The Crimean War (1853-1856)
A Turning Point in European Affairs
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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By the onset of the Crimean War, the
Russian empire had expanded in three
directions: east into Manchuria (China),
south into the Caucasus and central Asia
(Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) and
southwest towards the Mediterranean.
This expansion, especially towards the
Mediterranean, threatened to upset the
balance of power in Europe.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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For centuries, one central goal of Russian
foreign policy was to obtain a warm water
port in the south--namely, at the Bosporus
Straits and the Strait of the Dardanelles,
the small waterways connecting the Black
Sea to the Aegean and Mediterranean
Seas.
But since the 15th century, this territory
was in Ottoman hands.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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In 1853, Russia sought increased power in
the Black Sea region and the Balkans by
provoking the decaying Ottoman Empire.
Russian prestige had been damaged by
the Ottoman sultan when the sultan
assigned the care of certain holy places in
Palestine to French Roman Catholics (and
not Russian Orthodox clerics).
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Control of access to religious sites in the
Holy Land had been a cause of tension
between Catholic France and Orthodox
Russia for a number of years and in 1853,
the conflict came to a head with rioting in
Bethlehem, which was then part of the
Ottoman Empire.
A number of Orthodox monks were killed
during fighting with French monks. Russian
Tsar Nicholas I blamed the Turks for these
deaths.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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But more important to
Russia than the
protection of holy land
sites was the fate of the
weak Ottoman Empire
(what was known as the
“Eastern Question”).
Russia wanted to absorb
as much Ottoman
territory as possible.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Looking for a way to provoke the Ottomans,
and hoping to breakup their empire, Russia
demanded that the Ottomans recognize
Russia's right to protect Eastern Orthodox
believers in Moldavia and Wallachia (today’s
Romania).
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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When the Ottomans
refused, Russia sent
troops into Ottoman
territory.
The Ottomans then
declared war on
Russia.
Sultan Abdulmecid.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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The Russian fleet then engaged the
Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Sinope
(where the Russians blasted the Ottoman’s
wooden ships “to bits”).
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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The Russians, who could hold their own
against the weak Ottoman and Qing
(Chinese) empires, were going to be no
match for the industrial powers of western
Europe.
In March 1854, Great Britain and France,
enemies for more than a century, together
declared war on Russia.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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The British and French entered the war
because they feared that the weakness of
the Ottoman Empire (the “sick man of
Europe”) was inviting Russian adventurism
in the Balkans and that Russia might
capture Istanbul and gain access to the
Mediterranean.
This would challenge British naval control
in the eastern Mediterranean and perhaps
British control of India.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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France wanted
military/diplomatic glory and
wanted to break up the
conservative Austro-Russian
alliance that had held France in
check since 1815.
Since France was in political
turmoil (again) Napoleon III
hoped an activist foreign policy
would shore up domestic
support for his regime (“wag
the dog theory”).
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In September 1854, allied forces (British,
French, and Ottoman) mounted a campaign
against the headquarters of Russia’s Black
Sea fleet at Sevastopol (in the Crimea).
Unable to mobilize, equip, and effectively
transport troops to defeat European forces
who were led by mediocre commanders,
Russian armies suffered devastating and
humiliating defeats on their own land.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Fighting was at times ruthless and savage;
both sides suffered high casualties.
The Crimean War was notable for the
incredible incompetence of all participants,
especially the Russians.
In some engagements, both sides quickly
ran out of ammunition and soldiers
resorted to throwing rocks at each other.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Not only did generals show their military
incompetence, governments showed theirs
as they failed to provide their soldiers with
even minimal supplies, sanitation, or
medical care.
Hospitals had no beds, no dishes, no clean
bandages, and no fresh water.
Tennyson immortalized one case of
battlefield stupidity with his Charge of the
Light Brigade (from the Battle of Balaclava).
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Most of the threequarters of a million
casualties did not die in
battle, but perished
due to disease in filthy
field hospitals,
something that inspired
Florence Nightingale
(1820-1910) to
revolutionize the
nursing profession.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Mrs. Nightingale, at her
own expense, escaped
the confines of middleclass domesticity and
organized the first
battlefield nursing service.
Nightingale shamed the
British government into
improving the sanitary
conditions for the troops.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Partially as a result of the medical
ineptitude experienced in Crimea (and
other places), a Swiss humanitarian
founded the International Red Cross in
1864 (she received the first Nobel Peace
Prize in 1901). In honor of her country,
the flag was a reversal of the Swiss flag.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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A British soldier in
full uniform and
lightweight tent.
These tents were
fine when the
weather was good,
but totally
inadequate for
Russian winters.
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The war came to an
end in 1856 when the
Russian fortress at
Sevastopol fell.
Upon his father’s death
(1855), Russia’s new
tsar Alexander II sued
for peace when Austria
threatened to enter
the war against him.
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The main casualty of the war was that the
Concert of Europe, the idea that the great
powers (France, Britain, Prussia, Austria,
and Russia) could work together—was
finally shattered. Europe’s fragile unity
had been destroyed.
As losers, the 1856 Peace of Paris took
away the Russian naval bases on the Black
Sea.
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Most historians consider the Crimean War one
of the most senseless in history because its
issues could have been settled by diplomacy.
Yet this war was full of consequence for it
contained many firsts:
First use of a railroad to transport men/supplies
First to use steam powered ships and ironclads
First use of shell firing cannons
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First wide scale use of bolt-action rifles
First wide scale use of Minie’ ball bullets
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Development of the modern field hospital.
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The relationship of the home front to the
battlefront began to change for the new
technology of the telegraph and press
coverage gave home audiences the news
quicker than ever before.
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This was the first war in Europe since the
Napoleonic Era and the last major conflict
until World War I.
The stresses of war can show a nation at
its best or at its worst…in the case of
Russia in the Crimea, it showed the
backwardness of her agrarian society in
comparison to the industrialized states of
Western Europe.
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Previously Russia and Austria had worked
together; now they were bitter enemies (and
would remain so in World War I and II).
Russia clearly needed social reform and
needed it quickly: serfdom had to end.
The Crimean War (1853-1856)
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Tsar Alexander II launched a series of
“Great Reforms,” starting with the
emancipation of 50 million serfs in 1861.
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Emancipated but chained to enormous
debt and particular plots of land, the serfs
still couldn’t form the pool of labor Russia
needed to industrialize like Western
Europe.
Russia would continue to lag behind the
West for several more decades.