However, the break out of the Bolshevik Revolution and the fall of the tsar and his government opened the way for Britain and France to take the Russian’s share.
Today, in 2016, one hundred years later, is Putin trying to regain what the Kremlin has lost? Or is Russia trying to restore that lost share through its military intervention in Syria?
Basically, the Russian military intervention is not the first of its kind. In June 1772, the Russian fleet shelled the city of Beirut and occupied it for six months. Beirut then was under the Ottoman control when that Russian move occurred in response to a help request by some Arab groups which were anti-Ottoman.
In 1768, the biggest Russian intervention in the Arab region was done under the pretext of the war against the Ottoman Empire. In that year, Empress Katrina ordered one of its leaders to lead Russian ships to the Mediterranean to support a national movement that was opposing the Ottoman reign.
Today, before the Russian intervention in Syria, Putin managed to restore the east of Ukraine despite the warnings of the NATO and the US sanctions.
When Russia decided to intervene in Syria, the step was blessed by the Orthodox Church which described the war as holy. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and dividing its legacy, France proposed itself as the protector of Catholics while Russia proposed itself as the protector of Orthodox.
During that period, the US had no effective influence in the Middle East. The Russian movement was coordinated with both Britain and France, while now France and Britain are no longer imperial powers and America’s withdrawal is opening the way for Russia to get its share.
Muhammad al-Sammack in Al-Mustaqbal
Translated by Orient Net English
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