968 Chapter 7
Participants: 200 United Kingdom/365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Yield by side B (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute coincides the Russian War Scare for Great Britain during
the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–1878 (see MID#187). Britain wanted to preserve
Turkey’s presence in Europe and was alarmed that Russia had overwhelmed Ottoman
forces during the war, threatening the aggrandizement of Russia at Turkey’s expense.
Britain felt that further Russian incursions into the Middle East would threaten its
holdings in the area. As a result, a contingent of Indian troops was shipped to Malta,
and a British fleet was sent to the Dardanelles during the waning stages of the Russo-
Ottoman War.
After the British dispatched a second fleet to the Dardanelles on February 8 (arrived
on February 15, 1878), both sides concluded an agreement on February 18. This
agreement called for both not to occupy Gallipolli, the lines of Bulair, the Straits, or
the Asiatic shore of the Dardanelles. A May 30 secret agreement dealt with recent
Russian annexations of Turkey in the March 3 Treaty of San Stefano. Both agreed to
a partition of the Bulgaria created by the Treaty of San Stefano. Entering the Berlin
negotiations, Russia and England agreed to a plan where the Bulgaria created by
the Treaty of San Stefano was divided into three Bulgarias. One Bulgaria would be
independent, another (Eastern Rumelia) would be nominally under Turkish rule (but
actually controlled by a European commission), and the third would be returned to
the Ottoman Empire. The British remained suspicious and simultaneously signed
agreements with Austria and Turkey. The former agreement gave British blessing to
an annexation of Bosnia, and the latter created a conditional defensive alliance that
allowed the British to use Cyprus as a naval base.
Coding changes: End Date changed from June 13, 1878.
MID#119
Dispute Number: 119
Date(s): February 24, 1885 to September 10, 1885
Participants: 200 United Kingdom/365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute is sometimes called the Panjdeh Scare as Britain and Russia
contested territories as both bid for supremacy in Central Asia. Britain had already
established a presence while Russia began to make advances in the 1880s (see, for
example, the occupation of Merv Oasis in 1884). Russia and Britain tried to adjust
their boundaries amicably through the Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission in
January 1885 when the Russians attacked Afghan forces at Panjdeh. News of the
incident brought Britain and Russia to the brink of war. Britain even occupied Port
Hamilton off the coast of Korea as a preemptive move to possible naval measures by
the Russians out of Vladivostok. However, Britain scaled back military operations
when it could not secure the consent of the European powers for access into the
Black Sea. The issue was resolved by a compromise on June 18, 1886, and formal