CRIMEAN WAR: BACKGROUND, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

The Crimean War was a conflict developed between 1853 and 1856. One of the participants was the Russian Empire, which faced France, the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom and Sardinia. Although it was wanted to give it a religious background, it was actually due to other economic, territorial and political factors.

The weakened Ottoman Empire was not strong enough to defend some areas of its territory by itself. Russia saw Crimea as its natural outlet to the Mediterranean, at a time when it was maintaining an expansionist policy. The excuse that started the war was that Russia erected itself as a defender of the Orthodox minorities.

A series of disputes in the Holy Land between Christians from the West and the East aggravated the situation. Soon war broke out, first only between the two empires. However, France and the United Kingdom feared the Russian advance and entered the conflict alongside the Ottomans.

The Russian defeat, although it did not involve significant territorial changes, did mark the end of the era that emerged from the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Likewise, France returned to its status as a power, while for the Turks it was a relief of its weakness.

Background

The Russian Empire had always considered itself the heir to the Byzantine Empire. There was always the intention to resurrect him, recovering the territory he occupied in his day.

For this reason, in the mentality of the tsars, it was necessary for Russia to advance towards the Mediterranean until reaching the Holy Places of Palestine, from the Middle Ages in the hands of the Turks.

The Ottomans, owners of a considerable empire, were going through a bad time. Its leaders had not managed to modernize their structures and saw how their territories were the object of desire by other powers.

The most coveted area was the Bosphorus Strait, as well as the Balkans. Tsar Nicolas I was the first to try to conquer those areas.

Russo-Turkish war

It was a religious question that the Russian Tsar used to start the war with the Turks. In Ottoman lands there was a considerable population that professed the Orthodox faith and the Tsar demanded that the Sultan cede his protection in 1853. The Sultan refused, since it would have been practically to give up part of his authority, and the war began.

The Turks were the first to attack in the Danube area. However, the Russian military superiority was evident and they soon wiped out the Ottoman fleet.

Russia advanced through the Balkans rapidly, occupying Moldavia and Wallachia, which provoked the suspicion of other European powers.

France

Among these powers was France, then ruled by Napoleon III. If the tsar considered himself the protector of the Orthodox, the French emperor did it of the Catholics, so their interests collided in this matter.

France tried to get Russia to withdraw its troops, a request that was joined by Britain. There was a clear attempt to maintain the stability of the Ottoman Empire, especially to avoid Russian expansion.

The way to try to force the tsar to negotiate was to send a fleet to the Dardanelles. A meeting was called in Vienna, to try to stop the conflict.

In the negotiations there were two blocs: Russia, Austria and Persia, on the one hand; and Turkey, Great Britain and France, on the other. The positions were far apart and nobody was willing to give in. Given this, there was only one option: war.

Causes

The first excuse for the start of the war was religious in nature. Russia was presented as the protector of the Orthodox Christians who lived in the Ottoman Empire and France protected the Catholics.

The aim of both were two symbols of Christianity: the Basilica of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Palestine.

However, behind these alleged religious motivations lay clear economic and geostrategic ambitions.

The exit to the Mediterranean Sea was a historical ambition of the Russians. The easiest way to do this was to wrest control of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles from the Turks.

Russia had already achieved an outlet to the Baltic and another to the Black Sea. If it had obtained the Mediterranean, it would have given it great naval power. France and the UK were not ready for this to happen.

Development of the war

The failure of the negotiations in Vienna turned Europe to war. The formal declaration took place on March 25, 1854. It was France, Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Piedmont that declared it, and their first move was to send an expedition to Gallipoli, Turkey.

The strategy of that coalition was to recover territories previously occupied by Russia in the Danube area. The objective was achieved in Bulgaria, although the allied troops suffered heavy casualties from cholera.

This circumstance greatly weakened the army, causing them to change their strategy. Realizing that they were not going to be able to defeat Russia, they sought to deliver a swift effect that will force the Russians to surrender.

The way to do it was directing the troops to Crimea, in Russia. There, the French and British laid siege to the fortress of Sevastopol.

Siege of Sevastopol

Once the siege was established, there were several Russian attempts to break it. The first time was at the Battle of Balaclava, on October 25, 1854. It was in that battle that the famous Charge of the Light Brigade occurred, a rather unfortunate British military move.

The Light Cavalry Brigade mistaken the direction of its advance and ended up massacred by the Russians. This did not prevent the Russian attempt to break the siege from ending in failure, so he tried again on November 5: it was the so-called Battle of Inkerman and ended, again, in Franco-British victory.

Winter stopped military operations for several months, until the arrival of spring 1955.

Russian defeat

The siege of Sevastopol lasted a year, until, on September 8, 1855, the last attack to surrender it took place. Despite the fact that the defenders were barely able to reject it, the governor of the city realized that further resistance was futile. Thus, he ordered to withdraw, not without first burning the town.

The war had ended in Russian defeat. The following year, on March 30, the armistice was signed in Paris. The agreement included the autonomy of the Romanian provinces from Russia. Furthermore, the Empire had to withdraw its fleet from the Black Sea and lost its claim on the Orthodox Christians living in Turkey.

Consequences

The war caused 50,000 casualties in the Russian army, 75,000 among the French and British troops and more than 80,000 among the Turks.

Paris treaty

The Treaty of Paris regulated the conditions of Russian defeat in the war. Among its outstanding clauses was the prohibition of the Tsar government (and also the Ottoman) to militarize the coasts of the Black Sea.

On the other hand, the disputed provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia won the right to have their own constitutions and assemblies. In any case, sovereignty remained in Russian hands, although the victorious powers reserved the right to supervise the development of the situation.

Ottoman Empire and Austria

Among the consequences of the war, it stands out to offer relief to the Ottoman Empire, which was previously in decline.

Interestingly, it was Austria who suffered the most negative effects of the conflict. Forced to move away from Russia, her position in Europe was greatly weakened. This greatly influenced her defeat in her subsequent war against Prussia.

Change of era

While it is true that this war did not cause major territorial changes, it did mark an epochal change in Europe. The order created in 1915 by the Congress of Vienna was blown up. France regained part of its influence on the continent.

It also meant the end of the Holy Alliance which, in the middle, would facilitate the German and Italian unifications.

Another aspect that the Crimean War brought was the realization by the United Kingdom that it needed to modernize its military forces. The country began to change its structures in this area somewhat, although very slowly.

Finally, the Tsar's government in Russia had to carry out certain social reforms, facing the risk of riots.

References

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7. Gascoigne, Bamber. History of the Crimea War. Retrieved from historyworld.net
8. CR The Economist explains. What the original Crimean war was all about. Retrieved from economist.com