The dynamics of foreign consular representation in the Danube maritime ports, an indicator of the regional geopolitical interest of the major power actors (1850-1939)

Starting with the second half of the 19th century and until the beginning of the Second World War, the interest of the major international and regional actors in the Maritime Danube, an important geostrategic and economic point in the equation of the disputes for influence in the South-East of the European continent, was clearly highlighted. In this context, the great Western powers (England, Austria, France), the Eastern-Balkan powers (the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire), but also the regional powers, which aspired to the status of great power (Italy and Greece), showed a special interest in the port cities of the Maritime Danube, materialized also in the form of consular representation, as a mechanism of influence and monitoring of the presence of rival states in the region. Between 1850 and 1939, in the ports of the Maritime Danube (Brăila, Galați, Reni, Ismail, Tulcea and Sulina), vast consular networks of the above-mentioned states operated, in which 314 diplomats worked. The pole of consular representation was the port of Galați. The rich consular dynamics in the ports of the Maritime Danube were an obvious indicator of the special interest of foreign states that disputed their interests in the South-Eastern region of Europe. During the studied period, the states with the most consular officials in the ports of the Maritime Danube were Greece, England, Austria and Italy. The British Empire (England), as the world’s largest maritime power, understood the strategic importance of the Danube Maritime, meaning that its consular presence in its ports was consistent, both in the second half of the 19th century and in the first part of the 20th century. Austria reduced its consular network in the Danube Maritime ports, after its defeat in the First World War. Greece’s special interest in the ports of Brăila and Galați also took into account the existence of large communities of Greek citizens in these two cities. Its major interest had an economic nuance, given the opportunities offered by the Danube ports in terms of navigation. The Tsarist Empire and the Ottoman Empire had more flexible consular networks, smaller in size, however, factors such as: the presence at the Danube Mouths given by the occupations for long periods of time and the existence of large communities of Slavs and Turks in the region, compensated for the efforts to inform and learn about local realities. Against the backdrop of the Bolshevik revolution, the Russian consular dynamics in the ports of the Maritime Danube experienced a significant decrease.