The Schäffer affair was a diplomatic episode instigated in 1815 by Georg Anton Schäffer who attempted to seize the Kingdom of Hawaii for the Russian Empire. After two years, his scheme failed and he returned to Germany.
While on a trading expedition to the Kingdom, the Russian-American Company (RAC) vessel Bering ran aground during a storm at Waimea on Kauai in January 1815. Kauai chieftain Kaumualii seized the company goods on board. Schäffer was sent later that year from Russian America to recover the lost property, where he spent the following two years courting native leaders to overthrow Kamehameha I.
Kaumualii, who sought outside help in his rivalry with King Kamehameha, invited Schäffer to his island and convinced him that the RAC could easily colonize Hawaii. Schäffer then planned a naval assault on the islands. His actions were not sanctioned by RAC governor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, who gave no instructions beyond either regaining the company's goods or compensation for them in sandalwood, although Baranov gave orders to conquer Kauai for Russia in the event of conflict.
Mounting resistance of Native Hawaiians and American traders forced Schäffer to admit defeat and leave Hawaii in July 1817, before his triumphant reports from Kauai reached the Russian court. The Company recognized a loss of no less than 200,000 rubles but continued entertaining "the Hawaiian project" until 1821. The Company then sued Schäffer for damages, but after an inconclusive legal standoff found it easier to let him go back to Germany.
During the first Russian circumnavigation, the Russian Empire and the Russian-American Company (RAC) established contact with Hawaiian king Kamehameha I in 1804. Russian vessels continued to visit the Kingdom irregularly, with the primary transactions were focused on foodstuffs. On January 29, 1815, a RAC ship, Bering, dropped anchor near Waimea on Kauai. Captain James Bennett was ordered by RAC Governor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov to use its estimated 100,000 roubles worth of furs and other cargo to purchase needed food and material supplies for settlers in Russian America. On the next night the vessel ran aground in a storm. Bennett made an agreement with King Kaumualii, giving him the wrecked ship though its cargo remained Russian property. Several hundred Kauaians were involved in salvaging the furs and purchased supplies. Despite this, Bennett would later report that the ship and its cargo were both seized by Kaumualii. Two months later the stranded crew was evacuated from Kauai by Albatross.
A mission from New Archangel was organized and sent to the Hawaiian Kingdom in October. The former physician of the RAC ship Suvorov, Georg Anton Schäffer, was appointed to command likely due to Baranov simply having no one else eligible at the time. His most able officers at the time were working at RAC posts on Kodiak Island and Fort Ross in Alta California. He instructed Schäffer to present himself as a harmless explorer and obtain Kamehameha's favor, keeping his actual commission secret until then. After courting the monarch, Schäffer was to demand the restitution of the goods taken from the Bering or comparable compensation in sandalwood. If this business proceeded smoothly, Schäffer was to seek Kamehameha's patent for a monopoly in sandalwood trading. In a letter addressed to Kamehameha, Baranov warned of military intervention against Kaumalii if compensation for lost company goods didn't occur. "If Kaumualii does not satisfy our just demands... with your permission, I shall treat him as an enemy."
Schäffer reached the Kingdom on board the Isabella in the beginning of November. What happened between Kamehameha and Schäffer is known only through Schaffer's own unreliable narrative. Americans that had prominent influence with Kamehameha, especially John Young, believed Schäffer's "naturalist" persona was merely a cover. According to Schäffer these men made Kamehameha display outright anti-Russian sentiment. Through medical services to the king and queen Ka'ahumanu, Schäffer was able to regain Kamehameha's good disposition by December. Queen Ka'ahumanu and her brother soon sold him parcels of land and permission to set up trading stations. Schäffer soon began an exploration of the Hawaiian islands, during which time he claimed his travels were interrupted by attempts made against his life by Americans. Afterwards he began to reside on Oahu, where he planted maize, tobacco and watermelons among other plants.
In February 1816, Baranov sent the Otkrytie with lieutenant Podushkin in command as military reinforcements. The orders given to Podushkin stressed the importance of a peaceable solution but failing that it called for an invasion of Kauai: "In such an event, the whole island of Kauai should be taken in the name of our Sovereign Emperor of the Russias and become part of his possessions." The Otkrytie reached the island of Hawaii on April 13 [O.S. April 1] and later entered Honolulu Harbor on April 23 [O.S. April 11]. Another Russian ship, Il’mena, unexpectedly showed up for repairs at the same time. Schäffer remained in command of all Russian forces in the area, including the two ships. A final meeting with Kamehameha was arranged, but he again resisted making any settlements. Immediately setting sail on-board the Otkrytie for Kauai on May 14 [O.S. May 2], Schäffer and Podushkin reached the island three days later.
Diplomatic talks with Kaumualii quickly commenced and appeared favorable to Schäffer. The Kauain ruler "must have noticed that no representatives of Kamehameha accompanied the Russians." This emboldened him to pledge as "the King of the Sandwich Islands in the North Pacific Ocean, Kauai and Niihau, and hereditary prince of the islands Oahu, Maui, Lanai" allegiance to the emperor of Russia five days after Schäffer arrived. The Hawaiian chieftain further agreed to reimburse the RAC for the losses of 1815 and grant it a monopoly in sandalwood trade. Dressed in an Imperial Russian Naval staff officer uniform, Kaumualii hoisted the Russian-American Company flag over Kauai. Another treaty, signed on July 1 [O.S. June 19], provided the Russians with 500 local soldiers for the conquest of Oahu, Lanai, Maui and Molokai: "The King (Kaumualii) provides Doctor Schäffer carte blanche for this expedition and all assistance in constructing the fortresses on all islands..." and additionally promised to "refuse to trade with citizens of the United States."
Schäffer was given command of over three hundred Hawaiians to begin construction of the forts and trade stations specified in the treaty. Built in the traditional European star-shaped fortress out of stone and adobe, Fort Elizabeth was practically complete and armed with cannons by the end of 1817. Schäffer also laid down two small earthen forts, Alexander and Barclay-de-Tolly, without Hawaiian assistance. Enthusiastically, Schäffer sent messages to Baranov and to imperial authorities in Saint Petersburg, requesting a naval expedition to protect what a contemporary called "his almost lunatic schemes." He soon purchased two ships from Americans for use by Kaumualii. The Avon cost 200,000 Spanish dollars and its captain sailed to New Archangel to receive compensation from Baranov for his vessel. Schäffer spent the summer of 1816 exploring Kauai and giving new names to local landforms, naming the Hanalei River valley in particular Schäfferthal and the Hanapepe river after the Don River.
Kaumualii had no intention to forfeit his possessions; he manipulated Schäffer into "losing all touch with reality", and used the Russians for his own benefit in his standoff with Kamehameha, planning to conquer more islands. Early historians, starting with Otto von Kotzebue, suggested that Kaumualii's revolt was prompted or even led by Schäffer but, according to Mills, the chief "sought to align himself with any foreign power that could help him". During the War of 1812 he sided with the Americans, but by 1815 this alliance fell apart and Schäffer's arrival conveniently filled the empty slot in Kaumualii's plans.