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establishing a commercial network with branches
in Moscow, Petersburg, and Siberia. In 1790, he
was appointed by the RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY
to his post in ALASKA . Thanks to his energy and
administrative talents, Baranov significantly
increased the trade links between the Russian
settlements of North America with California,
the Hawaiian Islands, and China. During his rule,
he directed the establishment of new settle-
ments, outfitted a series of expeditions to explore
regions of the Pacific Coast, and laid the founda-
tions of a shipbuilding industry. But the basic
wealth of the colony was based on the rapacious
exploitation of natural riches, most notably furs,
and the use of Native Americans as forced labor
for these enterprises. For several decades the
Russian American Company acted with great
vigor, sponsoring 12 round-the-world expedi-
tions between 1804 and 1840, maintaining regu-
lar communications between Alaska and Russia,
and making port calls in California, Hawaii, and
China, a legacy of Baranov's original enterprising
energy. Finally relieved of his post, after repeated
requests, Baranov headed for home in early
1819. Sailing into the Indian Ocean, he died on
April 12, 1819, and was buried at sea. An island
in the Alexander I Archipelago in Alaska Bay was
named after Baranov. In 1867, almost half a cen-
tury after his departure, the Russian govern-
ment, unable to pay for the cost of defending a
remote colony from the inroads made by British
and American commercial interests, sold the
colony to the United States.
brought Finland into the Russian Empire in
1809, Barclay was made governor-general of
Finland. In 1810, he was appointed minister of
war by ALEXANDER I , even though many in the
czar's circle were suspicious of him because of
his foreign blood. At the time of Napoleon's
invasion in June 1812, Barclay de Tolly was
made commander in chief of the Army of the
West. He became known for his controversial
tactic of continual retreat “into the depths of
Russia,” a tactic opposed by the equally able
General Peter Ivanovich BAGRATION that further
inflamed the suspicions of the Russian national
party. The French capture of Smolensk in
August 1812 resulted in his dismissal and the
appointment of Marshal Mikhail KUTUZOV as
commander in chief, just before the Battle of
BORODINO . More politically savvy than Barclay
de Tolly, Kutuzov continued the strategy of
retreat, surrendering Moscow in the process,
until the tide of war turned in Russia's favor and
Napoleon was forced to begin his disastrous
westward retreat. Following Kutuzov's death in
April 1813 and the defeats suffered in Germany
by his successor, Petr Wittgenstein, Barclay was
reappointed commander in chief in May 1813.
He took part in the invasion of France in 1814
and was promoted to field marshal.
Baryshnikov, Mikhail Nikolaevich
(1948- )
dancer, actor
A Soviet-born ballet dancer of worldwide
renown whose career reached new heights after
his defection in 1974. Baryshnikov was born in
Riga, Latvia, and lived through personal traumas
at home: his mother's suicide and his father's
rejection of Baryshnikov's chosen career. He
began his ballet studies in Riga, before moving to
Leningrad in 1964 to finish his studies. In 1967
he joined the famous Kirov Ballet, quickly
becoming one of its preeminent soloists and later
its principal dancer. With the Kirov, Baryshnikov
first developed an international reputation for
technical virtuosity in classical ballets, but later
Barclay de Tolly, Prince Mikhail
Bogdanovich (1761-1818)
military officer
A distinguished officer in the war of 1812 against
Napoleonic France, Barclay de Tolly was born in
Livonia, into a Baltic family of Scottish descent.
He first fought for the Russian army in the Turk-
ish War of 1788-89, then in campaigns against
Sweden in 1790 and Poland in 1792 and 1794,
at the time of the second and third POLISH PARTI -
TIONS . Following the war with Sweden that
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