DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_3_30

D. Yu. Kozlov. “This was the Achilles’ Heel of the Russian Colossus…”: On the Role and
Significance of the Black Sea Theater of the First World War // Petersburg Historical Journal,
no. 3, 2025, pp. 30–53

Abstract:

The article under scrutiny herein undertakes a thoroughgoing analysis of the impact of the
struggle between the Russian and Ottoman navies on the course and outcome of the First World War. The author’s primary focus is on the impact of naval operations in the Black Sea on the economic and, to a certain extent, socio-political situation in Russia and Turkey. It is concluded that the results of the struggle in the Black Sea, principally the actions of the opposing fleets on maritime communications, largely catalysed the economic and political problems in the Russian and Ottoman Empires, which ultimately led to their military defeat and subsequent disintegration.


Key words: World War I, Black Sea, disruption of sea supply, economic situation, “coal famine”.

Author:

Kozlov, Denis Yur’evich — Dr. of Sci. in History, Chief Researcher and Head of the Center for the
Military History of Russia, Institute of Russian History of Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia).
E-mail: kozloff_d@mail.ru

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