raharris1973
Well-known member
What if the Dogger Bank incident caused Britain to declare war on Russia? What could Britain actually do to Russia?
Well I suppose the obvious, punishment fit the crime thing, is to sink all the Russian fleet units in oceanic transit from the Baltic to the Pacific. Basically this just does the Japanese work of Tsushima early.
Having done that, the British can raid the Russian Baltic coast freely and bombard it, and sweep whatever Russian merchant traffic there is off the seas. A literal close blockade of Petersburg, helsingfors, Taliin, and Riga though may not be safe depending on the range and accuracy of Russian shore batteries.
the next instinctive move is to send the British med fleet into the straits to mangle the Black Sea fleet. Easy, right? But there’s an important political question mark hanging over it. DoesSultan Abdul Hamid want to open the straits to the British fleet, or does he still hold a grudge against the British for their vigorous anti Ottoman stances during the Armenian massacres of the 1890s? Plus British shenanigans in Kuwait and the Persian Gulf.
can/will Britain force the straits without permission?
if reaching an agreement with the Turks, presumably the latter will want to get into the fight and regain some territory. Most likely Kars and Ardahan. Would Britain countenance the return of these mainly Christian, and Armenian, lands to Abdulhamid?
Elsewhere in Asia, marching the Indian army through Afghanistan to invade Russian Turkestan seems impracticable logistically. Britain could shove away Russian influence in Persia, or try. Maybe it could send Indian troops through Persia to invade Baku and seize oil fields, but it seems likely the Russians can more than match the Raj forces in numbers.
other than that, the main activities are subsidizing the Japanese, troublemakers in the Russian empire and economic warfare through blacklisting and buying up supplies. Any blockade/embargo would be leaky because it wouldn’t halt land trade and possibly not inland sea trade with neutrals.
Well I suppose the obvious, punishment fit the crime thing, is to sink all the Russian fleet units in oceanic transit from the Baltic to the Pacific. Basically this just does the Japanese work of Tsushima early.
Having done that, the British can raid the Russian Baltic coast freely and bombard it, and sweep whatever Russian merchant traffic there is off the seas. A literal close blockade of Petersburg, helsingfors, Taliin, and Riga though may not be safe depending on the range and accuracy of Russian shore batteries.
the next instinctive move is to send the British med fleet into the straits to mangle the Black Sea fleet. Easy, right? But there’s an important political question mark hanging over it. DoesSultan Abdul Hamid want to open the straits to the British fleet, or does he still hold a grudge against the British for their vigorous anti Ottoman stances during the Armenian massacres of the 1890s? Plus British shenanigans in Kuwait and the Persian Gulf.
can/will Britain force the straits without permission?
if reaching an agreement with the Turks, presumably the latter will want to get into the fight and regain some territory. Most likely Kars and Ardahan. Would Britain countenance the return of these mainly Christian, and Armenian, lands to Abdulhamid?
Elsewhere in Asia, marching the Indian army through Afghanistan to invade Russian Turkestan seems impracticable logistically. Britain could shove away Russian influence in Persia, or try. Maybe it could send Indian troops through Persia to invade Baku and seize oil fields, but it seems likely the Russians can more than match the Raj forces in numbers.
other than that, the main activities are subsidizing the Japanese, troublemakers in the Russian empire and economic warfare through blacklisting and buying up supplies. Any blockade/embargo would be leaky because it wouldn’t halt land trade and possibly not inland sea trade with neutrals.