A short introduction to the Crimean War

1853 - 1856

Romantic Politics

1830 - 1848

Background: The Congress of Vienna

Organized in 1814

Conference of Ambassadors (meeting informally between 1814 and June 1815) England

Prussia

Austria

Russia

Goals Organize a peace to bring stability to Europe (and ensure the maintenance of their own power)

Contain but not punish France

Who was left out? Ottoman Empire

France

Forced back to borders of 1792

Loss of Netherlands

Background: The Congress of Vienna

Organized in 1814

Conference of Ambassadors (meeting informally between 1814 and June 1815) England

Prussia

Austria

Russia

Goals Organize a peace to bring stability to Europe (and ensure the maintenance of their own power)

Contain but not punish France

Who was left out? Ottoman Empire

France

Forced back to borders of 1792

Loss of Netherlands

Balance of Power

Resize the “Great Powers” so they could balance each other off and remain at peace. Argument: if no one kingdom was more powerful than all the others, there would be peace.

Any kingdom that moved to grab more territory would be opposed by the rest.

Maintain the power of monarchs and aristocrats against liberals and nationalists.

System of Balance of Power created by Congress of Vienna lasted until outbreak of WWI in 1914

Leaders: Klemens Wenzel Furst von Metternich- Austria

Viscount Castlereigh-England

Tsar Alexander I-Russia

Frederick Willhelm I –Prussia

Maurice de Tallyrand-France

Conservatives: maintain the status quo politically against liberalism and nationalism

Territorial Borders Set by Congress of Vienna 1815

In central Europe, Germany and Italy remained lose confederations of smaller principalities. The Austrian Empire contained ethnic territories and diverse cultures and languages. The Hapsburg Dynasty was ruled by the Hapsburg emperor and various ethnic princes. The biggest threats to Hapsburg power were Nationalist movements in these smaller territories which clamored for independence. The Ottoman and Russian empires also contained many diverse ethnic territories where nationalist independence movements might erupt. All of the great powers hoped to repress nationalist movements for territorial independence while at the same time containing any other Great Power that moved to gain additional territory and power.

The Holy Alliance

Russia, Austrian Empire and Prussia

Signed 26 September 1815

Alexander I primary architect

Purpose

Coalition of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians

Protect Divine Right of Kings

Promote Christian values

Opposed

Britain

Ottomans

Papal States in Italy

Romantic propaganda designed to portray Ottoman Empire as a dangerous enemy against which peoples in Russia, Austria and Prussia had to remain united: the Muslim Ottoman rulers repressed Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire.

Anti-Muslim sentiment was also used to repress Muslim minorities in the Russian and Austrian Empires

Caucasus Mountains: Chechnya, Dagestan

Balkan Peninsula: Bosnia, Herzegovina

Cultural Revolt: Romanticism & Politics

Romantic politics: liberty, history, and nation The Romantic uniqueness of cultures

Johann von Herder (1744–1803)

Civilization arises out of the Volk (common people), not elites

The Volkgeist—spirit or genius of the people

Brothers Grimm

Collected German folktales

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rVy3RBJmNo

Cultural Revolt: Romanticism

Romantic politics: liberty, history, and nation Victor Hugo (1802–1885)

Dealt sympathetically with the experience of the common people

Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOlKBX7BzpI

François de Chateaubriand (1768–1848)

Religious experiences of the national past are woven into the present

What is a “Christian Nation” or “Christian Kingdom”?

Against what is the Christianity of the nation opposed?

Jews, Muslims, Socialists, Orthodox vs. Roman Catholic; Protestant vs. Roman Catholic;

Accent on religious emotion, feeling, and subjectivity

“Christianity is under attack and must be preserved”

God blesses the “Christian” kingdom or nation

The Decline of Ottoman Power and International Relations

The Crimean War (1853-1856) Russia invaded Ottoman territories of Moldavia and Walachia (Romania) to protect Russian Orthodox

Christians from Catholics (Issue: who would be supreme Christian authority in Ottoman Empire provinces of Moldavia and Walachia?).

France, Britain, Ottoman Empire, Sardinia opposed Russia

Austria remained neutral but garrisoned its troops which helped Britain, France and Ottomans

Russia gained upper hand by sinking Ottoman fleet at Sinope

Photo of Ottoman Era postcard of Sinope by Tsolag K. Dildilian (2010)

Moldavia and Walachia

Moldavia & Walachia: Modern Romania

Provinces of Ottoman Empire in 1853

Also claimed by Ukraine in 16h and 17th centuries.

Background

Crimea was a disputed region throughout the 15-20 centuries

Claimants and rulers included Kossaks (Ukraine), Poland, Russia, Ottoman Turks

Right Bank UkraineCloser ties to Europe

Left Bank UkraineCloser ties to Russia

Importance of Crimea to Russia

Strategic location on the Black Sea

Essential to Russian access to a warm water port

Russia and Sevastopol

Russia held Sevastopol (where its fleet was harbored) for one year

Russia temporarily lost Sevastopol and had to scuttle most of its fleet there.

Treaty of Paris (March 31, 1856) Russia returned Moldavia and Wallachia to Ottomans

Control of Sevastopol and Balaclava returned to Russia

Tsar and Sultan agree not to create naval or military arsenals along Black Sea Coast

Treaty of Paris ended in 1871 with French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and Britain could not enforce the treaty alone.

Russia established military bases in Black Sea

Impact of history on modern Russo- Ukraine conflict?

The Crimean War: (October 1853 – February 1856)

Sevastopol

Panorama of Sevastopol Harbour: Photo by Petar Milosevic, August 2011