Eastern Mediterranean 1946: Turkish Straits Crisis

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Main Events

2 Jun 1946 Italian institutional referendum ▲

In June 1946 an institutional referendum was held by universal suffrage across the Kingdom of Italy regarding the fate of the monarchy in the wake of the Second World War. Of the voters, 12,717,923 favored a republic, while 10,719,284 were in favor of retaining the monarchy. Reading the writing on the wall, King Umberto II voluntarily left the country for Portugal and the Italian Republic was formed. in wikipedia

17 Jun 1946 Independence of Transjordan ▲

On 22 March 1946 the British Government and the Emir of Transjordan signed the Treaty of London which, when ratified by both parties, would establish the full independence of Transjordan. Transjordan proceeded to ratify the Treaty on 25 May 1946 , officially becoming the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan, with Amir Abdullah becoming King. The final ratifications then took place in Amman on 17 June 1946, when Britain formally recognized Transjordan’s independence (although some British restrictions on Transjordan’s sovereignty would only be removed in March 1948). in wikipedia

7 Aug 1946–30 May 1953 Turkish Straits Crisis ▲

During much of World War II, Turkey had granted German and Italian—but not Soviet—warships passage through the Turkish Straits (the Dardanelles and Bosphorus), angering the Soviet Union. Tensions between the Soviets and Turks grew following the war and in August 1946, after the American battleship USS Missouri visited Turkey, the Soviet Union demanded a revision of the 1936 Montreux Convention which governed Turkey’s management of the Straits. Threatened by the subsequent Soviet naval and military buildup in the region, Turkey appealed to the United States, which dispatched its own naval task force there and, in conjunction with Britain, reaffirmed its support for Turkey. In response, the Soviets began deescalating the situation, but it was not until May 1953—following the death of Stalin—that they fully discontinued their claims over the Straits and other Turkish territory. in wikipedia