How successfully did Great Britain secure its interests in the Eastern Question from 1854-1878?

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How successfully did Great Britain secure its interests in the Eastern Question from 1854-1878?  Britain had many aims that they strived to achieve in the Crimean war, in 1854, and the Near Eastern Crisis in 1878, that reflected their Foreign Policy. The most important aim for Britain was the maintenance of the Balance of Power in Europe. Preserving the Balance of Power was vital for Britain, as they were concerned about if Austria collapsed, this would reduce the effectiveness of Austria as a barrier towards Russia preventing them from expanding westwards into Central Europe. Britain was also concerned about the threat of the Ottoman Empire collapsing to the Russians, which would have resulted in increased Russian power in Eastern Europe that would affect Britain’s naval control in the Mediterranean and Trade routes to India. Britain also felt that it was essential to keep naval control over the Mediterranean Sea routes and the Suez Canal. This was vital to ensure that Trade and expansionist aims into Asia would be preserved. Moreover, Britain wanted to contain Russian’s expansion into Turkey and Asia as it could have threatened British naval power in the Mediterranean trade with India. Furthermore, Trade was also an imperative aim of Britain they strived to maintain. India was Britain’s largest colony and a premier place for British trade that was a trade hub for the whole of Asia. This essay will analyse and deduce how successfully Great Britain secured each of their aims in the Eastern Question from 1854-1878. Britain initially got involved in the Crimean War after Russia initially refused a negotiation to withdraw from the principalities after the event in July 1853 where Russia occupied the territories, Wallachia and Moldavia, in the Crimea that had previously been controlled by Turkey and the United Kingdom and France declared war. The most important interest of Britain during the Crimean War was the maintenance of the Balance of Power. This aim proved to be successfully achieved as Britain had successfully prevented Russia from expanding westwards into central Europe,
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and the Turkish Empire. This was beneficial for Britain as it meant Turkey was able to preserve its independence and continue to act as a barrier against Russian expansion further into Eastern Europe and Asia. This ultimately preserved Britain’s naval control in the Mediterranean and their trade routes to India. Therefore, this portrays that Britain did successfully achieve its interests in the Eastern Question from 1854-1878.Moreover, Britain also successfully achieved its interest of containing Russia during the Crimean War as they prevented Russia from expanding westwards into Central Europe and the Turkish Empire. After Austria joined the Allies against Russia, ...

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