Page 193 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

ROMANIA ANO THE REGULATION
SYSTEM OF NAVIGATION ON THE OANUBE
THE BLACK SEA ANO THE STRAITS (1878-1898)

COSTICX PRODAN

The topi c suggested by the Italia n Commission of Military History is extreme-
ly generous, due to severa! causes. For one thing, it sets no limits to historical cime,
and second, when we talk about the Mediterranean, there are no limits as regards
space. I say this because the Mediterranean is a genuine turning table for the neigh-
bouring continents Europe, Asia an d Africa; moreover, the Gibraltar and the Suez
Canal make the connection with the other continents of the world America, Au-
stralia and the Antartic.
Likewise, I think that for the developments in the Mediterranean not only what
happened in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea proper or in the surrounding
states is important, but also the influences exerted on this area due to the fluvial
an d maritime routes that link ·the inland of neighbouring continents to the Medi-
terranean. Seen from this viewpoint, the watercourse to the Mediterranean, run-
ning along the Danube, the Black Sea and the Straits- Bosphorus and Dardanelles
- can point to interesting aspects that complete the image on the subject in discussion.
The Danube, with its 2900 kms, collects the waters of a basin stretching over
817 000 sq.km O>, has a geographic location and a direction that confers on it an
overwhelming economie, politica! and strategie importance. Via the Black Sea, the
Danube route can further go either to Georgia and the Caspian Sea, or to the Me-
diterranean, dtrough the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, wherefrom it is linked
to the great world navigation and trade routes via the Suez and Gibraltar. Therefo-
re, we may say that the Danube has been "meant to became a world trade route,
and due to its geographic position, the most important trade route on the Con-
tinenf, < >.
2
As regards the interval I have chosen, 1878-1898, I would like to emphaise
right from the beginning that i t defines the limits of two different historical stages.
In 1878, the Peace Congress of Berlin made some attempts to regulate navigation
on the Danube, the Black Sea and the Straits with the goal of reshaping the politi-
callandscape in South-East Europe after the Russian-Romanian-Turkish war of 1877.
In 1898, the other landmark, the British-Russian rivalry for the mouths of the Da-
nube and the Straits fell to a secondary piane making room for the increasing