Religion was another dispute within the Franco-Russo-Turkish crisis, which consisted of the rights of the catholic and orthodox clerics in Palestine. The catalyst for war was the custody of the holy places that were occupied by the French catholic monks. Which the French from the sixteenth century had occupied, Napoleon wanted to increase his own prestige and empire and thus wanted control of the east Christian empire. With this the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire supported the claims for jurisdiction by the French. Conversely the Tsar of Russian disagreed with and believed that Greek orthodoxy was the majority of Christians in the east and as a result Russia declared herself as their protector. With this argument happening a dispute broke out between catholic and orthodox monks. This caused the Tsar to indicate to the British ambiguously that the Tsar might dismember the Turkish Empire. This led the British to carry out the policy that Palmerston proposed of containing Russia, which meant that they had to do all they could to keep Ottoman Empire from falling.
The colonies of the British Empire were another reason why the Crimean war happened. The sensitivity of the eastern question had increased because of India, as it was the most important part of the British Empire. Which meant that if Britain wanted to retain India it had to deny Russia of taking control of the Ottoman Empire. This was Britain foreign policy in action, which meant that they had to support the Ottoman Empire.
The most pivotal cause of the war was when the in March 1853 when the Tsar demanded that there should be exclusive Russian protection of the Ottoman orthodox Christians. But mainly this was because the Russians wanted to keep the French from taking control of the east. The Tsar believed that he had an understanding with the British but On British advice given by Sir Stratford Canning the Turks rejected the demands and the pact. This resulted in Russia invading Moldavia and Wallachia in July 1853 and the battle of Sinope which saw the Turkish fleet annihilated by the Russians which was the commencement of the Crimean War with Turkey declaring war on Russia in October 1853.
The War ended in 1856 and the immediate consequences of the war was that even though Britain and France won the war it was a catastrophe for all who were involved and for Britain there was exposure of military incompetence was emphasised and undermined Aberdeen’s government. This exposed the long-term neglect of the British army, which was appalling to the public. As a result foreign policy brought down another British government and in January 1855 Aberdeen’s government collapsed and the successor was Palmerston by popular acclaim. More immediate consequences of the war were the number of casualties, for Britain it was 22,0001. The war was also a costly one it cost British taxpayers at the time seventy six million pounds. Not all the consequences happened at home, as result of the incompetence and mismanagement in the Crimean war there was an Indian mutiny in 1857 which highlighted the that there was need for immediate army reforms. The mutiny also highlighted the importance of public and health and hygiene and that more qualified nurses were needed so women were encouraged to become nurses, example that was set by Florence Nightingale.
For the other countries the consequences varied, Napoleon’s prestige was enhanced and the French became directly involved in with Italian unification but they overlooked the expansion of Prussia, also the number of casualties for the French lost 95,0002. Russia were lucky as they escaped quite lightly merely because of the sheer size of the country. However, they still suffered high losses of 450,0003 casualties. Turkey also suffered heavily as their losses are supposed to be the same as that of Frances casualties. Furthermore a new Tsar was elected Alexander the second who acknowledged Napoleon. The innovative Tsar was more liberal and made domestic reforms. Russia also halted their ambitions in the Middle East and turned their attention towards Afghanistan. In addition the new Tsar was concerned with modernisation, expansion in central Asia and crucially the welfare of the Balkan Slavs, which meant the autonomy of the Serbia government and boosting Balkan nationality. The country that was probably most affected by the Crimean War was Austria, this was because they were neutral during the Crimean war and as result upset Britain France and Russia as each expected help from Austria. Now that there was no Russian support meaning that Austria was isolated in the middle of Europe, which led to Italian and German unification. As a consequence these two nations upset the balance of power and was to become one of the grounds for the fist world war happening.
The main consequences came from the Treaty of Paris, which was the turning point of the nineteenth century relation as it ended the alliance that was formed in Vienna in 1815. This resulted in Russia leaving the role of defender of the Vienna system and of Europe from revolution. The treaty also excluded Russia from western or central European politics. However this as a consequence only delayed the Russia of its aims of conquest of the Middle East. But in the long run the Treaty of Paris was not an answer the eastern question but was a truce that would not last. Also the treaty was important as the separation and hostility between the superpowers enabled Prussia and Bismarck to go to war with Austria and France to create the new empire of Germany. This unification consequently was the foundations to the First World War.
In conclusion, the Crimean War represented the end of “the Concert of Europe” and that co-operation between the European powers was to be replaced by hostility and aggression towards each other. This introduced “Every nation for itself” feeling and the indication that in the future to come the nationalist view would be potentially dangerous in the future for Europe. The treaty of Paris was a short-term answer to the eastern question. The Crimean war was the pivotal point of how wars were fought and it incentives of modernization warfare and the use of new technology in warfare. As the Austrians had no support from none of the superpowers of Europe it would be very significant implications in the future for Italy, Germany and Europe. As Russia were not concentrating on Turkey no more Alexander the second was now concerned with the Balkans and wanted to give security to the them which resulted in a boost for the Balkan people, however this would be an implication in the future to come. It is evident and significant that the Crimean war was an event that consequences that would in the future be so significant and important just not to Europe but to the First World 1 as well.
- General Sir Edward Hamley, K.C.B., The War in The Crimea, p. 302
- Ibid, pp. 459-460 Giles Pope
- Trevor Royal, Crimea, The Great Crimean War 1854-1856, p. 410
Bibliography
- Trevor Royal, Crimea, The Great Crimean War
- Giles Pope, Ibid History
- General Sir Edward Hamley, The War in The Crimea
4. M.E Chamberlain “Pax Britannica”: British Foreign policy 1789-1914
5. John Lowe, Britain and foreign affairs 1815-1885