Прорив «Гебена» та «Бреслау» в зовнішній політиці Великої Британії

Abstract

The work analyzes the events around cruisers “Goeben” and “Breslau” in British foreign policy, and their connection with the broader problems of Foreign Office diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire and neighboring countries. The research methodology is based on the principles of scientificity, objectivity, systematics and the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis) and special-historical (historical-genetic, historical-comparative, problem-chronological) methods. The scientific novelty lies in the fact the multimethodology is used to the problem of cruisers “Goeben” and “Breslau” and their connection with the foreign policy of Great Britain concerning the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles and the states of the region. Conclusions. The breakthrough of “Goeben” and “Breslau” is closely connected with numerous British foreign policy issues: the struggle for the Ottoman Empire, the problem of Constantinople and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, and the confiscation of the British-built “Sultan Osman” and “Reshadie” ships. We must agree with the generally accepted opinion in historiography that the incident around “Sultan Osman” and “Reshadie” upset British-Ottoman relations and allowed German diplomacy to seize the initiative and arrange a risking undertaking with “Goeben” and “Breslau.” The result of the latter allowed the Germans to strengthen their control over the political and military affairs of the Ottoman Empire and had a corresponding effect on British foreign policy toward Bulgaria and Greece, as well as the Entente’s ally – the Russian Empire. The Foreign Office’s passivity regarding the “Goeben” and “Breslau” incidents in Russian and Soviet historiography had often been interpreted as deliberate action against Petrograd, which encroached on Constantinople, the Bosporus, and the Dardanelles. However, British sources have convincingly shown the groundlessness of these allegations.