Turkish Straits crisis

Turkish Straits crisis
Part of the Cold War

The location of the Bosphorus (red) and Dardanelles (yellow) straits.
Date
  • Low level:
    20 July 1936 – 6 August 1946
    (10 years, 2 weeks and 3 days)
  • High level:
    7 August 1946 – 30 May 1953
    (6 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 2 days)[1]
Location
Result

Status quo ante bellum

  • The Soviet Union withdraws demands for a regime change on the Turkish straits
  • Turkey joins NATO
Belligerents
Supported by:
United States United States
Soviet Union Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Strength

The Turkish Straits crisis was a Cold War-era territorial conflict between the Soviet Union and Turkey. Turkey had remained officially neutral throughout most of the Second World War.[a] After the war ended, Turkey was pressured by the Soviet government to institute joint military control of passage through the Turkish Straits, which connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.[2] When the Turkish government refused, tensions in the region rose, leading to a Soviet show of force and demands for territorial concessions along the Georgia–Turkey border.[3]

This intimidation campaign was intended to preempt American influence or naval presence in the Black Sea, as well as to weaken Turkey's government and pull it into the Soviet sphere of influence.[4] The Straits crisis was a catalyst, along with the Greek Civil War, for the creation of the Truman Doctrine.[2] At its climax, the dispute would motivate Turkey to turn to the United States for protection through NATO membership.

  1. ^ Rozakes, Chrestos (1987). Turkish Straits. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 43.
  2. ^ a b Knight, Jonathan (Autumn 1975). "American Statecraft and the 1946 Black Sea Straits Controversy". Political Science Quarterly. 90 (3). The Academy of Political Science: 451–475. doi:10.2307/2148296. JSTOR 2148296. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  3. ^ Ro'i, Yaacov (1974). From Encroachment to Involvement: A Documentary Study of Soviet Policy in the Middle East, 1945–1973. Transaction Publisher. pp. 106–107.
  4. ^ De Luca, Anthony R. (Autumn 1977). "Soviet-American Politics and the Turkish Straits". Political Science Quarterly. 92 (3): 503–524. doi:10.2307/2148505. JSTOR 2148505. Retrieved 18 March 2022.


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