Balance of Power - Second Great-Turkish War (1902)

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The Russian Empire

Though we at first advocated our desire for a cautious policy towards Turkey, the dogs of war have been let loose and Russia must once again turn her guns toward her old enemy. We call on our Orthodox brothers to join us in one last struggle to finally neuter the Ottoman menace and to reclaim Constantinople, and hereby declare war on the Ottoman Empire. Below is what we hope to accomplish from our campaign:



The remaining Turkish occupation of the Balkans shall be partitioned as proposed, while the heavily Greek portions of Anatolia, including the city of Constantinople, shall go to our Greek brothers, with a Turkish rump state capitaled in Ankara. Arabia has been left white; we have no interest here and believe it will be in some way divided between Britain and any independent Arab states. Armenia shall become its own kingdom in personal union with Russia (similar to Finland's current situation), while Kurdistan shall become a Russian protectorate (if necessary, we are willing to sacrifice a Kurdish protectorate to Britain).

The Balkan nations we call to declare war upon Turkey may conduct their own campaigns. Ours shall be simple: from our holdings in Armenia and Georgia we move into Anatolia, hugging the coast with most forces and sending others into the mountain passages with the ultimate goal being the seizure of Ankara and the gathering of support from Kurdish and Armenian militias. The Black Sea Fleet at this time is not ready to launch a large naval invasion but large enough to control the Black Sea; do this and make every attempt to strangle the Turks at the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits. If our Balkan friends consent, a sufficient force will be moved through Romania to liberate the semi-independent Bulgaria and seize the port of Burgas, pushing downwards with cooperation from the Balkan states to take all European holdings of the Turkish Empire and besiege Constantinople from land.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

We gladly accept the offer (again, Kurdistan and Arabia are rather low on our priorities list ).

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Russia affirms its commitment to avoid any unnecessary civilian casualties and will demand discipline from her soldiers (i.e. no looting, etc.)

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

• Continue our offensive into Anatolia. After taking the coastal town of Sinop,  forces will begin to turn south to take Ankara. Continue setting a blockade of all Turkish coastal waters along the Black Sea.
• Continue military preparations, though full mobilization at this point is not necessary.
• Most importantly, we again appeal on our Orthodox Balkan brothers--Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Montenegro--to join the struggle against the decadent and tyrannical Turkish Empire. To assist them, our armies in Romania will first ask for permission to move through Bulgaria to push through to the Aegean Sea and cut off Thrace and Constantinople by land. If they refuse, we will appeal to Serbia to allow passage of troops and from there push to meet the British in Kosovo, Albania, or Macedonia, depending on how successful both they and we are in offensives.
• On the home front, mass-distribute propaganda about the savagery of Ottoman rule over its ethnic minorities, both Christian and Muslim. Hark back to historical victories against Turkey and present the conflict as a final struggle to eliminate our greatest foe over the past two centuries.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Very well.

X Tsar Nicholas II