Pontus Conference
The Pontus Conference was an international conference on the status of the Black Sea (Latin Pontus Euxinus) in March 1871 in London . The background was the Russian pressure to expand against the Ottoman Empire , which was supported by most European powers as a counterweight to the Tsarist Empire .
After the defeat in the Crimean War , Russia had to accept the neutralization of the Black Sea in the Peace of Paris in 1856 in the so-called Pontus Clause. It was only allowed to station a small number of smaller warships there and to maintain no arsenals or fortifications on the coasts.
On October 31, 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71) , Russia unilaterally declared the lifting of the Pontus clause. At the Pontus Conference convened at the urging of Great Britain, Otto von Bismarck supported the position of the Tsarist Empire and thus secured Russian support on the German question.
On March 13, 1871, the Pontus Conference lifted the neutrality and demilitarization of the Black Sea, but made passage through the straits still dependent on the approval of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, Russia began building a new Black Sea fleet.
