<P> The outbreak of the French Revolution and its attendant wars temporarily united constitutionalist Britain and autocratic Russia in an ideological alliance against French republicanism . Britain and Russia attempted to halt the French but the failure of their joint invasion of the Netherlands in 1799 precipitated a change in attitudes . </P> <P> Britain occupied Malta, while the Emperor Paul I of Russia was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller . That led to the never - executed Indian March of Paul, which was a secret project of a planned allied Russo - French expedition against the British possessions in India . </P> <P> The two countries fought each other (albeit only with some very limited naval combat) during the Anglo - Russian War (1807--12), after which Britain and Russia became allies against Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars . They both played major cooperative roles at the Congress of Vienna in 1814 - 1815 . </P> <P> From 1820 to 1907, a new element emerged: Russophobia . British elite sentiment turned increasingly hostile to Russia, with a high degree of anxiety for the safety of India, with the fear that Russia would push south through Afghanistan . The result was a long - standing rivalry in central Asia . In addition, there was a growing concern that Russia would destabilise Eastern Europe by its attacks on the faltering Ottoman Empire . This fear was known as the Eastern Question . Russia was especially interested in getting a warm water port that would enable its navy . Getting access out of the Black Sea into the Mediterranean was a goal, which meant access through the Straits controlled by the Ottomans . </P>

The war between england and russia started in