Keeping the Germans Out of the Straits: The Five Ottoman Dreadnought Thesis Reconsidered

This article contests Sean McMeekin's claims concerning Russian culpability for the First World War. McMeekin maintains that Ottoman rearmament, particularly the purchase of several battleships released onto the global arms market by South American states, threatened to create a situation where...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:War in history 2016-01, Vol.23 (1), p.20-35
Main Author: Seligmann, Matthew S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Battleships
Militarism
Military sales
Russian history
World War I
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article contests Sean McMeekin's claims concerning Russian culpability for the First World War. McMeekin maintains that Ottoman rearmament, particularly the purchase of several battleships released onto the global arms market by South American states, threatened to create a situation where the Russian Black Sea Fleet would be outclassed by its Ottoman opposite number. Rather than waiting for this to happen, the tsarist regime chose to go to war. Yet, contrary to McMeekin's claims, the Ottoman naval expansion never assumed threatening dimensions because the Porte was unable to purchase battleships from Chile or Argentina. As a result, it provided no incentive for Russia to go to war in 1914.
ISSN:0968-3445
1477-0385
DOI:10.1177/0968344514550544