Meanwhile in the Crimea, now 'independent' of Istanbul after Kuchuk- Kainardzhi, the pro-Russian Khan Shagin Giray was overthrown by his own subjects. Potemkin ordered his troops in the Crimea to restore Shagin Giray. The Turks, who had even sent an abortive expedition in August 1777 to overthrow the Khan, needed a Western ally to support them against Russia, but Austria and Prussia were busy harvesting Bohemian potatoes and France was about to join the Americans in their War of Independence.
Potemkin and Panin, secretly emerging as leaders of pro-Austrian and pro- Prussian factions, agreed with Catherine that Russia, though obliged by treaty to aid its ally Prussia, did not want a German war, which would weaken its position in the Crimea. France also did not wish these flashpoints to lead to war. Its sole aim was to prevent Britain finding a Continental ally. Thus, instead of encouraging war, France worked to reconcile the differences in both disputes. Russia offered to co-mediate with France between Prussia and Austria. In return for Catherine not helping Prussia, France agreed to mediate between Russia and the Turks.
The mediators compelled Austria to back down. Catherine and Potemkin worked together while bickering about their own relationship, her favourites and his nieces. 'Batinka,' she wrote to the Prince, 'I'll be glad to receive the plan of operations from your hands ... I'm angry with you, sir, why do you speak to me in parables?'15 Potemkin ordered a corps under Prince Repnin to march west to help Prussia. Both sides were supposed to have offered Potemkin vast bribes. The Austrian Chancellor Kaunitz offered 'a considerable sum', Frederick the Duchy of Courland. 'Had I accepted the duchy of Courland it would not have been difficult for me to obtain the crown of Poland since the Empress might have induced the king to abdicate in my favour,' Potemkin supposedly claimed later.16 In fact, there is no proof any money was offered or taken, especially since Frederick's meanness was legendary. [31]
Peace was settled at Teschen on г/13 May 1779 with Russia as guarantor of the status quo in the Holy Roman Empire. Russia and Turkey had come to an agreement in March at the convention of Ainalikawak, which recognized the independence of the Crimea with Shagin Giray as khan. Both these successes raised Catherine's confidence and prestige in Europe.
Serenissimus welcomed Prince Henry of Prussia back to Petersburg in 1778 to shore up the tottering Prussian alliance. The Hohenzollern did his best to cultivate Potemkin, flattering him that he ranked in a triumvirate with the two senior imperial figures. Henry was touched 'by the marks of the Empress's goodwill, the Grand Duke's friendship and the attention of you, my Prince'.17 Henry knew Potemkin well by then. But one wonders if he was amused when Potemkin unleashed his pet monkey during discussions with the Empress, who started playing with it. Catherine revelled in the Hohenzollern's astonishment. But whether Prince Henry realized it or not, these simian tricks were a sign that Potemkin was no longer interested in the Prussian alliance. Serenissimus sought any means to undermine Panin and advance his new strategy.
On 15 December 1777, Potemkin found his unwitting tool in this struggle. Sir James Harris arrived in Petersburg as the new minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of the Court of St James's. Harris was a very different species of Anglo-Saxon from Potemkin's friends Semple and Kingston. He was a fine advertisement for the suave and cultured English gentleman. Now aged thirty-two, he had made his reputation in a most eighteenth-century manner while on his first posting to Madrid. When Spain and Britain almost went to war over some obscure islands called the Falklands, he should have returned home but instead he lingered twenty miles outside Madrid conducting a love affair. He was therefore uncannily well placed to react quickly and adeptly when the war did not occur. His career was made.18
Britain was fighting the Americans, backed by France, in their War of Independence, so Harris's instructions from the Secretary of State for the North, the Earl of Suffolk, were to negotiate an 'Offensive and Defensive
Alliance' with Russia, which was to provide naval reinforcements. Harris first applied to Panin, who was not inclined to help. Learning of Potemkin's 'inveterate hatred for Monsieur de Panin',19 he decided to cultivate Serenissimus.
On 2,8 June 1779, Sir James screwed up his courage and approached the Prince in the Empress's antechamber with the cheek and flattery most likely to win his attention. 'I told him the moment was now come when Russia must act the greatest part in Europe - and he alone was adequate to direct the conduct of it.' Harris had noticed Potemkin's rising interest in international relations and admired his 'very acute understanding and boundless ambition'. This was the beginning of a close friendship that confirmed Potemkin's Anglophilia20 - but never his real commitment to an English alliance.
Sir James Harris (like his French counterparts) presumed throughout his Russian mission that Potemkin's and Catherine's prime interest was the Anglo- French struggle, not Russia's Turkish conflict. Potemkin took advantage of the deluded Anglocentricity of a Whig gentleman in the last days of Britain's first world empire. So these two scenes - the rivalry of Western diplomats and the secret dreams of Potemkin and Catherine - were played out simultaneously, side by side. The only things Potemkin really had in common with Harris were love of England and hostility towards Panin.
Serenissimus was delighted by Harris's feelers and liked the Englishman, for he impulsively invited him to dinner in his family circle at a nephew's country house. Initially, the Englishman denounced the depravity of Catherine and the 'dissipation' of Potemkin, but now he almost fell in love with the exuberance of the man he proudly called 'my friend'.21 Harris begged Potemkin to send 'an armament', a naval expedition to help Britain, in return for some yet undecided benefit, to restore the balance of power and raise Russia's influence. The Prince seemed struck with this idea and said, 'Whom shall we trust to draw up this declaration and to whom for preparing the armament? Count Panin has neither the will nor the capacity ... he is a Prussian and nothing else; Count Chernyshev [Navy Minister] is a villain and would betray any orders given him.. Л22
Potemkin was also being wooed by Corberon and the new Prussian envoy, Goertz, both of whom described his extravagance, fun and whimsy. But the Prussian was particularly impressed by a man 'so superior by his genius ... that everyone collapses before him'. Harris won this contest: Serenissimus agreed to arrange a private audience with the Empress so that the Englishman could put his case directly.23
On 2,2 July 1779, Korsakov, the favourite of the day, approached Harris after Catherine had finished her card game at a masquerade and led him through the back way into the Empress's private dressing-room. Harris proposed his alliance to the Empress, who was friendly but vague. She saw that Harris's 'Armament' would embroil Russia in the Anglo-French war. Harris asked Catherine if she would give independence to America. Td rather lose my head,' she replied vehemently. The next day, Harris delivered a memorandum, putting his case, to Potemkin.24
Potemkin's rivalry with Panin, seemed to work to Harris's advantage - yet it should have made him cautious. When the Council met to discuss the British proposals, Catherine through the Prince asked Harris to produce another memorandum. When they talked about Panin's conduct, Potemkin bamboozled the Englishman by claiming that 'he had been so little conversant in foreign affairs that a great deal of what I said was entirely new to him'. But there was no quicker student than Potemkin.