The First World War was an unprecedented catastrophe that killed millions and set up the continent of Europe on the route to further calamity two decade later on . But it did n’t come out of nowhere . With the centenary of the eruption of hostilities add up up in August , Erik Sass will be looking back at the lead - up to the war , when seemingly underage moments of detrition amass until the situation was ready to explode . He ’ll be covering those events 100 year after they take place . This is the 112th installment in the series .
3 March 2025: Russia Pursues Naval Treaty with Britain
The European alliance system was doubtless a major causal agency of the First World War , but the image of a rigid social system bringing about conflict with mechanically skillful inevitability is n’t quite exact . On one side , the Triple Alliance was n’t much of a triple anything : Germany and Austria - Hungary were close bound to each other , but the third phallus of the defensive accord , Italy , wasunreliable , to say the least . Meanwhile there was no courtly diplomatic agreement governing the Triple Entente of France , Russia , and Britain ; rather , it was an informal coalition hinging on France , which had a justificatory confederation with Russia and a mostly unwritten “ Entente Cordiale ” ( well-disposed understanding ) with Britain .
Indeed , the Brits were a cagey muckle who prized their traditional independency from Europe and stay leery of any commitments that might embroil them in a Continental conflict . They were peculiarly reluctant to promise intervention with Din Land forces , a prospect that mobilize bloodcurdling memories of the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars . But as the world ’s dominant naval power — and at the same clock time , an overstretched conglomerate looking for way of life to slew cost – Britain was more open to the approximation of naval conventions that could reduce demands on the Royal Navy while serving as a force multiplier for British sea power . That was the cerebration behind theAnglo - French Naval Conventionof 1912 , as well as Russian overture for a standardised arrangement in the last months before warfare broke out .
The Russians had a number of reasons to want a naval convention with Britain : it would firm up British commitment to the Triple Entente , dissuade Germany and Austria - Hungary , and let France make out that Russia was pull its exercising weight in their alinement . But the most significant reason were the super - dreadnought battleships Britain was build for the Ottoman Empire , theReshad VandSultan Osman I(latter see above , rechristened HMSAgincourt ) , whichthreatenedto change the proportion of power in the Black Sea , thwarting Russianplansto conquer the Turkish capital of Constantinople .
As this complex dynamic illustrates , Britain and Russia were what today might be termed “ frenemies , ” happy to cooperate in some arena , like containing Germany , but openly competing in others , like the Middle East and Asia . Nevertheless the Russians hoped that Britain might be persuaded to sell the battleships to Russia instead of Turkey as part of a naval convention , and were unforced to volunteer concession in Persia and Central Asia — where the British feared Russian influence might someday threaten India , the crown gem of the British Empire — to sweeten the deal . finally Anglo - Russian agreement might even offer to a formal three - direction confederation with France , convert the Entente into a hearty military bloc containing Germany .
This was the pith of a letter sent by Russian strange rector Sergei Sazonov to the Russian ambassador in London , Count Alexander Konstantinovich Benckendorff , on April 15 , 1914 , in which Sazonov observed :
The undermentioned Clarence Day , the Russian naval minister broached the idea of Russia purchase the dreadnoughts with the British ambassador to St. Petersburg , Sir George Buchanan . The Russians also call on their French friends to dissemble as intermediaries and present the Russian case for an Anglo - Russian naval convention , possibly followed by a full alliance . In the 2d one-half of April , King George V and British strange secretary Edward Grey were due to see Paris , where President Poincare , Premier Viviani , and extraneous minister Gaston Doumergue would make the Russian case .
The British , ambivalent as always , were clearly tepid about the propose naval convention with Russia , but some progress was made : Grey correspond to the mind in principle in April , and on May 19 , 1914 , he met with Benckendorff and the French embassador Paul Cambon back in London , apparently to set up preliminary negotiation between the British and Russian admiralty . Meanwhile on April 27 British undersecretary for foreign affairs Sir Arthur Nicolson noted : “ I acknowledge the French are haunted with the same apprehension — that if we do not assay to tighten up tie with Russia she may become weary of us and throw us overboard . In that case we should be in an exceedingly cumbersome post , as she could cause us an infinity of annoyance , to put it mildly , in the Mid and Far East , without our being in any room capable to retaliate . ”
But as always diplomacy proceeded at a solemn tempo , and was swiftly overtaken by events following the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28 , 1914 ( there was no more pauperism for a convention when Russia and Britain were allied in an existent war against Germany ) . That ’s not to say that the talks had no upshot . In the final months of peace German paper caught wind of the rumored Anglo - Russian Naval Convention , further stoking German paranoia about “ encirclement ” by the Triple Entente . Like Russia’sGreat Military Programand planned Black Sea buildup , ironically the talks for a naval convention with Britain wangle to fire up German fears without adding appreciably to Russian protection .
See theprevious installmentorall entries .
