Navy officers and representatives of historic institutions have participated in some of these activities in Russia. Many cultural events and meetings, scientific conferences, historic publications, naval parades, and ship visits were planned and some have already been implemented in the country and abroad during the last two years. Once again, the significance of the navy, with its heroic history and traditions, was reflected in the government's decision of July 1993 to mark the 300 th anniversary as a national celebration. Part of the credit for the last 50 peaceful years, which became the core of our country's foreign policy based on the balance of power, could be attributed to Russia's modern blue-water naval forces built over the past decades. The past proved the important role of the Russian fleet in upholding national interests, defending the nation, and bolstering its economic development and international standing. However, each time, the navy revived together with the country. In their 300-year history, Russia and its navy experienced periods of prosperity and decline.
History assigned this mission to Peter the Great, thus forever linking further development and the traditions of the Russian fleet to the name of its great founder. On October 20, 1663, the Boyar Duma adopted by a special decree Peter the Great's proposal of the first law on the Russian fleet and this day marked the official date of the establishment of the Russian Navy.Īn understanding of the need to create a navy in Russia evolved at the time of the struggle of the people of the country for the integrity, independence, and status of the Russian state as a major world power. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great pleasure and a privilege for me to have been invited to comment on the coming Russian Navy anniversary-300 years of its history as a regular force. Naval Attaché, Embassy of the Russian Federation
THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RUSSIAN NAVY Indeed, we are here today - Russians and Americans-to recognize the current mutual friendship of our two peoples and to honor the 300th anniversary of the proud Russian Navy. Happily, the days of Cold War confrontation are over. The Incidents at Sea Agreement and similar measures resulted from that cold-eyed assessment. Both sides recognized that an unanticipated incident at sea, involving the heavily armed naval vessels of the two superpowers, could have lead to global conflagration. We look forward to your insights on this critical topic.Īs the title of our conference indicates, however, at times cooperation also characterized the Cold War interaction between the U.S. Few individuals have been as close to that subject as some of the men and women with us today, on the dias and in our distinguished audience. Hence, the battle lines have been drawn on this issue. Navy, that for over two decades during the late Cold War the Navy's leaders "had chosen to perpetrate a lie " to wit, that they knew that the Soviet Navy was a "paper tiger" but hid that fact from the American people. Vistica, in his recent work, Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank the U.S. in those scenarios involving our most vital interests." Persuaded by these and other naval leaders that the Soviet Navy was on the move around the globe, an alarmed Congress lavished resources on the Navy Department in the 1980s, enabling Secretary John Lehman and his chiefs of naval operations to build their almost 600-ship fleet. Navy retained only a "slim margin of superiority. Holloway III, at the end of his tour in 1978, concluded that the U.S. Zumwalt Jr., the Chief of Naval Operations, informed a hushed Senate Appropriations Committee that if the United States Navy were to fight the Soviet Navy in a conventional war, "we would lose." Just before his retirement in 1974, he observed that "we stand now at our point of greatest weakness and, in my estimate, in our greatest jeopardy." The admiral added: "The United States has lost control of the sea lanes to the Soviet Union." Zumwalt's successor, Admiral James L.
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