Sketch Map from the Dardanelles to the Bosphorus Showing the Positions of the British Fleet

Gunboat diplomacy during the Russo-Turkish War.

This dramatic aerial view attempts to capture the geopolitical stakes of the ongoing Russo-Turkish War. Unexpected Russian successes against the Ottoman Empire led to the complete encirclement of Constantinople (troops were stationed at Stephanos and Pera), but Western powers feared that total victory would upset the balance of power in Europe. A reluctant peace was brokered under the watchful eye of the British fleet, stationed in the Gulf of Izmid and in the Dardanelles.

The bird’s-eye view was engraved by talented British landscape artist Richard Principal Leitch and published as an Extra Supplement to the Illustrated London News issue of March 9, 1878.