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Alabama Russians -- and trade routes
Chris


Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Posts: 180
Location: S.A.
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Damian O'Connor wrote:
Dear Chris,
Chagos - Diego Garcia- was the point at which the main trade route from India to the Cape bisected the main route from Australia to Suez. I don't know about Ncala. Love to learn though.

Hi Damian ,
We seem to be wandering all over here -- well at least I am. History does not exist in a vacumn -- it is a continuation and for me anyway it is hard to concentrate on one place and point only. Even in Victorian England there was very much such a thing as "Global Politics" ( Just look at the history of Afghanistan and how events there all seem to get tied up in different ways -- although the Americans now seem to carry the flag of Global Empire. Most days I tend to walk around with a profound sense of Deja-Vu.
Nacala in Mozambique on the east coast of Africa has one of the finest deep water ports. It apparently drops off to 200ft from the quayside. During the cold war and the presence of the Russians in the Indian Ocean it was thought that Nacala was being used by the Russians as a base for their nuclear Submarines. You will have to check this with someone from British Naval intelligence. Nacala also has a long all weather jet runway. On which , in the old days , several Mi24 Hind helicopters could be seen sitting. Recently ( with all the foreign aid to Moz , the Finns have apparently upgraded the port facilities -- and the Americans are running the railways ( commerce corridor up to Malawi and Zambia )
It is a VERY strange place Africa.

Chris
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Rich
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Damian..you know you have my curiosity now as to how the Russians viewed South Africa at the time..now were they planning a "determined incursion' as Paul made reference to? Privateering efforts certainly show an interest in mixing it up down there but I'd think it more a basic pawn move on the chessboard rather than stoking up a full blown mating attack.
I don't know. Coming off the Crimean War, the Russians weren't exactly a powerhouse...Germany was and it looks as if Asia would beckon more than SA to Russia.
Damian O'Connor


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 76
Location: Essex, UK
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Hi Rich,
Basically the Russians knew that they could not beat the Royal Navy in a stand up fight but they also knew that the amount of commerce on the ocean that was in British ships was a tempting target. They also knew that most of the ports of the empire were in a state of poor defence. They therefore hoped for a couple of 'spectaculars' which would freeze shipping in ports, encourage re-flagging and cause an uproar in the British press. This would not be a decisive move, but, combined with a feint towards Afgfhanistan and a move on Constantinople - and they were only a days march away from it in 1878-9 - it might just be enough to prevent Britain from commiting troops to help Turkey, especially as Gladstone was absolutely against war with Russia. In the end, however, Disraeli and Salisbury were successful in getting the Russians to beleive that their threats of war were in earnest and thus they didn't push the issue to war. It didn't 'alf give the military establishment a scare though.
Damian
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The Alabama Factor in South African History
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