Heinz A. Richter's new study sheds light on the importance of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles before and during the First World War. From the development of Anglo-Russian relations to the start of the war and Turkey's entry into it, the role of the Straits in the struggle for Constantinople is examined. The detailed account of the political maneuvering of the powers involved around the Battle of Gallipoli is based on previously unevaluated Russian files and offers a new and comprehensive insight into the history of the Straits issue in the international politics of the early 20th century. -- Provided by publisher
The war in Macedonia between 1915 and 1918 and its political consequences are forgotten events of the First World War. Heinz A. Richter's second volume on the war in the Southeast, based on literature from Germany, Austria, England, France and Greece, is the first comprehensive scientific study of military and political developments in Macedonia. After numerous unsuccessful Allied offensives from their fortified bridgehead near Thessaloniki, which failed due to the combined forces of Bulgarians and Germans, German troops were almost completely withdrawn in 1918 to be deployed on the Western Front. The war-weary Bulgarians could not stop the attack and the Bulgarian front in Macedonia collapsed. It was a local defeat, but it was re-styled by Hindenburg and Ludendorff in Germany as a kind of second dagger thrust legend to conceal the defeat they were responsible for in the West. The Greek king tried to keep his country out of the war, but this was interpreted as pro-German policy by Sarrail, the commander-in-chief of the troops in Thessaloniki. Sarrail did everything possible to overthrow Constantine I from the throne, supported by the former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, who believed that by entering the war on the side of the Allies he could make the dream of the Megali Idea come true. The result was what the Greeks call the Ethnicos Dichasmos, the national division. It shaped Greek politics for many years.
