Cold War with Imperial Russia?

[Michael B]

If this Russia gets Constantinople as part of WWI spoils, that would finally give Russia the Warm Water Port, they have always wanted.

And greatly complicate the Balance of Power, and make the Med a much more exciting theater of the Cold War.

Which would be why Great Britian would say no to it.

 

[Spare Change]

Interesting map, but description politically inaccurate.

SNIP.

The map and the the Geo-Politics of Rim Land vs. The Heartland of the World Island is the product of Alfred Mahan and his successors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Thayer_Mahan

It is a product of having powerful Anglo navies unifying the 'Rim'. That world didn't exist before this. Likewise before railroads it would have been nearly impossible for Russia to fight a war in China despite controlling Siberia on the map.

In other words this map only works from the 19th Century on up. However this is the Post 1900 discusion board.

Many current Geo-Political Maps emphasize the Persian Gulf since it is a choke hold where nearly half the world's oil flows. However before oil was discovered there in the 20th century the Persian Gulf had been an unimportant backwater for centuries.

In other words Geo-political maps are technology dependent. Although I agree with you that in actual life the Russians are not as scary as they look on the map. From the Russian perspective they look at this same map and proclaim "We are surrounded! So we need a forward and aggressive foreign policy to head off trouble."

What woud be the Ideological Component to this new Cold War?

It could be several. The most likely post 1900 is Christian Autocracy vs Liberal Capitalism.

 

[Corbell Mark IV]

Which would be why Great Britian would say no to it.

This is interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople_Agreement

The Constantinople Agreement (18 March 1915) was a set of secret assurances made by the Triple Entente during World War I. France and Great Britain promised to give Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and the Dardanelles (land on either coast in Thrace and Asia Minor), which at the time were part of the Ottoman Empire, to the Russians in the event of victory.[1] The city of Constantinople was intended to be a free port.

It was never carried out due to the failure of the Dardanelles campaign and the threat Britain saw in Russia after the former finally reached the city in 1918.