The sea between the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. When Turkey closes the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Stalin announces claims

On December 7 (November 24), 1917, the "Newspaper of the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government" published an appeal "To all working Muslims of Russia and the East" under which there were two signatures: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V. Ulyanov (Lenin) and People's Commissar for National cases of Dzhugashvili-Stalin. Among other things, the following lines were in circulation: "We declare that the secret treaties of the deposed tsar on the capture of Constantinople, confirmed by the deposed Kerensky, are now torn and destroyed. The Russian Republic and its government, the Council of People's Commissars, are against the seizure of foreign lands: Constantinople must remain in the hands of the Muslims."

Under the secret treaty of the overthrown king was meant a memorandum of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Russian Empire Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov (1860-1927) dated March 4 (February 19), 1915, which was handed over to the French and English ambassadors in Petrograd, in which it was formulated "the wish to join Russia after the end of the World War of the following territories: the city of Constantinople, the western coast of the Bosphorus, Sea of ​​Marmara and the Dardanelles, South Thrace to the line Epos - Midia". Great Britain agreed to the annexation of Constantinople to Russia, pronouncing at the same time "only ensuring our economic interests, as well as our similar benevolent attitude towards the political harassment of England in other areas". France did not formally object. The provisional government announced the continuation of the war under the slogan: "Constantinople for Russia."

Wonderful words in circulation - we do not need the Turkish coast. And why was the Bosporus and Dardanelles needed at all?

In the 17th century the Black Sea was inland sea Ottoman Empire.

According to the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty of 1774, she received the right to have a fleet on the Black Sea and the right to pass through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. In 1798, a unique treaty was signed on the defensive alliance between Turkey and Russia, as a result of which Russian warships were let through the straits and helped Turkey to smash France. According to the agreement of 1805 "The contracting parties agreed to consider the Black Sea closed and not to allow the appearance there of any warship or armed vessel of any power." According to the Adrianople Treaty of 1829, Turkey granted the right to Russian and foreign merchant ships to freely pass through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. According to the Unkar-Iskelesi Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Defensive Alliance between Russia and Turkey of 1833, the unhindered exit of Russian ships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean was allowed, at the same time they gave Russia the opportunity to block the passage of military ships of third countries in the opposite direction.

It would seem that who cares - how the two Black Sea powers stipulate the regime for the use of the straits. But France and England perceived this treaty as a threat to their influence in the Mediterranean, they remembered how the Russian fleet successfully operated in the Mediterranean. In 1841, the London Straits Convention appeared, concluded between Russia, Great Britain, France, Austria and Prussia. At the same time, Turkey was not even asked. Has been restored "ancient rule"Ottoman Empire, according to which the Bosporus and the Dardanelles were declared in peacetime closed to military courts of all countries. The Sultan retained the right to issue permits for the passage of light military vessels at the disposal of the embassies of friendly countries. The convention did not say anything about the regime of the straits during the war . Russia lost the right to block the entry of warships of third countries into the Black Sea and, as a result, was defeated in the Crimean War of 1853-1856 right at the base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the Russian Black Sea Fleet was blocked in the Black Sea.

That is why there were many plans for the military, naval commanders and diplomats to capture, but for one reason or another they were frustrated or abandoned, there were more than a dozen such plans. But the real opportunity was only once - in 1829.

After successful military operations, under the walls of Constantinople, the Cossack patrols of the twenty-thousandth Russian army appeared, under the command of Count Johann Karl Friedrich Anton von Dibich, in the Russian style of Ivan Ivanovich Dibich-Zabalkansky (1785-1831).

Further - more. In 1833, a landing detachment of Russian troops under the command of Adjutant General Muravyov Nikolay Nikolayevich (1794-1866) defended Turkish capital from the Egyptian Pasha Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849). After that, Nicholas the First awarded the medal "For the Bosphorus 1833" to the Turks who were in the same camp with the Russians, and the Turkish Sultan created a similar medal for the Russian paratroopers.

I wonder if Nicholas the First remembered his decision of 1829, when the joint British, French and Turkish troops destroyed Sevastopol, the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the defenders of the city during the Crimean War, during which 143,000 Russian soldiers and sailors died, another 89,000 died from illness and injury. After all, the blood is on his hands.

And then there was the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 (15,000 killed, 80,000 died due to illness), when Russian soldiers shed blood to liberate the lands that their ancestors had already liberated 50 years ago.

Stalin changed his point of view, but this happened much later.

In 1936, the Montreux Convention was adopted, which "... preserves for the merchant ships of all countries the freedom of passage through the straits both in peacetime and in wartime. However, the regime for the passage of warships is different in relation to the Black Sea and non-Black Sea states. Subject to prior notification of the Turkish authorities, the Black Sea powers can conduct through the straits in in peacetime their own warships of any class Significant restrictions on class (only small surface ships pass) and tonnage are introduced for warships of non-Black Sea powers.The total tonnage of warships of non-Black Sea states in the Black Sea should not exceed 30 thousand tons (with the possibility of increasing this up to a maximum of 45 thousand tons in the event of an increase in naval forces Black Sea countries) with a stay of no more than 21 days. In the event of Turkey's participation in the war, and also if Turkey considers that it is directly threatened by war, it has the right to allow or prohibit the passage through the straits of any warships. During a war in which Turkey is not involved, the straits must be closed to the passage of warships of any belligerent power."

In 1945, at the Potsdam Conference, the USSR tried to revise Montreux Convention, demanding a naval base in the Dardanelles and a favorable regime for passage through the straits, but the train had already left.

Although Turkey observed formal neutrality, since 1942 it has been supplying Germany with a strategic commodity - chromium. In June 1944, Turkey let two German warships into the Black Sea through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. On August 2, 1944, under pressure from the allies, Turkey announced the severance of economic and diplomatic relations with Germany. On September 9, 1944, Bulgaria declared war on Germany.

Using Bulgaria as a springboard, the capture of the straits could be carried out within a week, Germany could not help Turkey, and England and the United States verbally promised at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 the transfer of the straits to the USSR. But, as it turned out later, these words were worthless.

On February 23, 1945, Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan, formally it became an ally of the USSR. Everything seems to be finished. But on March 19, 1945, the USSR denounces the Soviet-Turkish treaty of 1925 on friendship and neutrality and proposes to conclude a new treaty stipulating the regime of joint Soviet-Turkish control in the Black Sea straits, with the deployment of a Soviet naval base.

The time for consideration of the issue by Turkey was gradually delayed, after the end of the Second World War, Turkey began to be protected by England and the United States from the encroachments of the USSR, while forgetting the promises made during the Second World War. After the death of Stalin, on May 30, 1953, the government of the USSR abandoned the requirements for the straits.

The Montreux Convention, whose revision was demanded by the USSR in 1945, is still in effect.

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When Turkey closes the Bosphorus and Dardanelles

Bosphorus

On November 30, it became known that Russian ships were having difficulty crossing the Bosphorus, although the situation later normalized. As it appears, weather did not allow ships to pass the strait in the prescribed manner.

The Bosphorus and Dardanelles are critical points in terms of merchant and military fleets, and Turkey has direct control capabilities.

Montreux Convention

Since 1936, the Montreux Convention was adopted, according to which Turkey's sovereignty over the Black Sea straits was restored. Although, in general, all merchant and military ships have the right of free passage through the straits, Turkey can restrict the passage of merchant ships at night and determine routes if it determines the situation as an immediate military danger. At the same time, only the Black Sea countries have the right of full free passage of warships in peacetime, and even they must notify Turkey in advance. For other states, more stringent restrictions apply regarding classes, tonnage and the total number of ships of non-Black Sea states in the Black Sea.

Turkey must prohibit the passage of any warships through the strait in the event of a war in which it does not participate. Otherwise, Turkey has the right to determine the degree of danger itself and allow or prohibit passage.

Roughly speaking, Turkey can close the passage for warships only in the event of an official declaration of war. At the same time, the UN can reverse the decision under a certain voting procedure.

But this is a theory that is quite different from practice. Turkey has for several decades passed domestic laws that complicate the use of the provisions of the convention, or tried to do so.

So, for example, the Turkish "Regulations for Navigation in the Straits" are now in force, which allows you to block the passage, hiding behind the need for technical work, a special police operation, etc.

NATO, like Russia, excludes the possibility of closing the straits.

Importance of the Black Sea Straits

From the ports of Novorossiysk, oil, grain, metal and fertilizers are primarily exported along this route.

In addition, Russia carries out most of the supplies for the air base in Syria along this route.

The main transport hub for deliveries via these routes is the seaport of Novorossiysk, which is the largest port on the Black Sea. According to the results of 2014, the cargo turnover of the port of Novorossiysk increased by 8% compared to the level of 2013 to 121.59 million tons. The number of ship calls increased by 9.8% to 5780 units. fleet.

In general, the cost of goods that passed through the Novorossiysk customs, according to the results of last year, amounted to $ 9.852 billion, for 10 months current year the indicator was $5.641 billion.

In the structure of exports, apparently, Egypt is in the lead, which is explained by the huge volumes of supplies of grain and metallurgical products.

In the structure of imports through Novorossiysk, China, Turkey, Egypt, Israel and Brazil are in the lead.

First of all, fruits and vegetables are imported from Egypt, Turkey and Israel, as well as machinery and equipment from China.

In non-oil exports, cereals and ferrous metals lead by a wide margin, while in imports, vegetables, fruits, and equipment account for the bulk.

As for energy resources, about 25 million tons of oil and about 37 million more oil products from Russia pass through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles every year. And if crude oil is thus this route about 5% of all production is exported, and most of is supplied via pipelines, the share of oil products is even higher, since they are transported by sea.

As you can see, Turkey may well cause great damage to Russian trade if it goes to extreme measures and closes the passage through the straits. But if this happens, it will be a very short-term solution.

With a very high probability, NATO will put pressure on Ankara, since no one wants further escalation in the region. In addition, from a legal point of view, Turkey cannot close the straits only for Russian ships, which means that they will be closed completely, which will cause justified indignation of many countries.

It is also worth considering that most of the grain, oil and steel exports are carried out not under Russian flags, but under Liberian, Cypriot, etc. This is a common practice that will reduce the effectiveness of Turkey's radical steps.

flags of convenience

So-called “flags of convenience” are used everywhere, according to UNCAD in 2014, approximately 73% of the world's national tonnage was carried by foreign-flagged ships.

Russia shows one of the highest rates for the use of flags of convenience. ESIMO statistics show that as of 2015, out of 1,387 ships owned by the beneficiaries of the Russian Federation, only 1,110 sail under the Russian flag. According to other estimates, the share of "convenient flags" exceeds 70% of domestic tonnage.

Nevertheless, the current legislation allows Ankara to significantly complicate and slow down the work of merchant ships, the only question is a political decision on the part of Erdogan. It cannot be ruled out that for the sake of his own ambitions, the Turkish president will finally decide to turn almost the entire world community against himself.

Turkey can block the Bofsor and Dardanelles straits in several ways. First, to completely prohibit passage for certain ships, for example, under the Russian flag or leaving Russian ports in the Black Sea. This completely contradicts the current legislation and is a gross violation, so Russia can quite successfully act through the UN and NATO. This is an almost suicidal move that, if it works, is unlikely to last more than a few days.

Secondly, the straits can be partially blocked for all ships, which Ankara can explain by the need for technical work or ongoing special operations. Although in this case we are not talking about a complete official blocking of the straits, the speed of passage along the route will be significantly reduced, which will complicate the work of Russian companies. Inspections, checks, inspections - all this Turkish side can use, but it is unlikely that such actions will become widespread. WITH more likely the Turkish authorities will decide on such steps in relation to individual courts, which are of the greatest importance for Russia.

It is hardly necessary to talk about the complete closure of the straits for all ships of all countries. Turkey receives good money through transit, using its unique geographic location. But if the straits are closed, the region and the whole world will be on the verge of a collapse in maritime cargo transportation, and the reaction of other countries, including NATO partners, will be very quick and, most likely, quite tough.

Russia considered the annexation of Istanbul and the Straits to be a well-deserved prize following the victory in the First World War. However, the British and French did everything possible to prevent this from happening. The Russian General Staff was also incapable of an operation to seize the Straits.

For some reason, the idea firmly settled into the Russian patriotic consciousness that, following the results of the World War I won, Russia should have received the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, as well as Tsargrad (Constantinople, Istanbul). Russia's allies in the Entente, France and England, never made such a legal promise, everything was limited to verbal agreements or some memorandums (compare the degree of legal elaboration of treaties on the post-war structure at the Yalta Conference in 1945).

The Bosporus and Dardanelles are 190 km apart and are separated by the Sea of ​​Marmara (11.5 thousand km2). Straits connect the open sea (Mediterranean) with the closed (Black). A ship sailing from the Black to the Mediterranean Sea enters the Bosphorus, on the banks of which the former capital of Turkey, Istanbul, is located. A rather narrow (in some places its width reaches 750 m) strait about 30 km long near its Asian coast formed the Golden Horn Bay, 12 km long and up to 33 m deep.

Bypassing the Bosphorus, the ship enters the Sea of ​​Marmara, and after a while it is met by another strait - the Dardanelles. It has a length of 60 km, a width of 1.3 km in its narrowest part, and 7.5 km in its widest part, and separates the Gallipoli peninsula, which belongs to the European mainland, and northwest coast Asia Minor.

The Bosporus and Dardanelles have always been strategically important for Russia. For the south of the vast empire, they were the only way out of the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, which at the end of the 19th century was the center of world civilization and trade. The struggle for the straits is one of the oldest problems of international relations, which still retains its relevance.

The Russian intelligentsia also understood the impossibility of obtaining the Straits. Above is one of the maps (by clicking on it and other maps you can see them in an enlarged size), issued in 1915 in Russia. It marks the redrawing of the borders of Europe following the results of the First World War won by the Entente. It is clearly seen that the Straits on the map are Turkish. But Russia would have to acquire East Prussia, the territory of present-day Slovakia, and eastern Galicia. Poland would also be part of eastern Germany.

Chronologically, one can trace the main discussions at the level of diplomacy and the actions of the General Staffs regarding the Straits and the future of Turkey.
On September 26, 1914, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sazonov, sent an official note to the government of France and England, outlining the point of view Russian government on the question of the goals of the Entente during the war that began in the Balkans. It said that "the Turks should remain in Constantinople and its environs", but Russia should receive guarantees of free passage through the straits. There were no direct claims to the straits and adjacent Turkish territory at that time. They arose at the state level after Turkey took the side of Germany.

On February 25, 1915, British and British warships fired on the Ottoman forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles and launched the Dardanelles operation. France and England did not inform Russia about the preparation of this operation; Petrograd learned about it through intelligence channels from Paris.

France and England involved Greece in the operation. which caused an extremely negative reaction in Petrograd - they feared that Athens would demand Constantinople as a reward. In the event of the success of the planned operation, the Straits would in any case come under the control of England and France, which forced Russia to demand official assurances from its allies that it would be transferred to it after the war of the Straits and Constantinople. Even direct threats from the Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov were used. With the permission of the tsar, he directly hinted to the members of the Entente that Russia could conclude a separate peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary.

(This map and below are various plans for the reorganization of Europe by Germany)

The threats worked, and on March 12, 1915, London, with an official note, guaranteed the transfer of the city of Constantinople to Russia with adjacent territories, which included West Coast Bosporus and the Sea of ​​Marmara, the Gallipoli Peninsula, South Thrace along the Enos-Medes line, and in addition East Coast Bosphorus and the Sea of ​​Marmara to Ismit-kogo Gulf, all the islands of the Sea of ​​Marmara, as well as the islands of Imbros and Tenedos in the Aegean.

The British did not consider their promise to Russia about the transfer of the Straits serious. Lord Bertie, the British ambassador in Paris, wrote of these arrangements in his diary:

“December 17th. I also talked with Gray about the situation in France, about American mediation, about the future of Belgium, about Italy, and so on. I pointed to the Russian claims regarding Constantinople and the straits. Gray said that we must fulfill the promises we have made, namely, Russia must receive the right of free passage of her warships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and back in peacetime, while in wartime the participants in the war will enjoy equal rights. I noticed that in the event of the departure of the Turks from Constantinople, a situation is created that is completely different from the one in which all these promises were made; that the rights and privileges granted to Russia cannot be denied to Rumania, which has a border on the Black Sea, or to Bulgaria. The correct decision would be as follows: Constantinople is turned into a free city, all the forts on the Dardanelles and the Bosporus are destroyed, the regime of the Suez Canal is applied to the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus under a European guarantee. Gray doubts Russia's agreement to such terms. In general, the question of the disposal of Constantinople and the straits will be a stumbling block when the time comes to discuss such subjects.

February 22 ... I hope that public opinion in England and abroad will force the powers to reject in principle the Russian point of view about the rights of Muscovites in relation to Constantinople and the straits between the Black and Mediterranean Seas. I am afraid that Gray does not take such a firm stand in this matter as I would like; I mean internationalization along the lines of the Suez Canal regime; this would not satisfy Izvolsky (Russian Ambassador to France - BT) and his master. Our newest and largest ship, the Queen Elizabeth, in the Dardanelles; we have a very large force there.

February 26 ... There is growing suspicion about Russia's intentions towards Constantinople. They consider it expedient that England and France (in this matter England is placed outside of France) occupy Constantinople before Russia so that the Muscovite would not have the opportunity to completely independently resolve the issue of the future of this city and the straits - the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus.

Russia's exit from the war, or, worse, its reorientation towards Germany, threatened the collapse of the Entente. There was a split in the British ruling circles on this issue. Winston Churchill suggested limiting himself to general assurances to the Russians of sympathy for the questions raised; Bonar Law assured that "if Russia has everything she wants, the result will be the alienation of Italy and Balkan states". They were objected to by Sir Edward Gray, who pointed out that if England did not support Russia in matters of the straits, then Germany would support it, and then a separate peace between them was inevitable. “It is absurd,” Gray said, “that such a gigantic empire as Russia is doomed to have ports blocked by ice for a large part of the year, or such ports as on the Black Sea, which are closed in case of any war.”

As a result, Gray's opinion won out in the British cabinet. He was also supported by Lloyd George, who believed that for Constantinople and the straits, the Russians would be ready for huge concessions in other matters. "The Russians are so eager to take possession of Constantinople that they will be generous with concessions in all other places."

Russia had every reason not to believe the British and French. And in order to guarantee her interests in the Straits, she had to start a "counter" operation - from the east of Istanbul. The situation could be explained briefly: which of the members of the Entente will be the first to take possession of Istanbul and the Straits, to which they will belong at the end of the war. Already in 1915, the Russian General Staff began to develop an operation to land troops on the western coast of the Black Sea.

For the success of the operation, the most important circumstance for the Russians would be the possession of the Bulgarian city of Burgas. Nicholas II generally considered it highly desirable for Bulgaria to enter the war on the side of the Entente and negotiated with the Bulgarian Tsar on this matter. Admiral Bubnov described his conversation with Nicholas II about Burgos in the autumn of 1915 as follows: “This Bulgarian port was of great importance for the Bosphorus operation, of which the Tsar was an ardent supporter. The fact is that Burgas was the only port near the Bosphorus where it was possible to land a large landing detachment, without which our General Staff and, in particular, the gene. Alekseev, categorically did not consider it possible to undertake an operation to seize the Bosphorus. For a long time, secret negotiations with Bulgaria had been held about this port, which, however, were unsuccessful, because Bulgaria demanded for itself, for joining on our side and presenting us Burgos, Macedonia, to which Serbia did not want to give its consent for anything.

The Bosphorus operation was repeatedly postponed from 1915 to the summer of 1916, from the summer of 1916 to the summer of 1917. It was obvious that Russia did not have the strength to carry it out. An end to the operation was put by the death of the battleship "Empress Maria" - the most modern ship on the Black Sea Fleet, launched in 1913. It was he who was assigned the main role in supporting the landing on the Turkish coast.

The battleship was in the port of Sevastopol, ready to go to sea, when on October 7, 1916, a terrible fire broke out on board, killing 152 sailors. Because of the fear that the flames would spread to the powder stores of the port, the command ordered the battleship to be flooded. It was a big loss for the Russian Navy. The people started talking about sabotage and rebellion on the ship. The fire on the "Empress Maria" began to be inflated by the opposition, which suspected "a German hand at the court of Nicholas II" in his death.

Later, in exile, part of the white officers expressed the opinion that the death of the battleship "Empress Maria" was much more profitable for England and France, since without it the Bosphorus operation was impossible for Russia.

History has no subjunctive mood, and the outcome of the First World War is well known - Russia was defeated in it, the finale was the signing of surrender in Brest-Litovsk in 1918. Russia did not stutter more about expansion to the warm seas and to the south in general, knowing full well that its intrusion into the zone of historically determined interests of the West threatens it with another artificial shock.

Now the passage of ships through the straits, according to the international convention, is free and free. However, Turkey is the regulator of traffic through the Bosphorus, which allows it to use the situation in its favor. For example, in 2004, when the volume of Russian oil exports increased significantly, Turkey imposed restrictions on the movement of ships in the Bosphorus. This led to traffic jams in the strait, and the oilmen suffered losses for demurrage of tankers and delays in deliveries in excess of $100,000 per day. At that time, Russia brought charges against Turkey for artificially restricting the movement of ships in the straits, which is a political decision in order to redirect the export cargo flow of Russian oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, whose services are, of course, not free.

But this is not Turkey's only idea to benefit from its geophysical position. The country put forward and even successfully developed the idea of ​​building the Bosphorus Canal parallel to the Strait, the services of which will be paid. The idea is good, and the cost of transportation by water will be significantly cheaper than by an oil pipeline. However, the project, tentatively estimated at $20 billion, has not yet inspired investors, and the money for its implementation has not yet been found either.

And I will remind you how it was carried out and whether

Vladimir Viktorovich Volk - expert of the Center for Scientific Political Thought and Ideology

It is not clear to what extent the aggravation of relations between Russia and Turkey will reach and what “know-how” the provocateurs of the military confrontation in this region will use, given that the heirs of the Ottoman Empire often acted as a “ramming machine” on the side of the Anglo-Saxon partners. The Russian side periodically throws theses into the information space about its own reaction to aggression against Su-24s performing a combat mission. The fact that Vladimir Putin will return the "debt" - no one doubts. Another question is how? And what results can this lead to?

All sorts of forecasts and proposals are heard from all sides: from sanctions on Turkish imports and an asymmetric response with attacks on Turkish aircraft to support the Kurdish people's liberation movement in Turkey, which makes up about a third of the total population. Can Turkey use the subtle, but very painful factor of the Bosporus and Dardanelles against Russia?

FROM THE TROJAN TO THE FIRST WORLD

Reference: The Bosporus and Dardanelles are 190 km apart and are separated by the Sea of ​​Marmara (11.5 thousand km2). Straits connect the open sea (Mediterranean) with the closed (Black). A sea vessel sailing from the Black to the Mediterranean Sea enters the Bosporus, on the banks of which is located former capital Turkey - Istanbul. A rather narrow (in some places its width reaches 750 m) strait about 30 km long near its Asian coast formed the Golden Horn Bay, 12 km long and up to 33 m deep. Strait - Dardanelles. It has a length of 60 km, a width of 1.3 km in its narrowest part, and 7.5 km in its widest part, and separates the Gallipoli Peninsula, which belongs to the European mainland, and the northwestern coast of Asia Minor. This is the only way of communication between the Black and Mediterranean seas. It is through them that tankers with goods from the Black Sea countries pass. Most of the Russian cargo traffic following this route is oil and oil products. The supply of the Russian air group in Latakia, as well as the supply of the Syrian army, after the demarche on the American click of the Bulgarian "brothers" is also carried out by Russia by sea- through these "stone gates".

The Dardanelles Strait, not only now, but also from ancient times, was of great strategic importance. The beginning of its military-strategic history is the Trojan War. The exact date of this war has not been established, while most historians think that it took place in the XIII-XII centuries. BC e. According to the theory of the German historian Paul Cauer, published in 1895 and still considered one of the most fundamental, the Trojan War is a confrontation between the Aeolians and the inhabitants of the northwestern part of the peninsula of Asia Minor.

In the era of the Byzantine Empire (395-1453), and then the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922), both the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus belonged entirely to them, but as soon as the fleet appeared in Russia, the “question of the straits” arises, or the Eastern question. After protracted negotiations in 1833 between Russia and Turkey, the Unikyar-Iskelesi Treaty on a defensive alliance was concluded. The secret article of the treaty obliged Turkey to close the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles for warships of all third countries at the request of Russia. This agreement extremely worried England and France, and in 1841, when it expired, the London Convention on the Straits was immediately adopted, restoring the law of the Ottoman Empire, according to which the Bosporus and the Dardanelles were declared closed to military courts of all countries in peacetime.

The right to free passage of the Russian fleet through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles was one of the reasons for the Crimean War of 1853-1856. for dominance in the Middle East. Being originally Russian-Turkish, in world historiography this war is called the Eastern War. England, France and Turkey have been allies in it since 1854, in 1855 the Kingdom of Sardinia joined them. Russia was defeated in this war. Under the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856, she was forbidden to have a navy on the Black Sea. There was no talk of going out into the straits. But in the first world war Great Britain and France were already opponents of Turkey. By the time the Treaty of Sèvres was signed in 1920, along with the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war, most of Turkey was occupied by the Entente.

It is worth adding that before the revolution, in 1915, a secret agreement was signed between the Entente countries, according to which Great Britain and France agreed to resolve the age-old Eastern Question by transferring Constantinople with the Black Sea straits to the Russian Empire in exchange for land in the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire. However, the Bosphorus operation never took place - after the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin signed an appeal to the working Muslims of the East in December 1917, where he divulged the existence of a secret agreement, stating that “the secret agreements of the deposed tsar on the capture of Constantinople, confirmed by the deposed Kerensky, are now torn and destroyed ".

TURKEY ITSELF DETERMINES WHETHER IT IS THREATENED

And the Gallipoli Peninsula, located in the European part of Turkey. The Dardanelles Strait, which is 1.3 km to 6 km wide and 65 km long, has an important strategic importance, as it is part of the waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea.

Sea of ​​Gella

The obsolete name of the strait is the Hellespont, which is translated from Greek as "the sea of ​​\u200b\u200bGella." This name is associated with the ancient myth of twins, brother and sister, Frix and Gella. Born by the Orkhomenian king Afamant and Nephela, the children were soon left without a mother - they were raised by the evil stepmother Ino. She wanted to kill her brother and sister, but the twins fled on a flying ram with golden wool. During the flight, Gella slipped into the water and died. The place where the girl fell - between Chersonese and Sigey - has since been called the "sea of ​​\u200b\u200bGella". The Dardanelles Strait received its modern name from the name of the once standing on its shore ancient city- Dardania.

Bosphorus

This is another Black Sea strait. The Bosphorus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of ​​Marmara. The strait has a length of about 30 kilometers, its width ranges from 700 m to 3700 m. The depth of the fairway is from 36 to 124 m. Istanbul (historical Constantinople) is located on both sides of the strait. The shores of the Bosphorus are connected by two bridges: the Bosphorus (length - 1074 meters) and the Sultan Mehmed Fatih Bridge (length - 1090 meters). In 2013, to unite Asian and European part Istanbul, the Marmaray railway underwater tunnel was built.

Geographical position

The Dardanelles and the Bosphorus are 190 kilometers apart. Between them is located the area of ​​which is 11.5 thousand km2. sea ​​vessel, going from the Black to the Mediterranean Sea, you must first enter the rather narrow Bosphorus, bypass Istanbul, swim to the Sea of ​​​​Marmara, after which he will meet with the Dardanelles. This strait ends which, in turn, is part of the Mediterranean. By its length, this path does not exceed 170

strategic importance

The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles are links in the chain connecting the closed sea (Black) with the open (Mediterranean). These straits have repeatedly become the subject of a dispute between the leading world powers. For Russia in the 19th century, the path to the Mediterranean provided access to the center of world trade and civilization. IN modern world it is also important, being the "key" to the Black Sea. The international convention assumes that the passage of merchant and military ships through the Black Sea straits should be free and free. However, Turkey, which is the main regulator of traffic through the Bosphorus, is trying to use this situation to its advantage. When Russian oil exports skyrocketed in 2004, Turkey authorized the restriction of ship traffic in the Bosporus. Traffic jams appeared in the strait, and oilmen began to suffer all sorts of losses for delays in deliveries and demurrage of tankers. Russia officially accused Turkey of deliberately complicating traffic on the Bosphorus in order to redirect the export cargo flow of oil to the port of Ceyhan, whose services are paid. This is not Turkey's only attempt to capitalize on its geophysical position. The country has developed a project for the construction of the Bosphorus Canal. The idea is good, but the Republic of Turkey has not yet found investors to implement this project.

Fighting in the region

In antiquity, the Dardanelles belonged to the Greeks, and Abydos was the main city in the region. In 1352, the Asian shore of the strait passed to the Turks and Canakkale became the dominant city.

According to an agreement concluded in 1841, only ships could pass through the Dardanelles. The First Balkan War put an end to this state of affairs. The Greek fleet defeated the Turkish one at the entrance to the straits twice: in 1912, on December 16, during the battle of Elli, and in 1913, on January 18, in the battle of Lemnos. After that, the Turkish fleet did not dare to leave the strait anymore.

During the First World War, bloody battles were fought between Atlanta and Turkey for the Dardanelles. In 1915, Sir decided to knock Turkey out of the war at once, breaking through to the country's capital through the Dardanelles. The First Lord of the Admiralty was deprived of military talent, so the operation failed. The campaign was poorly planned and mediocrely executed. In one day, the Anglo-French fleet lost three battleships, the rest of the ships were seriously damaged and miraculously survived. The landing of fighters on the Gallipoli Peninsula turned into an even greater tragedy. 150 thousand people died in a positional meat grinder that did not bring any results. After a Turkish destroyer and a German submarine sank three more British battleships, and the second landing in Suvla Bay was ingloriously defeated, it was decided to curtail the military operation. About circumstances greatest disaster in the British military history a book was written entitled "Dardanelles 1915. Churchill's bloodiest defeat."

The question of the straits

Until Byzantine, and then Ottoman Empire dominated the area of ​​the straits, the question of their functioning was decided within the states themselves. However, at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, the situation changed - Russia entered the Black and Seas of Azov. The problem of control over the Bosporus and the Dardanelles is on the international agenda.

In 1841, at a conference in the city of London, an agreement was reached that the straits would be closed to the passage of warships in peacetime. Since 1936, according to modern international law, the Straits area is considered " open sea” and questions about it are governed by the Montreux Convention on the Status of the Straits. Thus, the control of the straits is carried out while maintaining the sovereignty of Turkey.

Provisions of the Montreux Convention

The convention states that merchant ships of any state have free access to the passage through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles both in wartime and in peacetime. The Black Sea powers can guide warships of any class through the straits. Non-Black Sea states can only let surface small ships pass through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus.

If Turkey is involved in hostilities, then the country may, at its discretion, let the warships of any power pass. During a war in which the Republic of Turkey has nothing to do, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus must be closed to military courts.

The last conflict in which the mechanisms provided for by the Convention were involved was the South Ossetian crisis in August 2008. At that time, warships of the US Navy were passed through the straits, which proceeded in the direction of the Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi.

Conclusion

The Dardanelles on the map of Eurasia takes up very little space. However, the strategic importance of this transport corridor on the continent cannot be overestimated. From an economic point of view, it is important for Russia, first of all, the export of petroleum products. Transportation of "black gold" by water is much cheaper than by oil pipeline. Every day, 136 ships pass through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, 27 of them are tankers. The density of traffic through the Black Sea straits is four times higher than the intensity panama canal, three times - Suez. Due to the low passability of the straits, the Russian Federation incurs daily losses of approximately 12.3 million dollars. However, a worthy alternative has not yet been found.