Thomas Jones

Supervisor: Prof Simon Dixon
Email: thomas.jones.13@ucl.ac.uk

Present status: PhD candidate, Post-graduate Teaching Assistant
Modules taught: History of the Soviet Union (Term 2)

Working title of thesis: British Diplomats and Anglo-Russian Commerce: British Economic Interests and Russian Society 1892-1914

Research: My research aims to investigate the relationship between British diplomatic staff, consular staff, representatives of British foreign direct investment, and the Russian government. Study of these relationships will be used to measure the extent to which the principles of the constitutional reforms of 1905-6 affected the manner in which the Russian government interacted with foreign business interests in Russia.

Key to my research are the assumptions held by British business interests about the Russian government, how they were formed, and how the actions of the Russian government influenced these assumptions by the extent to which it adhered to legally defined standards. My research also investigates the successfulness of British business interests in gaining redress from the Russian government, and the extent of their effective working knowledge about the Russian government.