Between Istanbul and Sevastopol: A Tale of Plunder, Bureaucracy, and Betrayal, 1806-1856

Julia Leikin examines plunder, bureaucracy and betrayal in Instanbul, Turkey, and Sevastopol, Crimea, during the years 1806 to 1856, as part of the Centre for Russian Studies Modern Russian History seminar series.

Biography

Julia Leikin is a PhD candidate at UCL SSEES. Her thesis, Prize law, maritime neutrality, and the law of nations in imperial Russia, 1768-1856, examines the Russian empire’s use of law to gain access to and maintain its presence on seas and oceans as well as to control its maritime borders. Looking at prize law — an aspect of the law of nations by which belligerent vessels capture enemy ships — she explores the legal, social, political and economic considerations that governed imperial Russia’s maritime politics.

Her wider academic interests include history of international law and international relations; political economy; diplomacy; maritime legal culture; legal history; comparative early-modern and modern European history.