The Russian and the Ottoman Empire

• Russia, despite its internal problems, was committed to a policy of expansionism
• Russia had a huge population but lacked sufficient farmland for it, a problem known as ‘land hunger’

  ▪ This made the conditions for peasants decidedly miserable and continued to hinder Russian economic development
• Tsar hoped to expand their territory into Central Asia, their influence into the Balkans and to establish secure trading posts in the Far East
• Anglo-Russian rivalry over Central Asia was already a long-running problem ▪ The diplomatic wrangling from Britain and Russia was termed ‘The Great Game’ ▪ ‘The Great Game’ sparked international crises and sometimes outright conflict
• As Russia expanded towards Afghanistan, Britain increased its hold on India ▪ The British had long perceived Russia’s intentions in Central Asia as a direct threat to India
• Russia's coastline mostly lies on the Arctic Coast, leading to frozen trading routes for large portions of the year
• A long-term goal of Russia was to secure a warm-water port in the Turkish Straits
• The aim to secure a warm-water port in the Turkish Straits helped provoke the Crimean War with Britain and France in 1854-6
• The Crimean War resulted in the Treaty of Paris, 1856
• The Treaty of Paris, 1856, included the Black Sea Clauses, which stated that during peacetime the Black Sea could not be used by any navy
• The Black Sea Clauses in the Treaty of Paris, 1856, slashed Russia's aims of building an impressive navy fleet
• By 1871 the Great Powers were willing to revise the Black Sea Clauses

  ▪ Warships could sail through the Straits but only if Turkish independence was under threat

  ▪ Russia continued to push for more revisions in its favour
• The decline of the Ottoman Empire seemed to present some opportunity to secure naval access in the Eastern Mediterranean that Russia longed for

  ▪ However, the British perceived this ambition as a threat on their Eastern Mediterranean trade and security of its routes to India
• In 1887 Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungry and Spain signed the Mediterranean Treaties ▪ These treaties protected the status quo in the Mediterranean Sea and limited Russian hopes of greater influence over the Balkans