Turkey and the Soviet Union During World War II: Diplomacy, Discord and International Relations (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781788311342)

Based on newly accessible Turkish archival documents, Onur Isci's study details the deterioration of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Soviet Union during World War II. Turkish-Russian relations have a long history of conflict. Under Ataturk relations improved - he was a master 'balancer' of the great powers. During the Second World War, however, relations between Turkey and the Soviet Union plunged to several degrees below zero, as Ottoman-era Russophobia began to take hold in Turkish elite circles. For the Russians, hostility was based on long-term apathy stemming from the enormous German investment in the Ottoman Empire; for the Turks, on the fear of Russian territorial ambitions.

This book offers a new interpretation of how Russian foreign policy drove Turkey into a peculiar neutrality in the Second World War, and eventually into NATO. Onur Isci argues that this was a great reversal of Ataturk-era policies, and that it was the burden of history, not realpolitik, that caused the move to the west during the Second World War.

Author: Onur Isci
ISBN-10: 1788311345
ISBN-13: 9781788311342
Publisher: I. B. Tauris & Company
Language: English
Published: 11/28/2019
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.40w x 0.80d