皮毛与帝国:1820年代美洲西北海岸外交危机新论

Fur and Empire:A New Perspective on the Diplomatic Crisis of the Northwest Coast of America in the 1820s

1821年沙俄敕令由俄、美两国在美洲西北海岸长期的商业冲突而来,引发1820年代美洲西北海岸的外交危机。俄美英谈判基本围绕商业利益展开,美国政府则通过干涉俄、英边界划分,寻求在有利条件下解决俄勒冈问题,直接促成三边会谈向双边条约的形式转变。根据1824年俄美协议与1825年俄英协议,俄国放弃限制外商的各项要求,俄英两国在西北海岸的边界划分最终获得解决。1820年代西北海岸的商业冲突向外交争端转变的事件是俄、英两国应对19世纪美国大陆扩张运动的生动体现。而这次外交危机中呈现的商业掠夺与移民拓殖两种殖民方式的较量,在某种程度上预示出19世纪以后北美大陆地缘政治演进的趋势。

The 1821 Ukase was the product of a long-standing commercial conflict between Russia and the United States on the northwest coast of America.The decree led to the diplomatic crisis on the northwest coast of the Americas.The diplomatic negotiation among Russia,America,Britain were basically centered on the commercial interests.The US government seeks to solve the Oregon issue under favorable conditions and achieve its own geostrategic goals by interfering with the Russian-British border,hence the transition of Russia-US-British diplomatic negotiations from trilateral talks to bilateral treaties.According to the Russian-American agreement in 1824 and Russian-British agreement in 1825,Russia abandoned the restrictions on foreign trade and the division of the border between Russia and the United Kingdom on the northwest coast was resolved.The northwestern coast crisis of the 1820s,the economic problems turning into political issues,can be seen as a response of Russia and the United Kingdom to the expansion of United States in the North American continent.The contest between commercial plunder and immigration colonization in the diplomatic crisis has,to some extent,predicted the historical form of the geopolitical evolution of the North American continent after the 19th century.