Author: [Edited by] Adamov, Evgenii A.
Title: Konstantinopl’ I Prolivy. Po Sekretnym Dokumentam B. Ministerstva Inostrannykh Del (Constantinople and the Straits. From Secret Documents of the Former Ministry of Foreign Affairs) 2 Volumes in 1
Description: Moskva (Moscow): Litizdat NKID, 1925. Hardcover. First edition, 1 of 1000 copies; 10 1/2 x 6 3/4; vol. I pp. 548, vol. II pp. 473; rebound in brown buckram over boards; gilt title to spine; small rubbed spots to edges; faint penciled-in notes to margins of some pages; illustrated with a large fold-out map; very good condition. Arguably one of the most valuable collections of documents, concerning the Russian policy towards the Ottoman Empire in the pre-Revolution era, the book was preceded by two others on Greece and the other European countries during the First World War and on the Triple Entente’s secret plan to divide Asiatic Turkey, by the same author and historian Evgenii Adamov. Determined to gain unrestricted use of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits and, possibly, afraid that the British and the French would independently gain control over Constantinople, or alternately, the Germans would band with Turkey and cut off Russia's Black Sea access, depending on the outcome of the First World War, the Triple Entente devised a plan, outlined in top secret documents and correspondence, that in case of victory - the Ottoman Empire would be divided and Russia would get Constantinople and designate it "a free port" and would also claim the Dardanelles. Unfortunately for Russia, the Revolution in 1917 halted the country's participation in the war and the secret agreements never affected Russia's control over the former Ottoman lands. Ill.: 0. 2.

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