Strait Treaty
The Straits Treaty (also Dardanelles Treaty of 1841 , English London Straits Convention ) was concluded on July 13, 1841 in London between the five major European powers Russia , Great Britain , France , Austria and Prussia as well as the Ottoman Empire .
prehistory
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II had castles built in Kale Sultanie and Kilid Bahr to guard the Dardanelles. In 1658, under Mehmed IV., About 20 km southwest of the old castles to protect against the Republic of Venice, the two castles Sedil Bahr on the European side and Kum Kale on the Asian side. The passage through the Dardanelles was prevented by the Sultan and trade in the Black Sea was restricted to Turkish ships.
The course of the Russo-Turkish Wars in the second half of the 17th century brought Russia under Catherine the Great access to the Black Sea and thus interest in a passage to the Aegean Sea . After a Russian squadron under Admiral Elphinstone had penetrated the strait unhindered in 1770, they had the forts, which had now fallen into disrepair, restored.
The Peace of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) gave Russia the right to unhindered passage of its merchant ships through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. Similar treaties followed with Austria (1784), England (1799), France (1802) and Prussia (1806).
On December 23, 1798, Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed an eight-year alliance agreement against France, which was on an Egyptian expedition at the time. On January 5, 1799, a treaty with England followed, with the aim of driving the French out of Egypt and destroying their Levant trade . The passage of warships of these nations was now also allowed. When the alliance treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was extended on September 24, 1805, Russia blocked the passage of warships from third countries. The treaty with Great Britain was not renewed because of negotiations with France ( Sébastiani ) as a result of the Russian defeat in the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805. On January 7, 1807, the Sublime Porte declared war on Russia ( Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) ). On January 17th, the Divan told the European ambassadors in Constantinople that they would block shipping through the Dardanelles in order to prevent any connection with Russia. Great Britain then threatened Constantinople with an attack if it did not renew its alliances with Great Britain and Russia. The gate refused.
In 1807, a British fleet under the command of Admiral Duckworth , consisting of eight ships of the line , four frigates and several fire and bombardier boats , managed a loss-free passage through the Dardanelles , as a result of which the association appeared on February 20 off Constantinople .
In the peace treaty ( Dardanelles Treaty ) concluded between Great Britain and the Sublime Porte on January 5, 1809 at the end of the British-Turkish War of 1807 , the former power had, as before, consented to the Ottoman Empire's demand that no non-Turkish warship should enter the Dardanelles Strait and be allowed to enter the Bosporus .
In a secret additional protocol to the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi in 1833, Russia had assured itself that in the event of war the straits would be closed to the enemy navy. In return, Russia had promised the Ottoman Empire military aid if it requested it.
contract
By signing the agreement, the contracting parties stipulated that apart from the ships of the Ottoman fleet and, in the event of war, those of the Sultan's allies, no warship would be allowed to enter the Dardanelles. The strait was closed to non-Ottoman warships. Commercial vehicles from foreign nations were also prohibited from entering the narrow section of Tschanak-Kalessi at night. They were also required to show their passports and pay a lighthouse fee.
consequences
At the beginning of the Crimean War, the Anglo-French fleet anchored in the south of Kum Kale in the Besikabai in June 1853, from where it entered the Dardanelles at the end of October and dropped anchor in the Beikosbai on November 3rd. In the first appendix to the Paris Peace Articles of 1856, the treaty of 1841 was essentially confirmed. However, the Sultan reserved the right to use special Fermane to allow light vehicles made available to the embassies of foreign powers to pass through; the fortifications on the Dardanelles were then significantly enlarged and reinforced by the gate.
After the London Protocol of March 13, 1871, the Dardanelles should be closed again, English warships nevertheless ran into the Sea of Marmara through the Dardanelles in February 1878 to protect Constantinople from being conquered by the Russians ( Russo-Ottoman War (1877– 1878) ). The Berlin Peace of July 13, 1878 once again placed the Sultan under the obligation not to allow any foreign warship to pass the Dardanelles.
After the First World War and the associated collapse of the Ottoman Empire, control of the Dardanelles came under international control through the Treaties of Sèvres (1920) and Lausanne (1923) . It was carried out by a committee of the League of Nations . With the Treaty of Montreux of July 20, 1936, which is still valid today, Turkey regained control of its straits.
Web links
- Kassenbrock: The Straits. In: oznabrück.de. 2015, accessed May 14, 2017 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Dardanelles . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 4, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, pp. 544–545.
- ↑ Michael North: Between port and horizon: World history of the seas . CH Beck, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69840-8 , p. 94, preview in the Google book search
- ^ Franz Josef Adolf Schneidawind: The campaign of the French against the allies in Italy in the years 1798 and 1799 . Leske, Darmstadt 1836, p. 11 f., Full text in the Google book search
- ^ Theodor Schiemann: History of Russia under Emperor Nikolaus I. Georg Reimer, Berlin 1904, p. 266, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
- ↑ Karl Heinrich Ludwig Pölitz: The state systems of Europe and America since the year 1783 . Hinrichsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1826, p. 102 ff., Full text in the Google book search
- ^ Franz von Liszt, Max Fleischmann: Das Völkerrecht . 12th edition. Springer, Berlin 1925, ISBN 3-642-94282-2 , p. 295, preview in the Google book search
- ↑ The struggle for the Dardanelles . In: Die Zeit , No. 27/1946