The Crimean War Disrupted European Peace and branded Russia the Aggressor  mike Streich 

 

In 1853 the Metternich system, designed to control and mediate conflicts between the great powers of Europe, fell apart with the outbreak of the Crimean War. For the first time since the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the major powers were at war with each other, Britain and France supporting the Ottoman Empire against Russia. Although the war was preventable and foolish, the results paved the way for a new order after 1856.

 

Napoleon III of France and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia

 

The conflict began when Napoleon III approached the Ottoman Empire with an offer to act as protector of Christians within the Ottoman lands. Additionally, the Roman Catholic Church sought to act as custodians of the sacred sites in the Holy Land. Nicholas I was outraged, seeing himself as the protector of Orthodox Christians and demanded that the Holy Land sites continue to be served by Orthodox priests. This “quarrel of monks” led to the break of relations between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

 

Historians offer additional, perhaps more salient motives for Russian and French actions. MacKenzie [1] cites the overconfidence of Nicholas I following Russian success in assisting with the suppression of European popular revolts in 1848. Henry Kissinger [2] refers to the long standing Russian aim of controlling Constantinople and the Dardanelles. Others highlight Napoleon III’s desire to break out of European isolation and possibly destroy the Holy Alliance.

 

Outbreak of the Crimean War

 

In October 1853, Turkey declared war on Russia following Russian troop movements into Moldavia and Wallachia (Danubian Principalities). Shortly thereafter, Russian Admiral Nakhimov discovered the Turkish fleet at Sinope and destroyed it. The “Sinope Massacre” was enough to compel the British to send their fleet into the Black Sea.

 

Russia, relying upon Austrian support, was severely disappointed when the Austrians remained neutral in the conflict and occupied the Principalities upon Russian withdrawal early in the war. This “monstrous ingratitude,” as Nicholas I terms it, exacerbated the tenuous Russian military situation because the Russian commander, Field Marshall Paskevich, had dispersed Russian troops throughout the empire to control possible insurrections.

 

Austria’s actions may have been motivated by the fear that in supporting Russia, France would seize the opportunity to acquire Italian provinces dominated by Austria. By effectively rejecting the Russian alliance that dated to 1815, Austria may have hastened the rise of Prussia, also neutral in the conflict.

 

Course of the War

 

With the Russian withdrawal from the Principalities, the focus of the war shifted to the Crimea and the 60,000 troops poised to take Sevastapol. Although predominantly British and French, the allied force included thousands of Turkish troops under the command of Omer Pasha as well as 16,000 troops from Piedmont-Sardinia. Count Cavour of Piedmont-Sardina cunningly deduced that an allied victory would include his nation at the peace table, furthering his goal of Italian unification.

 

The Russians were initially defeated at the Alma River and withdrew to Sevastapol, strengthening their defenses. The ensuing battles included the legendary Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava as well as the “Thin Red Line” that held back an onslaught of Russian cavalry. In the end, Sevastapol fell and Russia, now under Tsar Alexander II, agreed to a peace conference.

 

Results of the Crimean War

 

The war highlighted the need for Russian military and economic reform. No railroad track was available below Moscow, imposing a tremendous burden on troop movements and supplies. Both sides fought using strategies that dated back to the venerable Duke of Wellington in 1815.

 

Old alliances were broken as Russia began to look with greater interest at the Balkans, promoting Pan-Slavism and eventually conflicting with Austrian goals in that region. Prussia’s Otto von Bismarck, the “honest broker,” used the events to plot the expansion of Prussia by developing new diplomatic ties and alliances. The Crimean War would create a new European balance of power.

 

Sources:

 

Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict From 1500 to 2000 (New York: Random House, 1987).

[2] Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994).

[1] David MacKenzie and Michael W. Curran, A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond 4^th Ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1993).

Alan Palmer, The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1992).

Tags

Crimea  Light Brigade  Piedmont Sardinia  Napoleon III Tsar Nicholas II