Romania, Russia and the Geopolitical Importance of the Straits (1914-1915)

The present study tries to focus on several aspects regarding the relations between Romania and Russia, as they were reflected in French and Romanian documents, mainly from the French diplomatic and military archives and the Romanian National Archives. Regarding its methodology, we tried to make a rigorous selection of the appropriate documents for our topic. We also used several geopolitical concepts and a series of concepts belonging to the theory of international relations. The issue of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits represented an essential topic of the negotiations between Bucharest, Petrograd and Paris during the period of the Romanian neutrality in World War I. We can ask ourselves why this was a truly delicate, sensitive problem. Naturally, one of the Russian main war objectives consisted in obtaining the control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Thus, the Empire of Tsars was able to exert its domination over the Constantinople city as well. The Romanian authorities acted for the principle of the internationalization, commercial neutrality and free navigation. The problem of the Straits generated tension and distrust. The Romanian-Russian relations were rather strained and cold. The growing apprehensions of the Romanian Kingdom regarding Russia’s intentions were obvious. We must take into account that the Russian path to the Straits crossed the Romanian territory. Russian expansionist tendencies in the Balkan region were undeniable. Peter the Great’s hegemonic program represented an irrefutable argument. We must also underline the fact that the key concepts of the Russian Empire were pan-Slavism and pan-Orthodoxism - a mask concealing its expansionist and annexational tendencies. The issue of the Straits also represented one of the reasons for which Ion I. C. Brătianu’s government often delayed Romanian intervention in the Great War.

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