Algeciras belongs beside the two nineteenth-century crises because each case tests a different command arrangement. Hornby's intervention at Constantinople represents unusually concentrated Mediterranean authority, compared here with the commands of Cuthbert Collingwood and Andrew Cunningham. Alexandria shows political, diplomatic, and naval machinery failing to coordinate before coercion turns into war. Algeciras supplies the successful combined case, where political warning, fleet readiness, command, and diplomatic presentation align.
Chapter · 21:23-22:40
Why compare Constantinople, Alexandria, and Algeciras
The three crises test naval diplomacy under unusually concentrated command, a combined political-military system that breaks down, and the same wider system working as intended.