Britain had supported operations on the Danube during the First World War and kept a force there afterward. River patrols were a means of stabilising the region while its states became able to exercise that role themselves. The arrangement links an outside power's temporary presence with the rebuilding of local capacity on a shared waterway.
Notable Point · 41:29-41:54
British Danube patrols after the First World War
Britain retained a Danube force after the First World War to help stabilise the region while local states developed their own capacity.