The 1841 London Straits Convention closed the Bosporus and Dardanelles to all foreign warships, curtailing Russian naval access to the Mediterranean and reshaping European balance of power.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 13 July 1841
- Signatories
- Russia, UK, France, Austria, Prussia, Ottoman Empire
- Straits affected
- Bosporus and Dardanelles
- Superseded treaty
- Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi (1833)
- Replaced by
- Montreux Convention (1936)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1833 Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi contained a secret article granting exclusive wartime use of the Turkish Straits to Ottoman and Russian vessels, excluding all other foreign warships. The European Great Powers viewed this arrangement as an unacceptable Russian advantage over access to the Mediterranean and sought to overturn it through multilateral negotiation.
On 13 July 1841, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, and Prussia signed the London Straits Convention, re-establishing the Ottoman Empire's 'ancient rule' by closing the Bosporus and Dardanelles to all warships of any nation, with an exception permitting allies of the Sultan entry during wartime. This placed the straits regime under collective European guarantee.
The convention curtailed Russia's ability to project naval power into the Mediterranean by denying its warships routine passage through the straits. British naval dominance in the region was reinforced. The treaty established a precedent for international multilateral control of the straits that endured until the Montreux Convention of 1936, which remains in force today.
Political Outcome
The Turkish Straits were closed to all foreign warships in peacetime, ending Russia's preferential access established by the 1833 Hünkâr İskelesi treaty and placing the straits under collective Great Power guarantee.
Russia held preferential wartime access to the Turkish Straits under the 1833 Hünkâr İskelesi treaty, disadvantaging other European naval powers.
All foreign warships barred from the straits in peacetime, benefiting British naval supremacy in the Mediterranean at Russia's expense.