1 July 1839
The Eastern Question

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In the Near East (comprising Turkey, Palestine, Syria and Egypt), France, Britain and Russia jockey for influence. France backs Egypt, which has recently taken Syria and Palestine from Turkish control. Russia backs Turkey and so has secret access to the Mediterranean through the Dardanelles Strait. Britain – in what it refers to as the 'Eastern Question' – is anxious to limit both French and Russian influence and assert its own.

In 1839, Turkey invades Syria in an attempt to recapture it. With French help, Egyptian forces roundly defeat the Turks, and the French government proposes to claim part of Syria. Britain's foreign secretary Viscount Palmerston launches a diplomatic mission, inviting the European powers Austria, Russia and Prussia to a convention and deliberately excluding France.

The 1840 Convention of London demands that Egypt withdraw from Syria. When Egypt refuses, British warships bombard Alexandria and a joint force captures Acre in Palestine. France threatens war, but after a change of government, it negotiates. In 1841, all the European powers sign the Straits Convention, which bans the warships of any country from travelling through the Dardanelles.

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