The British Secretary of State of the American Department, Lord William Legge 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, was discussing the possibility of Russian support should the colonies rebel before King George III declared the colonies to be rebelling (Desmaris). Catherine II did have troops available who just returned from a victorious campaign against the Turks and expressed she wanted to maintain friendly (not-going-to-war-with) relations with England (Desmaris). However she did not mention giving military support to the British (Desmaris). Because the British did not receive Russian support, it took them until August 1776 to get the necessary military support; thus giving the colonists the opportunity to establish their forces (Woolf). …show more content…
This league was created to stop the British military from seizing neutral ships they suspected of aiding the Americans (League of Armed Neutrality). Russia also hoped that if they were the peacekeepers then it would benefit economically because it would establish friendly relationships with other countries especially the the ones involved in the conflict