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 The I.V. Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal The I.V. Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal (Russian: Беломорско - Балтийский канал имени Сталина: История строительства, 1931 - 1934 гг. (Stalin’s White Sea - Baltic Kanal: History of Construction 1931 - 1934)) is a 1934 Soviet historical volume detailing the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal and the labor used to construct it. The volume was edited and compiled by Maxim Gorky and contributed to by various other Soviet writers. In 1935, the work was translated from Russian into English and subsequently published in England as "The White