The Bear in the Room: Gallipoli,Russia,and the First World War

Abstract

Russia was much more entwined in the narrative of Gallipoli than the Australian (and the international) historiography of that epic encounter suggests. The principal knot that tied Gallipoli and Russia together was the Constantinople Agreement of April 1915. Russia utilized British fears that she would abandon the Eastern front to impose on its Allies the secret Constantinople Agreement, which promised possession of the Straits and Constantinople to Russia after a successful war. Gallipoli was, in effect, both the main catalyst and guarantor of the Agreement, which then played a role in keeping Russia in the war, crucially denying Germany a one-front war.