australian relations, in particular the episode with the activities of "Russian fascists" in Australia.

The entire post-war period of Soviet-Australian relations is characterized in the book by one word - "cold snap" and is covered by G. Gill (University of Sydney). During these decades, as the author has shown, relations between the two countries were determined not so much by their own interests as by the general international context of the Cold War era. At the time of the highly publicized Petrov affair, as an American observer noted, "Australia was in a state of anti-communist hysteria comparable to the McCarthyist era in the United States" (Gunter, 1972, p. 115). Canberra's policy towards the Soviet Union acquired a certain specificity during the Soviet-Chinese confrontation, as China was perceived as the main threat to Australia. In Moscow, the distant country was perceived primarily as a member of the Western alliance, but in itself it was of little interest to Soviet politicians.

The life of Russian immigrants in Australia in the Soviet and post-Soviet period was covered by G. I. Kanevskaya. It examines the Russian diaspora in the Australian context and in close cooperation with local society, traces the history of its formation, shows the mechanisms of adaptation of Russian immigrants to a foreign cultural environment, and demonstrates the achievements of Russian Australians in various fields. Special attention is paid to the cultural life of the Diaspora.

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The history of cultural interaction between the two countries is considered in detail by A. S. Petrikovskaya. In particular, she notes the increased attention paid to Australia by Russian publicists and researchers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who found instructive lessons for their homeland in the Australian experience. Summing up her many years of research, Petrikovskaya comes to a reasonable conclusion that the main means of mutual knowledge was literature.

E. Govor devoted her second essay to the diverse forms of Russian perception of Australia. She convincingly showed that "Australia, as a product of Russian ideas, images and dreams, is an important part of the history of Russian-Australian contacts" (p.305). The chapter traces the main stages of constructing such a unique cultural phenomenon as "Russian Australia", contains interesting observations on the process of forming ideas about a distant continent in Russia, and shows the multidimensional nature and complexity of the images being formed.

In conclusion, we can state that the new collective work of Russian and Australian historians sums up a peculiar result of the development of the historiography of studying the relations between the two countries. It significantly enriches and complements the ideas formed on the basis of the currently existing literature. A large number of new documentary materials are introduced into scientific circulation, the authors offer their own well-founded interpretations of various aspects of the complex process of interaction between the two countries, put forward new ideas and outline the prospects for further research. The book is decorated with carefully selected illustrations, many of which for the first time become the property of an interested reader.

list of literature

Australia in Russian Perception, 1807-2007. Impressions. Images. Ideas / Comp. by I. N. Vasilyeva-Yuzhin, Moscow: Rudomino, 2007.

Miklukho-Maklay N. N. Collected Works, vol. 5. Letters. Documents and materials, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1996.

Russian sailors and travelers in Australia / Comp. E. V. Govor, A. Ya. Massov, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1993.

Chirkin St. Twenty Years of Service in the East, Moscow: Russian Way Publ., 2006.
Gunther J. Inside Australia / Ed. by W.H. Forbis. N.Y.: Harper & Row Publishers, 1972.

Russia and the Fifth Continent. Aspects of Russian-Australian Relations / Ed. by J. McNair and Th. Poole. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1992.

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