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The Crimean war-
The war started in October 1853 and ended
in February 1856.
The Crimean war was the conflict between
Russia on one side and France, Great Britain,
the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of
Sardinia on the other.
Causes-
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It started in 1853 due to arguments over control of holy sites in Palestine. These sites
were controlled by the Ottoman Empire; however the French and the British wanted
a more active role in this area. The Russians were nervous about the potential for
the English governance of the region and they were also concerned about the
alliance between France and the United Kingdom.
The arguments over the holy sites were the starting point that sparked tension, but
the main argument was over territories of the declining Ottoman Empire.
The surrounding nations were aware of the fact that the Ottoman Empire was very
unstable, therefore a lot of territory in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe would
open up a power vacuum. Therefore those taking part in the Crimean War wanted to
ensure they got a chance to control some of the territory.
Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Penisula, but there were smaller
campaigns as well (e.g. the Pacific Ocean, the White Sea, Baltic Sea etc).
In July 1853 Russia occupied territories in Crimea that had been previously occupied
by Turkey.
At this time Russia was a strong European power- meaning it was strong within
Europe- however Russia wasn’t a strong superpower in the whole world (in
comparison to Britain and France).
Britain and France were worried about Russian expansion and therefore tried to
achieve a negotiation. However Turkey was unwilling to agree and they therefore
declared war on Russia.
Battles-
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At the outbreak of war, an allied army of 60,000 was already in Turkey to defend
Istanbul. Austria then joined French and British demands that Russia evacuate the
Danubian Principalities, which Nicholas I actually agreed, therefore calling the allies'
bluff.
This forced the allied army, which had moved up to Varna on the Bulgarian coast, to
change its strategy. By early August Austrian troops had created a neutral buffer
between the combatants. With a powerful force in position, but ravaged by a
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cholera epidemic, the allies adopted a British plan to land in the Crimea, assault the
naval base at Sevastopol and destroy the fleet and dockyard.
They expected this would take 12 weeks. However it took twelve months, there
were three major land battles and a lot of action between two large and well
equipped armies.
The battle of the Alma on 20th September 1854 was the first in which new rifled
muskets were used, although only by the British and French. This advantage enabled
the allies to drive the Russians out of a strong position north of Sevastopol.
They failed to follow up the blow by attacking Sevastopol directly, largely to avoid a
rupture in allied command system, and marched around the city to begin a regular
siege from the south. This allowed the Russians time to fortify the city, and stage two
flank attacks from their field army, based in the central Crimea. The Siege of the
Sevastopol was one of the key events in the Crimean war, and over 100,000 Russians
died during this battle.
The first, the Battle of Balaclava on 24th October, ended with the legendary British
‘Charge of the Light Brigade’, which was, although misguided, a successful operation
of war, with relatively few casualties - only about 118 killed out of 620. The Russians
were so frightened by the courage of the British troopers; they never again dared
face them in the open field.
On 5th November, a major Russian attack at the Inkerman was beaten back with
massive losses by isolated British infantry units. A week later the weather broke,
sinking transport ships, ruining vital roads and bringing the campaign to a standstill.
Over the winter, the allies were joined by the Italian kingdom of Sardinia, which sent
a useful army to secure British and French support for the expulsion of Austria from
Italy.
Human cost-
The human cost was immense, 25,000 British, 100,000 French and up to a million
Russians died, almost all of disease and neglect. Therefore the Crimean war was a
particularly bad failure for Russia.
End of the war-
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The capture of Sevastopol was the last significant fighting of the war. Alexander II
was forced to ask allies for a peace settlement, which limited their power in the near
east. They agreed peace terms on 1st February 1856 at Vienna and final peace was
agreed at the Congress of Paris on the 28th-30th March 1856 resulting in the Treaty of
Paris.
However the internal problems were more difficult to solve, and without major
changes it would mean Russia couldn’t play the part of a major power in Europe and
world affairs. There was a danger that if there was no reform from above then there
could be a revolution from below and the consequences of that could be difficult to
predict or contain. Therefore Alexander made many reforms in Russia, that many
disagreed with and resulted in him being very unpopular and then led to his eventual
assassination.
Consequence-
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The consequence of the Crimean war was that Russia lost its dominance in the
Balkans and also Russia agreed to respect the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.
However in some ways it can be argued that Austria was the biggest loser as they
lost their main ally as they chose to defy the Russians in the Balkans and over the
next few years they found that Britain and France weren’t interested in helping
them.
Tsar Alexander II, who came to the Russian throne in March 1855, realised that the
war demonstrated the urgent need for modernisation in Russia. The Crimean war
showed how deep set Russia’s problems were and it led to reforms by Alexander II in
many different areas.
Key people-
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Alexander II of Russia
Nicholas I of Russia
Alexander Gorchakov
Amalie Adlerberg
Yegor Tolstoy
Bibliography-
Websiteshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml
Here is a website from BBC history outlining the Crimean War. This is useful as it outlines the key
points about the war and it also outlines the effect and impact of the war. This also includes a list of
books to look at for more information.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WARcrimean.htm
This website is from Spartacus and outlines the Crimean War. This website outlines the cause of the
war and it offers different reporters opinions. This website offers a lot of information in the
viewpoint of the British.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_crimean.html
This website is from the History of War and it is an article outlining the Crimean War. This is a very
detailed overview of the war including the causes, the battles and the end of the war with the Treaty
of Paris.
Articleshttp://suite101.com/article/the-crimean-war-1853-1856-a94697
This article was written by Michael Streich and the title is ‘The Crimean War 1853 – 1856 Causes and
Effects of a Pointless and Preventable Conflict’. Streich is a Topic Editor for American History,
Medieval History and he also contributes to American Affairs, European Affairs, Education, Travel,
Protestantism, and other sections. This article includes the causes of war and how it started. This
article also includes the outbreak of war and mentions the weaknesses of Russia’s strategy. This
article also includes a list of sources that were used in the article.
BooksOxford Advanced History, Russia, 1855-1991 From Tsars to Commissars by Peter Oxley. Published in
2001. This book includes the impact of the Crimean war on the Russians.
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‘Russian defeat in Crimea had been the catalyst for fundamental change’ (page 29). After the
war Alexander moved quickly to reform the army, recruitment was stopped in 1856 and
military colonies were abolished. Every man who was of 20 years old and was medically fit
was likely to be conscripted. Also the length of conscription was reduced. The military
reserve was raised from 210,000 to 553,000 by 1870 and the training and discipline of the
soldiers was made more humane and efficient.
‘While the Russians had fought only the Turks in 1853, they had been successful’, ‘When
British and French troops arrived in Crimea, however, it was a different story’(page 21).
Although the British side had begun to show ‘incompetence and mismanagement’, the
Russian’s couldn’t make up for it due to their limited supplies and lack of modern weaponry.
By December 1855 the government were short on funds and the army had limited supplies
and there grew a popular anger with the war and the government.
The Crimean War: British Grand Strategy Against Russia, 1853-56 By Andrew Lambert.
- ‘War provided Britain with the opportunity to halt Russian expansion’ (page 42). This was
one of the reasons why the war started, as there was a fear that Russia would increase and
become a world superpower rather than just a European superpower.
Crimean War
1853-1856
The Crimean war was the conflict
between Russia on one side and
the other side was France, Great
Britain, the Ottoman Empire and
the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Nicholas I of Russia
1796-1855
Alexander II of Russia