When did the Crimean War begin and end? Crimean War (1853–1856)

In order to expand their state borders and thus strengthen their political influence in the world, most European countries, including the Russian Empire, sought to divide Turkish lands.

Causes of the Crimean War

The main reasons for the outbreak of the Crimean War was the clash of political interests of England, Russia, Austria and France in the Balkans and the Middle East. For their part, the Turks wanted to take revenge for all their previous defeats in military conflicts with Russia.

The trigger for the outbreak of hostilities was the revision in the London Convention of the legal regime for crossing Russian ships of the Bosporus Strait, which caused indignation on the part of the Russian Empire, since its rights were significantly infringed.

Another reason for the outbreak of hostilities was the transfer of the keys to the Bethlehem Church into the hands of Catholics, which caused a protest from Nicholas I, who, in the form of an ultimatum, began to demand their return to the Orthodox clergy.

In order to prevent the strengthening of Russian influence, in 1853 France and England concluded a secret agreement, the purpose of which was to counter the interests of the Russian crown, which consisted of a diplomatic blockade. The Russian Empire broke off all diplomatic relations with Turkey, and hostilities began in early October 1853.

Military operations in the Crimean War: first victories

During the first six months of hostilities, the Russian Empire received a number of stunning victories: Admiral Nakhimov’s squadron virtually completely destroyed the Turkish fleet, besieged Silistria, and stopped attempts by Turkish troops to seize Transcaucasia.

Fearing that the Russian Empire could capture the Ottoman Empire within a month, France and England entered the war. They wanted to attempt a naval blockade by sending their flotilla to large Russian ports: Odessa and Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka, but their plan was not crowned with the desired success.

In September 1854, having consolidated their forces, British troops made an attempt to capture Sevastopol. The first battle for the city on the Alma River was unsuccessful for Russian troops. At the end of September, the heroic defense of the city began, which lasted a whole year.

The Europeans had a significant advantage over Russia - these were steam ships, while the Russian fleet was represented by sailing ships. The famous surgeon N.I. Pirogov and writer L.N. took part in the battles for Sevastopol. Tolstoy.

Many participants in this battle went down in history as national heroes - S. Khrulev, P. Koshka, E. Totleben. Despite the heroism of the Russian army, it was unable to defend Sevastopol. The troops of the Russian Empire were forced to leave the city.

Consequences of the Crimean War

In March 1856, Russia signed the Treaty of Paris with European countries and Turkey. The Russian Empire lost its influence on the Black Sea, it was recognized as neutral. The Crimean War caused enormous damage to the country's economy.

The miscalculation of Nicholas I was that the feudal-serf Empire at that time had no chance of defeating strong European countries that had significant technical advantages. Defeat in the war was the main reason for the new Russian Emperor Alexander II to begin a series of social, political and economic reforms.

The Crimean War answered the long-standing dream of Nicholas I to take possession of the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. Russia's military potential was quite realizable in the conditions of a war with the Ottoman Empire, however, Russia could not wage a war against the leading world powers. Let's talk briefly about the results of the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

Progress of the war

The main part of the battles took place on the Crimean peninsula, where the allies were successful. However, there were other theaters of war where success accompanied the Russian army. Thus, in the Caucasus, Russian troops captured the large fortress of Kars and occupied part of Anatolia. In Kamchatka and the White Sea, English landing forces were repulsed by garrisons and local residents.

During the defense of the Solovetsky Monastery, the monks fired at the Allied fleet from guns made under Ivan the Terrible.

The conclusion of this historical event was the conclusion of the Paris Peace, the results of which are reflected in the table. The date of signing was March 18, 1856.

The Allies failed to achieve all of their goals in the war, but they did stop the rise of Russian influence in the Balkans. There were other results of the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

The war destroyed the financial system of the Russian Empire. So, if England spent 78 million pounds on the war, then Russia’s costs amounted to 800 million rubles. This forced Nicholas I to sign a decree on the printing of unsecured credit notes.

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Alexander II also revised his policy regarding railway construction.

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Consequences of the war

The authorities began to encourage the creation of a railway network throughout the country, which did not exist before the Crimean War. The experience of combat did not go unnoticed. It was used during the military reforms of the 1860s and 1870s, where the 25-year conscription was replaced. But the main reason for Russia was the impetus for the Great Reforms, including the abolition of serfdom.

For Britain, the unsuccessful military campaign led to the resignation of the Aberdeen government. The war became a litmus test that showed the corruption of the English officers.

In the Ottoman Empire, the main result was the bankruptcy of the state treasury in 1858, as well as the publication of a treatise on freedom of religion and the equality of subjects of all nationalities.

For the world, the war gave impetus to the development of the armed forces. The result of the war was an attempt to use the telegraph for military purposes, the beginning of military medicine was laid by Pirogov and the involvement of nurses in caring for the wounded, barrage mines were invented.

After the Battle of Sinop, the manifestation of “information war” was documented.

Rice. 3. Battle of Sinop.

The British wrote in the newspapers that the Russians were finishing off the wounded Turks floating in the sea, which did not happen. After the Allied fleet was caught in an avoidable storm, Emperor Napoleon III of France ordered weather monitoring and daily reporting, which was the beginning of weather forecasting.

What have we learned?

The Crimean War, like any major military clash of world powers, made many changes in both the military and socio-political life of all countries participating in the conflict.

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Causes of the Crimean War.

During the reign of Nicholas the First, which was almost three decades, the Russian state achieved enormous power, both in economic and political development. Nicholas began to realize that it would be nice to continue to expand the territorial borders of the Russian Empire. As a real military man, Nicholas I could not be content with only what he had. This was the main reason for the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

The emperor's keen eye was directed to the East; in addition, his plans included strengthening his influence in the Balkans, the reason for this was the residence of Orthodox people there. However, the weakening of Turkey did not really suit states such as France and England. And they decide to declare war on Russia in 1854. And before that, in 1853, Türkiye declared war on Russia.

The course of the Crimean War: the Crimean Peninsula and beyond.

The bulk of the fighting took place on the Crimean peninsula. But besides this, a bloody war was fought in Kamchatka, the Caucasus, and even on the coasts of the Baltic and Barents seas. At the very beginning of the war, the siege of Sevastopol was carried out by an airborne assault from England and France, during which famous military leaders died - Kornilov, Istomin,.

The siege lasted exactly a year, after which Sevastopol was irrevocably captured by Anglo-French troops. Along with the defeats in the Crimea, our troops won a victory in the Caucasus, destroying the Turkish squadron and capturing the Kars fortress. This large-scale war required numerous material and human resources from the Russian Empire, which were depleted by 1856.

On top of everything else, Nicholas I was afraid to fight with all of Europe, since Prussia was already on the verge of entering the war. The emperor had to give up his position and sign a peace treaty. Some historians claim that after the defeat in the Crimean War, Nicholas committed suicide by taking poison, because the honor and dignity of his uniform came first for him.

Results of the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

After the signing of the peace agreement in Paris, Russia lost power over the Black Sea and protection over states such as Serbia, Wallachia and Moldova. Russia was prohibited from military construction in the Baltic. However, thanks to domestic diplomacy after the end of the Crimean War, Russia did not suffer large territorial losses.

The Crimean War of 1853–1856 began.

On October 4 (16), 1853, the Crimean War began, a war between Russia and the coalition of Great Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia for dominance in the Middle East.

By the middle of the 19th century. Great Britain and France ousted Russia from the Middle Eastern markets and brought Turkey under their influence. At that time, Russia pursued an active policy aimed at liberating the Orthodox Slavic peoples from Turkish rule. To weaken Russia, Great Britain and France pushed Turkey into conflict with Russia, promising it military support. Not without the participation of the French government, in 1850 a dispute arose between the Catholic and Orthodox clergy over the ownership of Christian shrines in the Holy Land, which was in the possession of Turkey. The provocation that led to the start of the war was the transfer of the keys to the Bethlehem Church of the Nativity into the hands of the Catholic clergy. This act was perceived in Russia as an insult to the Russian Emperor.

In February 1853, Nicholas I sent Ambassador Extraordinary A.S. Menshikov to Constantinople, who issued an ultimatum demanding that the Orthodox subjects of the Turkish Sultan be placed under the special protection of the Russian Tsar. The embassy was unsuccessful. In response to this, Russia on June 26 (July 8), 1853, in order to put pressure on Turkey, sent troops into Moldavia and Wallachia, which were under its protectorate under the termsTreaty of Adrianople . At the end of September 1853, Turkey, under the threat of war, demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops and, finally, on October 4 (16), 1853, declared war on Russia.

In 1853 and early 1854, military operations throughout the entire theater of military operations were successful for Russia. Russian troops won a number of victories in the Caucasus, the Black Sea Fleet destroyed the Turkish fleetat Sinope . Seeing Turkey's inability to independently resist Russia, Great Britain and France declared war on Russia in March 1854. In 1854, troops of the powers allied to Turkey landed in the Crimea, inflicted a series of defeats on the Russian army and began the siege of Sevastopol. In 1855, Russia found itself in diplomatic isolation. After the fall of Sevastopol, hostilities virtually ceased.

The Crimean War endedParis Peace Treaty , signed on March 18 (30), 1856. The defeat of Russia, due to its military and economic backwardness, pushed the government to begin reforms carried out during the reforms of the 1860-1870s.

Lit.: Bogdanovich M.I. Eastern War of 1853-1856. St. Petersburg, 1877; The same [Electronic resource]. URL:http://history.scps.ru/crimea/bogdan 00.htm ; Zayonchkovsky A. M. Eastern War of 1853-1856. St. Petersburg, 2002; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://adjudant.ru/crimea/zai 00.htm ; Tarle E.V. Crimean War: in 2 vols. M.; L., 1941-1944; The same [Electronic resource]. URL:http://militera.lib.ru/h/tarle3/index.html .

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The Crimean War is one of the most important events in the history of Russia in the 19th century. The largest world powers opposed Russia: Great Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire. The causes, episodes and results of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 will be briefly discussed in this article.

So, the Crimean War was predetermined some time before its actual start. Thus, in the 40s, the Ottoman Empire deprived the Russian Empire of access to the Black Sea straits. As a result, the Russian fleet was locked in the Black Sea. Nicholas I took this news extremely painfully. It is curious that the significance of this territory has been preserved to this day, already for the Russian Federation. In Europe, meanwhile, they expressed dissatisfaction with Russia's aggressive policies and growing influence in the Balkans.

Causes of the war

The preconditions for such a large-scale conflict took a long time to accumulate. We list the main ones:

1. The Eastern Question is escalating. Russian Emperor Nicholas I sought to finally resolve the “Turkish” issue. Russia wanted to strengthen its influence in the Balkans; it wanted the creation of independent Balkan states: Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania. Nicholas I also planned to capture Constantinople (Istanbul) and establish control over the Black Sea straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles).
2. The Ottoman Empire suffered many defeats in the wars with Russia; it lost the entire Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, and part of Transcaucasia. Greece separated from the Turks shortly before the war. Turkey's influence was falling, it was losing control over its dependent territories. That is, the Turks sought to recoup their previous defeats and regain their lost lands.
3. The French and British were concerned about the steadily growing foreign policy influence of the Russian Empire. Shortly before the Crimean War, Russia defeated the Turks in the war of 1828-1829. and according to the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, it received new lands from Turkey in the Danube Delta. All this led to anti-Russian sentiment growing and strengthening in Europe.

However, it is necessary to distinguish the causes of war from its cause. The immediate cause of the Crimean War was the question of who should own the keys to the Bethlehem Temple. Nicholas I insisted that the Orthodox clergy retain the keys, while the French Emperor Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon I) demanded that the keys be given to the Catholics. The Turks maneuvered for a long time between the two powers, but in the end they gave the keys to the Vatican. Russia could not ignore such an insult; in response to the actions of the Turks, Nicholas I sent Russian troops into the Danube principalities. Thus began the Crimean War.

It is worth noting that the participants in the war (Sardinia, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, France, Great Britain) each had their own position and interests. So, France wanted revenge for the defeat in 1812. Great Britain is dissatisfied with Russia’s desire to establish its influence in the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire feared something similar, and was not satisfied with the pressure being applied. Austria also had its own point of view, which supposedly was supposed to provide support to Russia. But in the end she took a neutral position.

Main events

Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich I hoped that Austria and Prussia would maintain benevolent neutrality towards Russia, since in 1848-1849 Russia suppressed the Hungarian revolution. There was an expectation that the French would abandon the war due to internal instability, but Napoleon III, on the contrary, decided to strengthen his influence through war.

Nicholas I also did not count on England entering the war, but the British hastened to prevent the strengthening of Russian influence and the final defeat of the Turks. Thus, it was not the decrepit Ottoman Empire that opposed Russia, but a powerful alliance of major powers: Great Britain, France, Turkey. Note: The Sardinian kingdom also participated in the war with Russia.

In 1853, Russian troops occupied the Danube principalities. However, due to the threat of Austria entering the war, already in 1854 our troops had to leave Moldavia and Wallachia; these principalities were occupied by the Austrians.

Throughout the war, operations on the Caucasian front continued with varying success. The main success of the Russian army in this direction was the capture of the large Turkish fortress of Kars in 1855. From Kars the road to Erzurum opened, and from it it was very close to Istanbul. The capture of Kars largely softened the conditions of the Paris Peace of 1856.

But the most important battle of 1853 is the Battle of Sinop. On November 18, 1853, the Russian fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral P.S. Nakhimov, won a phenomenal victory over the Ottoman fleet in the harbor of Sinop. In history, this event is known as the last battle of sailing ships. It was the magnificent success of the Russian fleet at Sinop that served as the reason for England and France entering the war.

In 1854, the French and British landed in Crimea. Russian military leader A.S. Menshikov was defeated at Alma, and then at Inkerman. For his incompetent command he received the nickname “Treasoners.”

In October 1854, the defense of Sevastopol began. The defense of this main city to Crimea is the key event of the entire Crimean War. The heroic defense was initially led by V.A. Kornilov, who died during the bombing of the city. The engineer Totleben also took part in the battle, strengthening the walls of Sevastopol. The Russian Black Sea Fleet was scuttled to prevent it from being captured by the enemy, and the sailors joined the ranks of the city’s defenders. It is worth noting that Nicholas I equated one month in Sevastopol besieged by enemies to one year of regular service. While defending the city, Vice Admiral Nakhimov, who became famous in the Battle of Sinop, also died.

The defense was long and stubborn, but the forces were unequal. The Anglo-French-Turkish coalition captured the Malakhov Kurgan in 1855. The surviving participants in the defense left the city, and the allies received only its ruins. The defense of Sevastopol has become part of the culture: “Sevastopol Stories” by L.N. is dedicated to it. Tolstoy, participant in the defense of the city.

It must be said that the British and French tried to attack Russia not only from the Crimea. They tried to land in the Baltic, and in the White Sea, where they tried to capture the Solovetsky Monastery, and in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and even on the Kuril Islands. But all these attempts remained unsuccessful: everywhere they met brave and worthy rebuff from Russian soldiers.

By the end of 1855, the situation reached a dead end: the coalition captured Sevastopol, but the Turks lost the most important fortress of Kars in the Caucasus, and the British and French failed to achieve success on other fronts. In Europe itself, there was growing dissatisfaction with the war, which was waged in unclear interests. Peace negotiations began. Moreover, Nicholas I died in February 1855, and his successor Alexander II sought to end the conflict.

Peace of Paris and the results of the war

In 1856, the Treaty of Paris was concluded. According to its provisions:

1. The demilitarization of the Black Sea took place. Perhaps this is the most important and humiliating point of the Paris Peace for Russia. Russia was deprived of the right to have a navy in the Black Sea, for access to which it had fought so long and bloodily.
2. The captured fortresses of Kars and Ardahan were returned to the Turks, and the heroically defending Sevastopol returned to Russia.
3. Russia was deprived of its protectorate over the Danube principalities, as well as its status as the patron of the Orthodox in Turkey.
4. Russia suffered minor territorial losses: the Danube Delta and part of southern Bessarabia.

Considering that Russia fought against the three strongest world powers without allied help and being in diplomatic isolation, we can say that the terms of the Paris Peace were quite lenient on almost all counts. The clause on the demilitarization of the Black Sea was abolished already in 1871, and all other concessions were minimal. Russia was able to defend its territorial integrity. Moreover, Russia did not pay any indemnity to the coalition, and the Turks also lost the right to have a fleet in the Black Sea.

Reasons for Russia's defeat in the Crimean (Eastern) War

To summarize the article, it is necessary to explain why Russia lost.

1. The forces were unequal: a powerful alliance was formed against Russia. One must be glad that in the fight against such enemies the concessions turned out to be so insignificant.
2. Diplomatic isolation. Nicholas I pursued a pronounced imperialist policy, and this caused indignation among his neighbors.
3. Military-technical backwardness. Unfortunately, Russian soldiers were armed with inferior guns, and the artillery and navy were also inferior to the coalition in terms of technical equipment. However, all this was compensated by the courage and dedication of the Russian soldiers.
4. Abuses and mistakes of high command. Despite the heroism of the soldiers, theft flourished among some of the higher ranks. Suffice it to recall the mediocre actions of the same A.S. Menshikov, nicknamed “Izmenshchikov.”
5. Poorly developed means of communication. Railway construction was just beginning to develop in Russia, so it was difficult to quickly transfer fresh forces to the front.

Significance of the Crimean War

The defeat in the Crimean War certainly made us think about reforms. It was this defeat that showed Alexander II that progressive reforms were needed here and now, otherwise the next military clash would be even more painful for Russia. As a result, serfdom was abolished in 1861, and in 1874 a military reform was carried out, introducing universal military service. Already in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, it confirmed its viability, the authority of Russia, which had weakened after the Crimean War, was restored, and the balance of power in the world changed again in our favor. And according to the London Convention of 1871, it was possible to cancel the clause on the demilitarization of the Black Sea, and the Russian navy reappeared in its waters.

Thus, although the Crimean War ended in defeat, it was a defeat from which the necessary lessons had to be learned, which is what Alexander II managed to do.

Table of main events of the Crimean War