History of the North Sea the North Sea though they saw little action. The Austro-Prussian War (1866) resulted in Prussia's gaining full control of the Kiel Canal, allowing their Baltic ports access to the North Sea. France declared war on Prussia 19 July 1870 which initiated the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). The French Navy was, at the time far larger and superior to the North German Federal Navy, the Navy of the North German Confederation. Though the French did take a number of merchant ships bound to and from North Germany, shortages of manpower and coal, as well as conflicting orders, made the attempted blockade of
The I.V. Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal on the construction of the White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal. Under the guidance and control of the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU), the publishing house assembled a “Writers' Brigade” of 120 writers from across the Soviet Union who met in Moscow on August 17, 1933 for a pre-trip orientation where the head of the Belomor prison camp provided background information on the project. Maxim Gorky, though not a participant in the August orientation or tour of the construction site, was chosen as the head editor and leader of the writers' brigade. Sailing from Leningrad, the writers began their weeklong