Okay; when talking about the colonization of Africa most people think of the British, French, Portuguese...maybe the Belgians, Italians, Spanish, or even the Germans. But, Russia doesn't exactly come to mind and why should it? Saint Petersburg never formally possessed any colonial holding on the continent. That isn't for a lack of trying, however.

In the late 19th century, a Cossack adventurer by the name of Nikolai Ivanovich Achinov traveled to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) were he aimed to establish Russia's first colony in what is nowadays the East African country of Djibouti. He wasn't alone in this venture though, accompanied by 150 Cossacks and other would-be colonists. What's more, back in Russia, Achinov had (sort of) benefited from the patronage of Tsar Alexander III - against the wishes of his foreign minister, Nikolay Giers.

All of this culminated in a short-lived settlement off the Gulf of Tadjoura known as Sagallo, which, despite everything, ultimately ended in a diplomatic fiasco for Russia.

#russia #russianempire #africa #djibouti #history #ghostcountries

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
01:44 Who Exactly was Nikolai Ivanovich Achinov?
03:18 Off to Ethiopia
05:21 Obock Territory, Léonce Lagarde, and the Making of French Somaliland
07:04 Blessings from the Russian Orthodox Church
08:37 Fun Times in Constantinople

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Intro Animation / Character Design: Emily Clearwater (iamprettyawesome.co.nz)