Turco-British Rapprochement on the Eve of the Second World War

Abstract

Turco-British Rapprochement on the Eve of the Second World War

Abstract

The First World War failed to resolve the basic conflicts among the
European powers. The injustices inherent in the Versailles peace settlement
only worscncd the complicated national questions which bedevilled the whole
of Europe. The military, political and economic developments which
followed i9 i8 drove the European world towards a new grouping of powers.
At the bcginning of the i930s the countries of the Balkan Peninsula
once more bccame the stage in an acute struggle among the largest nations in
the world. The interests of Britain, France, Germany and ltaly clashed, as the
Balkan countries occupied a crucial position on the East-West route. The
confiicts among the greater European states, sharpened on the eve of the
Second World War, aggravated the politicaI situation in the Balkans and
impeded the realisation of the regional diplomatic plans of both Western
countries and of Nazi Germany and Fascist ltaly. Hence a closer scrutiny of
the distribution of power in southeastem Europe and the Ncar East during the
Iate i930s, as well as the policy of the great powers vis-lı-vis this area may
help to better grasp the complcx international configuration prevailing in
Europc on the brink of war. 

Keywords

• Turco-British
• Rapprochement
• Second World War