History
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought from 1853 to 1856 between Russia and an alliance of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. It was sparked by religious and territorial disputes in the Middle East and the Black Sea region. The war resulted in significant loss of life and had long-term implications for European power dynamics and military tactics.
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10 Key excerpts on "Crimean War"
eBook - ePubWhy Wars Widen
A Theory of Predation and Balancing
- Stacy Bergstrom Haldi(Author)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
5The Crimean War (1853–56)
Si 1’empereur Nicolas ne veut pas la chute de la turquie, il ne croit plus son existence possible. Le résultat pratique est le même. [If the Emperor does not wish Turkey to fall, he no longer believes its existence is possible. The practical result is the same.]M.Thouvenel to Castelbajac, 2 September 18531The Crimean War (1853–56) is the expansion of what began as the ninth Russo-Turkish War. Britain and France entered the war on the Turkish side late in 1854, eventually followed by Piedmont-Sardinia. Despite the war’s proximity to Europe and the involvement of great powers, Austria and Prussia did not enter the war—a non-event that prevented the conflict from becoming a general war. After a year of siege warfare, the Western powers defeated the Russian forces in the Crimea and negotiated a settlement before the opening of the 1856 campaign.The Crimean War was chosen as a case study for four reasons. First, it occurred during the post-1815 time period, which the theory indicates had a high political cost to warfare—that is, there should be less incentive for predation and somewhat more for balancing. Second, it is the most significant case of war widening in the period between the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and World War I, a century comparatively bereft of such escalation. Third, the war began as a conflict between a great power and a lesser power, a type of conflict that has received far less attention in the literature than those that originate between great powers. Fourth, this was yet another war closely connected to politics in the Balkans—as much a hot spot in the nineteenth century as the twentieth.Most widening that occurred in the Crimean War was predatory. Of the three states that entered the conflict, only Britain was balanc ing; France and Sardinia had predatory motives. What is more noteworthy is that Austria and Prussia found the potential costs of involvement sufficiently high to dissuade them from joining in the war for any predatory motives. At the same time, standard buck-passing logic obviated any need to intervene on balancing grounds; Great Britain was balancing against Russia in other states’ stead.
eBook - ePubThe Victoria Cross Wars
Battles, Campaigns and Conflicts of All the VC Heroes
- Brian Best(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Frontline Books(Publisher)
Chapter 1
Crimean War, 1854–56
Number of VCs awarded 111 Number of VCs awarded to officers 41 Number of VCs awarded to other ranks 70 Total awarded to Royal Navy 24 Total awarded to Royal Marines 3 Total awarded to British Army 84 Origins of the War
The Crimean War was caused by long-term tensions that had developed in Europe since the signing of the Treaty of Vienna in 1814 after Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat at Waterloo. The objective of the Treaty was to restore old boundaries and preserve the status quo by upholding stable and orderly monarchies. The new Czar, Nicholas 1, reverted to an autocratic rule and an expansion of her empire.Russia began nibbling away at the Ottoman Empire and fought a series of wars on her borders beginning with Georgia, Chechnya, Armenia and Azerbaijan. She also cast her eyes to the east, and had reached the northern borders of Persia and Afghanistan, something that unsettled British India.In 1848, Europe was rocked by a series of revolutions which in the main affected France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Poland and Italy. Britain and Russia were unaffected by this upheaval, although they were considerably uneasy about any spread over their borders. It did little to alter Russia’s ambitions to further expand to the south into Europe. Czar Nicholas was again casting covetous eyes at the ‘sick man of Europe’, Turkey, and the declining power of the Ottoman Empire. His ambition was to gain control of the Straits – the Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles – to allow his Black Sea naval fleet access into the Mediterranean Sea. The most direct route was to advance through the Ottoman-ruled countries on the west of the Black Sea; Moldova, Rumania and Bulgaria.One of the beneficiaries of the 1848 uprising in France was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who was elected President of the Second Republic. Within four years he felt strong enough to suspend the assembly and establish the Second French Empire, with himself as the new emperor, Napoleon III. As a usurper, he sought swift prestige to uphold his new ‘Second Empire’.
eBook - ePubEvelyn Wood VC
Pillar of Empire
- Stephen Manning(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Pen & Sword Military(Publisher)
Chapter Two Under Fire – The Crimean WarThe Crimean War of 1854–6 arose from Russia’s attempts to expand its empire southwards at the expense of the Turkish Ottoman empire. Both Britain and France were determined to stop such expansion, which had first seen the Russians occupy Turkey’s Danubian provinces in July 1853. Turkey finally declared war in October of that year and, despite the show of force by both the British and French navies in the Black Sea over the winter of 1853–4, of which HMS Queen had been a part, the Russians could not be deterred from their expansionist policy, and France and Britain declared war on Russia in March 1854. The allies focused their attention on the Crimean peninsula and aimed at the destruction of the Russian naval base at Sebastopol, which exercised control of the Black Sea and thus threatened Constantinople. The Captain and men of HMS Queen first learnt that war had broken out between Russia and the alliance of France, Britain and Turkey on 9 April 1854.1 The sixteen year old Evelyn Wood was soon to experience his first action but, before he heard the sound of guns fired in anger, he received two pieces of good and encouraging news from Captain Michell.On 14 April 1854 Evelyn proudly received from his uncle a certificate which clearly demonstrated that any belief that the Captain had been vindictive towards his nephew because of his family connection had been wrong. The certificate, which was addressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, stated that Evelyn had served on HMS Queen for two years ‘during which time he conducted himself with diligence, sobriety, and attention, and was always obedient to command.’2 Furthermore, at the end of 1853 Wood had taken his examination for the rank of midshipman and the following day he received written confirmation that he had passed. According to the citation, Evelyn had ‘a due knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, and trigonometry, and a practical acquaintance with the use of the quadrant and the manner of making observations for ascertaining the latitude and longitude … also a due knowledge of steering and managing a boat under oars and sails.’3
eBook - ePub- Roy Ingleton(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Pen & Sword Military(Publisher)
Chapter 1The Crimean War
At first sight there may seem to be little connection between the frozen wastes of Russia and the scorching heat and dust of the Indian sub-continent but it must be remembered that Imperial Russia was an enormous country and had borders with Persia, Afghanistan and north-west India (now Pakistan) as well as Turkey and Europe.In the middle of the nineteenth century, there were fears that Russia had plans to increase its sphere of influence and move in on the Ottoman Empire that spread from the Balkans, through Turkey and Palestine, to cover a large part of the Middle East. At the same time, there was a bitter dispute over certain religious differences between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. These fears were heightened when, in the early 1850s, Tsar Nicholas I sent troops into Moldavia and Walachia (modern Romania), thus threatening the Balkans and Turkey, and by 1853 Russia and the Ottoman Empire were at war with each other.The basis for the war, involving as it did various territorial and religious interests, was a complicated one and deeply concerned Great Britain and France. Britain feared a threat to India, to her domination of the Mediterranean and to the loss of Constantinople (now Istanbul) as a friendly port. At the same time, France was keen on making her own territorial gains as well as supporting the claims of the Catholic Church against the Russian Orthodox Church. Both countries therefore sided with the Ottoman Empire and, when a demand for the Tsar’s troops to withdraw from Moldavia and Walachia was ignored, they both declared war on Russia.It was the intention of the Allies to fight in two distinct theatres. On land, an Anglo-French army was sent to the Balkans, while the Allied fleet sailed for the Baltic. In both these theatres of war, British soldiers and sailors were to excel themselves despite sometimes confused and contentious leadership.
eBook - ePub- Alan Whitworth(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Pen & Sword Military(Publisher)
A Brief History of Modern British Campaigns By Max ArthurThe Crimean War, 1854 – 1856
During Queen Victoria’s long reign (1837 – 1901), Britain fought only one war against an established European power. In March 1854, standing alongside her traditional enemy France, she declared war on Russia. Although the war ostensibly arose out of a dispute between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church over precedence at the holy places of Jerusalem and Nazareth, the real causes lay deeper. Tsar Nicholas I wanted to increase Russia’s power and his most obvious area of expansion was south towards the Turkish Dardanelles, which would give the Russian fleet access to the Mediterranean and a port that would not freeze up in the winter. Britain, intent on maintaining her own domination of the Mediterranean, feared that the Russians might take control of Constantinople. France was equally wary of Russia and keen to make her own territorial gains. Turkey, the ‘sick man of Europe’, merely wanted to keep hold of her existing territory.At the time the Ottoman Empire controlled Palestine, Egypt and a large portion of the Middle East. Sultan Abdul Medjid I, the Muslim ruler of Turkey, was thus able to grant privileges to the rival Christian churches, allowing them to protect the holy places under his jurisdiction, and he now came under pressure from France and Russia to allocate them. The French threatened military action against him if he did not offer them rights over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, while the Russians threatened to occupy Moldavia and Wallachia if he did. With nowhere to turn, the Sultan foolishly gave his word to both the French and the Russians. When his deception was discovered, the French sent a warship to Constantinople and ships to the Bay of Tripoli, causing the Sultan to accede to their demands in December 1852. The Tsar reacted angrily, mobilising two army corps and sending his ambassador, Prince Menshikov, to Constantinople to demand concessions from Turkey, including a recognition of the Tsar’s right to the protectorate of all Orthodox laymen under Turkish rule. The Sultan rejected the Russian demands in May; on 22 June Russia duly invaded Moldavia and Wallachia.
eBook - ePubIs This a Private Fight or Can Anybody Join?
The Spread of Interstate War
- Zachary C. Shirkey(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Chapter 4The Crimean War: Public Opinion, Divided Cabinets, and the Partial Spread of War
The conqueror is always a lover of peace;he would prefer to take over our countryunopposed—Karl von Clausewitz1The Crimean War was an important watershed in European history. It destroyed the diplomatic system that had been set up by the Congress of Vienna. In particular, the war destroyed the Holy Alliance and, along with the revolutions of 1848, helped to unleash a period of instability and war in European politics. Its important place in history, however, is only a minor reason why the Crimean War was chosen as one of the case studies. The Crimean War began as one in the long series of Russo-Turkish wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, but unlike the other Russo-Turkish wars, grew to become a major European war. Two great powers and one minor power joined the war and several others considered joining or were thought likely to join by contemporaries. Thus, the war provides a contrast between those that joined and those that did not. The war is also interesting because of how long it took the British and French to join the Turkish side. Finally, the war illustrates quite clearly that the actions of belligerents in any war are to a large extent shaped by the possibility that outside states may join the war, even if those states never actually enter the war. Belligerents craft policies both to react to the actions of potential interveners and to influence the decisions of those potential interveners.2The chapter is structured in the following manner. First, the antebellum goals of the states that joined or reasonably could have joined are explored. This is necessary as it provides a base from which the later actions of the states involved can be understood. Second, the crisis leading to the war and the diplomatic exchanges during the war itself are reviewed. This discussion shows why certain states joined the war and why they joined when they did. Third, the events and causes that led to peace are reviewed. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the role unexpected events played in the spread and termination of the war.
eBook - ePubLandscapes of Trauma
The Psychology of the Battlefield
- Nigel Hunt(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
10 The Crimean WarBattle of Balaklava. This is a battlefield fought over for longer and more intensely in the 1940s by the Germans and the Russians, and there is much evidence of this fighting. The best evidence for the Battle of Balaklava is the landscape itself. From the Sapoune Heights (from where Raglan tried to coordinate the battle), there is a good view of the Valley of Death, the key hills poorly defended by the Turks (including Canrobert’s Hill), and down to Balaklava, in front of which the marines fought as the ‘thin red line’. It is also the Sapoune Heights that contains much evidence from the 1940s’ battles, from tanks and guns through to trenches and concrete emplacements. The Valley of Death is now a vineyard.The Crimean War was a relatively small-scale war (though not for its participants) in the middle of a century that was, for the most part, relatively free of wars between the great European powers. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the only significant direct conflict between these powers until World War I, apart from Crimea, was the Franco-Prussian War, dealt with in the next chapter. The Crimean War was fought over access through the Dardanelles for the Russian fleet. Turkey, Britain and France wanted to restrict Russian access. Russia needed access to the Mediterranean and beyond because it had few ice-free ports apart from Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula.The Crimean War was not the finest of wars fought by the Allies. There were more casualties due to illness and disease than through fighting, and the strategy was less than ideal. This is not the book to deal with these things in detail. The focus here is on the impact on those who took part in the war, drawn largely from the personal recollections of the participants. It is worth noting that Tolstoy fought here at the siege of Sevastopol, with his experiences informing his later work, such as War and Peace
eBook - ePubBeacon Lights of History, Volume 10
European Leaders
- John Lord(Author)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Perlego(Publisher)
The object, therefore, for which England and France went to war--the destruction of Russian power on the Black Sea--was only temporarily gained. From three to four hundred thousand men had been sacrificed among the different combatants, and probably not less than a thousand million dollars in treasure had been wasted,--perhaps double that sum. France gained nothing of value, while England lost military prestige. Russia undoubtedly was weakened, and her encroachments toward the East were delayed; but to-day that warlike empire is in the same relative position that it was when the Czar sent forth his mandate for the invasion of the Danubian principalities. In fact, all parties were the losers, and none were the gainers, by this needless and wicked war,--except perhaps the wily Napoleon III., who was now firmly seated on his throne.The Eastern question still remains unsettled, and will remain unsettled until new complications, which no genius can predict, shall re-enkindle the martial passions of Europe. These are not and never will be extinguished until Christian civilization shall beat swords into ploughshares. When shall be this consummation of the victories of peace?AUTHORITIES.A. W. Kinglake's Invasion of the Crimea; C. de Bazancourt's Crimean Expedition; G. B. McClellan's Reports on the Art of War in Europe in 1855-1856; R. C. McCormick's Visit to the Camp before Sebastopol; J. D. Morell's Neighbors of Russia, and History of the War to the Siege of Sebastopol; Pictorial History of the Russian War; Russell's British Expedition to the Crimea; General Todleben's History of the Defence of Sebastopol; H. Tyrrell's History of the War with Russia; Fyffe's History of Modern Europe; Life of Lord Palmerston; Life of Louis Napoleon.LOUIS NAPOLEON.
1808-1873. THE SECOND EMPIRE.Prince Louis Napoleon, or, as he afterward became, Emperor Napoleon III., is too important a personage to be omitted in the sketch of European history during the nineteenth century. It is not yet time to form a true estimate of his character and deeds, since no impartial biographies of him have yet appeared, and since he died less than thirty years ago. The discrepancy of opinion respecting him is even greater than that concerning his illustrious uncle.
eBook - ePubThe Voice of England in the East
Stratford Canning and Diplomacy with the Ottoman Empire
- Steven Richmond(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- I.B. Tauris(Publisher)
PART V THE Crimean War, 1853–56
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CHAPTER 14
‘HEAVEN HELP ME!’
1
Believing or hoping he was ‘perhaps never to return’,1 Stratford Canning began a leave from his post and quit Constantinople for home on HM Steam Sloop Scourge on 22 June 1852.2 He was already planning to resign the embassy and this he achieved in London a few months later, in January 1853. He was now 66 years old and had arrived at retirement from diplomacy and a relaxed secondary career in the House of Lords. The previous year he had been raised to the peerage as Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe after having nearly been appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the new government of the Earl of Derby.3 He seemed at this point to have finally realised his dream of settling at home. But suddenly world events intervened, his diplomatic career was reactivated, he was returned to Constantinople and his journey was back on.The Crimean War is renowned for beginning with the ‘Holy Places dispute’ between the French and the Russians over the maintenance of Christian religious sites in Ottoman Palestine. The dispute had actually begun in 1842 and ran perennially as a problem no one thought would ever be solved or would ever cause major trouble. While it was indeed important in contributing to the explosion of tensions in 1853, the real spark came not from Palestine but from Montenegro. In early 1852 the armies of the Ottoman general Omer Paşa had occupied this region in response to a nationalist uprising there. These troops remained through the year and there was talk of war between the Ottoman and Austrian empires. Tsar Nicholas wrote to the Austrian emperor, Franz Joseph, that: ‘If war by Turkey against Thee should result, Thou mayest be assured in advance that it will be precisely the same as though Turkey had declared war on myself.’ On 30 December 1852 the Russians mobilised two army corps in the Danubian Principalities along its border with the Ottoman Empire. And on 13 January 1853, the Russians undertook naval operations in the Black Sea and mobilised two more army corps in the region.
eBook - ePub- William Miller(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Nearly two months, however, were spent at Varna before the expedition sailed; for, besides the time required for preparing the means of embarkation, nature protested against a prompt departure. Fire destroyed many of the British military stores; the crowded cemetery at Varna still bears silent witness to the ravages of cholera among the allied troops. It was not till September 13 that the allied fleets reached the Crimea; and on the following day a body of British troops occupied without opposition the port of Eupatoria. The main force landed near the lake of Kamishlu; and soon 37,000 French, 27,000 British, and 7000 Turks were encamped upon the shores of what was to most of them an absolutely unknown land. Only the Turks could claim some connexion with the country, for its natives shared their faith, and from 1475 in the time of Mohammed II till the latter part of the eighteenth century Crim Tartary, once the seat of Genoese colonisation, had been a part of the Ottoman empire. Only as recently as 1783 had it been finally incorporated by Catherine II in the Russian dominions. Thus in the Crimea began that secular strife between Turk and Muscovite, of which this war was not to be the last phase. On September 19 the allied armies started for Sebastopol. Their march led them to the stream of the Bulganak, where the first skirmish between the western forces and their enemy took place. Next day, on the banks of another river, since then more famous than many a greater stream, the Alma, they fought and won their first great battle. The Russians, commanded by Mentschikoff, who was now called to support his blustering diplomacy by force, were obliged to retreat after a struggle in which the British took the principal part, owing to the slowness of the French commander
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