Speaker: Dr Matthew Heaslip

The concept of mission creep is not a new one but has featured heavily in recent literature on the application of military force in support of foreign policy during the post-2001 era. Looking back to the Royal Navy’s intervention in the Baltic, this paper will explore how the force avoided being drawn into additional commitments beyond the force’s original objectives. As this was something that occurred to varying degrees in many similar contemporary deployments, including other elements of the wider Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, what was it that helped avoid that risk in the Baltic? This paper will explore the strength of concern in Britain about its force being drawn into a deeper commitment in the Baltic and identifies key factors, not all of which were within the Royal Navy’s control, that helped ensure a successful outcome.

About the Speaker: Matthew is a Senior Lecturer in Naval History at the University of Portsmouth, where he has been teaching since 2018 and was Course Leader for the MA in Naval History from 2019-22. His research focuses upon the role of armed forces in peace and war, and how they interlink with the societies they encounter and seek to defend. This has fed through into his publications, including his first book, Gunboats, Empire and the China Station exploring the Royal Navy’s role in Britain’s wider imperial framework during the 1920s, as well as contributing to Maritime Britain in the 21st Century. Since 2022 he has been a visiting fellow with the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre.

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For those joining online, the Zoom link will be sent by email two days before the event.