Alabama Russians -- and trade routes |
Rich
Guest
|
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
|
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 |
||||||||||||
|
The Alabama Factor in South African History |
|
||
Powered by phpBB © 2001-2004 phpBB Group
phpBB Style created by phpBBStyles.com and distributed by Styles Database.
phpBB Style created by phpBBStyles.com and distributed by Styles Database.