Abstract
Before “Uncle Joe” Crossed the Rubicon: The British Foreign Office’s Perception of the Soviet Impact on Anglo-Turkish Relations in the Early Cold War Era (1945-46)
The rearrangement of global politics was an inevitable consequence of the Second World War. As part of this process, even before the war ended, the Soviet Union took steps which would provide a basis for her future policies. Accordingly, it embarked on a war of nerves on Turkey. This new war not only affected the relations between Turkey and the Soviet Union but also had profound effects on the relations between Turkey and Britain, which had been officially linked with an alliance prior to the Second World War. While Britain endeavoured to keep what was left of its global dominance, Turkey struggled to stand firm against the threat imposed by a super power neighbouring country. Since the search for support from the United States, which had emerged as another global super power at the end of the war, proved futile for Turkish policy makers, they naturally turned to their British ally. And when the United States decided to take action against the Soviet threat, a new phase of history began. In this new era, Anglo-Turco relations were shaped by the American policies, as were the rest of the world. In the light of the above-mentioned, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the Soviet threat faced by Turkey in the early Cold War era on Anglo-Turco relations as perceived by the British Foreign Office.
Keywords
Anglo-Turco Relations, The Soviet Union, Cold War, British Foreign Office