Crimean War, 1854-1856

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Crimean War, 1854-1856

• A truly bizarre war
• Russia versus the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and
  France
• British policy Lord Palmerston
• Prevent Russian expansion in the Near East
• Use the Ottoman Empire to do it
• Stratford Canning, British ambassador in
  Constantinople

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Map Europe
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Lord Palmerston (1784-1865) and Stratford Canning
(1786-1880)
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French Policy

• 1690 Ottomans granted the French Catholic Church
  the right to have jurisdiction over some holy
  places
• By the 19th century the vast majority of pilgrims
  were Russian Orthodox
• Russians got more and more concessions for
  Orthodox clergy

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Steps toward war

• Louis Napoleon (elected president of France 1848,
  then Emperor Napoleon III in 1852)
• Tsar Nicholas I
• 1853 Russian demanded more concessions at the
  holy places
• Canning advised the Turks to reject them
• July 1853 Russians occupied Romania

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Napoleon III (ruled as emperor 1852-1870) and
Nicholas I (1825-1855)
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Steps toward war

• 1853 Conference in Vienna to work out a solution
• October 3, 1853 Turkish ultimatum to Russia
• November 30, 1853 Battle (?) of Sinope in the
  Black Sea
• Napoleon III called on the British to sweep the
  Russian flag from the Black Sea
• March 1854 Britain and France declared war on
  Russia

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Battle of Sinope
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Where do we fight?

• Baltic Sea?
• Black Sea, particularly Romania
• Summer 1854 Allied landings at Varna
• June 3, 1854 Vienna issued an ultimatum to
  Russians to evacuate Romania
• Russians not there anymore
• Austrian army entered Romania

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Map Europe
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Map Crimean War
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How about fighting in the Crimea?

• If Sebastopol remained in Russian hands, London
  was doomed
• September 14, 1854 Allies landed in the Crimea
• September 1855 Sebastopol fell to the Allies

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Peace Negotiations in Vienna

• March 1, 1855 Nicholas died and Alexander II
  became Tsar
• December 1855 Austrian ultimatum to the Russians
• Free passage of Danube mouth and new agreement
  for the Straits
• Protectorate of all Christians
• Neutral Black Sea
• Part of Bessarabia back to Turkey

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Alexander II (ruled 1855-1881)
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TREATY OF PARIS, MARCH 30, 1856

• European (not Russian) guarantees for Christians
  in Ottoman Empire
• Neutral passage of Straits, Black Sea, and Danube
  for all shipping
• Danube placed under the control of an
  international commission (still exists)
• Status of Moldavia and Walachia to be determined
  by an international conference
• Ottoman Empire admitted to Concert of Europe

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Map