Russia S Balkan Entanglements 1806 1914

This book examines the reason for the Russian involvement in the Balkan peninsula.

Imperial Russian Foreign Policy aims to demythologise a field hitherto dominated by suspicions of diabolical cunning, inscrutable motives, and international plots using unseen forces of the gigantic, fear-inspiring empire of the tsar. The contributors, leading historians from both Russia and the West, examine Imperial foreign policy from its origins to the October Revolution, revealing a policy that, as in other countries, had a complex of motives - commerce, nationalism, the interests of various social groups - but an unusual origin, coming almost exclusively from the entourage of the tsar. The work is based largely on original research in Soviet archives, which only became possible after Soviet glasnost.

This book examines mid-Victorian discourse on the expansion of the British Empire’s role in the Middle East. It investigates how British political leaders, journalists and the general public responded to events in the Ottoman Empire, which many, if not most, people in Britain came to see as trudging towards inevitable chaos and destruction. Although this ‘Eastern Question’ on a post-Ottoman future was ostensibly a matter of international politics and sometimes conflict, this study argues that the ideas underpinning it were conceived, shaped, and enforced according to domestic British attitudes. In this way, this book presents the Eastern Question as as much a British question as one related in any way to the Ottoman Empire. Particularly in the crucial decade of the 1870s, debates in Victorian society on the Eastern Question served as proxies for other pressing issues of the day, including electoral reform, changing religious attitudes, public education, and the costs of maintaining Britain’s empire. This book offers new perspectives on the Eastern Question’s relationship to these trends in Victorian society, culture, and politics, highlighting its significance in understanding Britain’s imperial programme more widely in the second half of the nineteenth century.

A nuanced and comprehensive study of the political dynamics between Russia and key countries in Southeast Europe Is Russia threatening to disrupt more than two decades’ of E.U. and U.S. efforts to promote stability in post-communist Southeast Europe? Politicians and commentators in the West say, “yes.” With rising global anxiety over Russia’s political policies and objectives, Dimitar Bechev provides the only in-depth look at this volatile region. Deftly unpacking the nature and extent of Russian influence in the Balkans, Greece, and Turkey, Bechev argues that both sides are driven by pragmatism and opportunism rather than historical loyalties. Russia is seeking to assert its role in Europe’s security architecture, establish alternative routes for its gas exports—including the contested Southern Gas Corridor—and score points against the West. Yet, leaders in these areas are allowing Russia to reinsert itself to serve their own goals. This urgently needed guide analyzes the responses of regional NATO members, particularly regarding the annexation of Crimea and the Putin-Erdogan rift over Syria.

This new study brings together leading experts to show how the modern world began with the coming of the railway. They clearly explain why it had a greater impact than any other technical or industrial innovation before and completely redefined the limits of the civilized world. While the effect of railways on economic development is self-evident, little attention has been paid to their impact on international relations. This is unfortunate, for in the period from 1848 to 1945, railways were an important element in the struggle between the Great Powers. This took many forms. Often, as in East Asia, the competition for railway concessions reflected the clash of rival imperial interests. The success or failure of this competition could determine which of the European Powers was to dominate and exploit the markets of China and Siam. Just as often, railways were linked with military matters. Prussia’s success in the wars of German unification depended on its strategic railways just as much as on the strength of its armies, and the rail links remained a vital aspect of German military thinking before the First World War. So, too, did they for the Russians, whose vast Empire required rail links capable of moving the Tsarist army quickly and competently. Just as importantly, railways could be vital for Imperial defence, as the British discovered on the North-West frontier of India. This book will be of much interest to students of international history, military history and strategic studies.

In the 19th century Europe changed more rapidly and radically than during any prior period. These chapters offer an approach to understanding one of the most complex periods of modern history, addressing all the major issues.

The book is the first attempt to make a systematic analysis of the Russian ecclesiastical policy in the diocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the period of 1878-1914. It is based mainly on unedited materials from the archives of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sofia, Athens, Belgrade and Istanbul. Using the existing publications on the political aspects of the Eastern question, the author presents a new understanding of the role of Russia in the East Mediterranean region at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.

Russia has long been a major player in the international relations arena, but only by examining the whole century can Russian foreign policy be properly understood, and the key questions as to the impact of war, of revolution, of collapse, the emergence of the Cold War and Russia’s post-Soviet development be addressed. Surveying the whole of the twentieth century in an accessible and clear manner Russia’s International Relations in the Twentieth Century provides an overview and narrative, with analysis, that will serve as an introduction and resource for students of Russian foreign policy in the period, and those who seek to understand the development of modern Russia in an international context. The volume includes: an analysis of the major themes which surrounded Russia’s position in world affairs as one of the European Great Powers before the First World War the impact of Revolution and the emergence of Soviet foreign policy with its dual aims of normalization and world revolution the changes wrought to the international order by the rise of Nazi Germany and by the Second World War the origins and development of the Cold War the end of the Cold War and the Soviet collapse how Russia has rebuilt itself as an international power in the post-Soviet era. An essential resource for students of Russian history and International policy.