Few people know that in the 18th century, Russia's plans included the conquest of Africa. It is true not of the entire continent, but of one island that is part of it. The idea of colonizing the island was proposed to Peter I by Vice Admiral Wilster.
History knows Peter I as a reformer tsar, actively making grandiose changes in the life of the country. With his light hand, changes have affected almost all areas of people's lives. It is for this reason that he was very interested in the project for the colonization of Madagascar, proposed by Vice Admiral Wilster, who was previously a citizen of the King of Sweden Charles XII.
All this happened against the background of active colonization of the lands discovered in the 16th century, the rights to which began to be claimed by England, Holland and France, which had received sufficient power for naval battles. The pirates also aided in the seizure of lands, who realized that by providing assistance to the state they would deserve recognition of the legitimacy of their activities.
Gradually, the places where pirate ships stopped between raids and repaired their ships became something like small states, where their own laws were in force and there were elected rulers.
One such self-styled emperor ruled Madagascar, and was the pirate Avery. It was he, according to historians, who became the prototype of the hero of the book by Daniel Defoe "The Life and Adventures of the Glorious Captain Singleton." The book became very popular and was read all over the world. Information about the country of corsairs reached Peter I.
That is why Peter did not drive out the admiral, but decided to establish diplomatic ties with the “Kingdom of Madagascar” first.
The island itself was discovered in 1506 by the navigator Lorenzo Almendogo, who was mapped and named Saint Lorenzo. Soon after the Portuguese left the new island, the French sailed there, who called it their own, renaming it the land of the Dauphins. They made the aborigines slaves, and turned the land into plantations. In 1670, a riot broke out on the island. The French were killed, and the island was named Madagascar.
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The presence of Europeans on the island was limited to a few filibuster bases scattered along the coast. This is what Wilster introduced to Petra as the "Kingdom of Madagascar."
It should be noted that Wilster did not just come to Peter with a proposal. Historians believe that Sweden was behind this with its own interests. The situation looked like this. In the early 18th century, pirates sailing the Indian Ocean appealed to the King of Sweden for an amnesty in exchange for pirate treasures. The country at that time, which suffered defeat in the Northern War, but dreamed of revenge, needed funds to organize it. Charles forgave the corsairs, but they did not fulfill their part of the agreement and did not bring the treasures. Then the Swedes had a plan to colonize Madagascar.
At this time, the governor of Madagascar, Morgan, who called himself, appeared in Stockholm, who offered to equip 30 ships at his own expense, which allowed Karl to add only 2 of his own to implement his plans. The African expedition was headed by Captain-Commander Ulrich, Vice Admiral Wilster and Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs von Hepken. The bold plan began in 1721.
However, the matter did not reach the actual expedition due to lack of funds in the country.
Only two years passed and Wilster decided to try to implement his plans with the help of the enemy - Russia.
In Russia, the event was shrouded in the strictest severity. Among the initiates were only a few of Peter's confidants. 3 thousand gold rubles were allocated for the implementation of the plan. The development of the strategy was carried out by General-Admiral F. M. Apraksin. The destination was not listed anywhere on the paper. The ships were to sail not under military flags, but under trade ones. To avoid suspicion of frigates with 32 guns, the route was laid not directly across the English Channel, but around the British Isles.
Even Wilster received the documents in his hands only on the day of departure, already on the ship. It was allowed to open the package only after the ships were in the North Sea.
The daring plan began in December 1723, when two frigates Amsterdam Galei and Decron de Livde sailed from the port of Revel. However, not even having time to leave the Baltic waters, one ship started to leak, while the other started having stability problems. They were replaced by Prince Eugene and Cruiser. But for a number of reasons, they never left the port. After the death of Peter I, the African expedition became useless at all.
According to some historians, one of the probable reasons for the failed expedition could be insufficient equipment of the fleet and the experience of sailors. Others believe that the project simply did not receive sufficient funding due to a lack of money in the state. But both those and others agree that even if the expedition took place, there would be no one to negotiate with Madagascar, since the kingdom was a phantom.