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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Lord Palmerston (1784-1865) and Stratford Canning (1786-1880)

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

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

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

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

Battle of Sinope

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 Crimean War

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

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

Alexander II (ruled 1855-1881)

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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