The largest international military conflict of the mid-nineteenth century, the Crimean War served as the catalyst for shifting European political power from Austria and Russia to France during the mid-nineteenth century, led to the modernization of Russia, and redefined European interest in the Ottoman Empire.
The origin of the Crimean War can be traced to the waning military and political power of Turkey’s Ottoman Empire. Ottoman control of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles Straits gave the Turks a unique position to influence European events. The discussions on the fate of the Ottoman Empire, and control over the Holy Land by the so-called great powers—Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia—became known as the Eastern Question
The British, afraid that the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire would upset Middle Eastern stability and threaten British control of India by allowing the Russians to control the British lines of communication and dictate British commerce with India and the Far East, supported the Turks. In contrast, Czar Nicholas
Even with this mutual assurance, the contrasting views of Russia and the Western powers led to increasing suspicion of each other’s policies in the Middle East. Mutual suspicion was long-standing and was related to several incidents prior to the Crimean War. The Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi
The Crimean War
The immediate cause of the war was whether the Greek or the Latin Christians would control the various holy places in Jerusalem,
Neither Louis Napoleon
Great Britain, France, Austria, and Prussia had met in Vienna to discuss the situation when the Turks took matters into their own hands. Convinced that the entire Ottoman Empire was united behind Sultan Abdülmecid I
A British and French expeditionary force was dispatched to support the Turks and sailed to the Crimea in 1854. Peace negotiations began two years later after the allied capture of Sevastopol and the death of Nicholas I
The leading role played by France in the Crimean War and at the peace table established that nation as the dominant military and diplomatic power of Europe. Alexander II realized that the defeat of Russia was the result of the empire’s backwardness and that Russia must modernize to the standards prevailing elsewhere in Europe. Because of its vacillation, Austria was diplomatically isolated, a situation that eventually led to the unification of Romania,
The resulting Peace of Paris further defined European interest in the Ottoman Empire and gave Count Camillo di Cavour
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Kinglake, Alexander William. The Invasion of the Crimea. 8 vols. London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1863-1887. A classic study by an eyewitness who held strong anti-French views. -
Royle, Trevor. Crimea: The Great Crimean War, 1854-1856. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. A comprehensive, 564-page study of the war. Includes maps, illustrations, a bibliography, and an index. -
Saab, Ann Pottinger. The Origins of the Crimean Alliance. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1977. Views the Crimean War from the perspectives of the East European and Middle Eastern powers. -
Schroeder, Paul W. Austria, Great Britain, and the Crimean War: The Destruction of the European Concert. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1972. Concentrates on Austria’s and Great Britain’s contrasting styles of diplomacy. -
Troubetzkoy, Alexis S. The Road to Balaklava: Stumbling into War with Russia. Toronto: Trafalgar Press, 1986. Discusses the blunders and errors in diplomatic negotiations prior to the Crimean War. -
Wetzel, David. The Crimean War: A Diplomatic History. Boulder, Colo.: East European Monographs, 1985. Discusses the diplomatic history of all belligerents involved in the war.
Second Russo-Turkish War
Turko-Egyptian Wars
Siege of Sevastopol
Battle of Balaklava
Nightingale Takes Charge of Nursing in the Crimea
Bulgarian Revolt Against the Ottoman Empire
Alexander II; John Bright; Count Cavour; Muḥammad ՙAlī Pasha; Napoleon III; Nicholas I; Florence Nightingale; Lord Palmerston; Leo Tolstoy.