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Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Crimean War
Crimean Warkrīmē'ən, 1853–56, war between Russia on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France, and Sardinia on the other. The causes of the conflict were inherent in the unsolved Eastern Question. The more immediate occasion was a dispute between Russia and France over the Palestinian holy places. Challenging the claim of Russia to guardianship of the holy places, France in 1852 secured from Sultan Abd al-Majid certain privileges for the Latin churches. Russian counterdemands were turned down (1853) by the Ottoman government. In July, 1853, Russia retorted by occupying the Ottoman vassal states of Moldavia and Walachia, and in October, after futile negotiations, the Ottomans declared war. In Mar., 1854, Britain and France, having already dispatched fleets to the Black Sea, declared war on Russia; Sardinia followed suit in Jan., 1855. Austria remained neutral, but by threatening to enter the war on the Ottoman side forced Russia to evacuate Moldavia and Walachia, which were occupied (Aug., 1854) by Austrian troops. In Sept., 1854, allied troops landed in the Crimea, with the object of capturing Sevastopol. The Russian fortress, defended by Totleben, resisted heroically until Sept., 1855. Allied commanders were Lord Raglan for the British and Marshal Saint-Arnaud, succeeded later by Marshal Canrobert, for the French. Military operations, which were marked on both sides by great stubbornness, gallantry, and disregard for casualties, remained localized. Famous episodes were the battles of Balaklava and Inkerman (1854) and the allied capture (1855) of Malakhov and Redan, which preceded the fall of Sevastopol. On the Asian front the Russians gained advantages and occupied Kars. The accession (1855) of Czar Alexander II and the capture of Sevastopol led to peace negotiations that resulted (Feb., 1856) in the Treaty of Paris (see Paris, Congress of). The Crimean War ended the dominant role of Russia in SE Europe; the cooling of Austro-Russian relations was an important factor in subsequent European history. The scandalous treatment of the troops, particularly the wounded, depicted by war correspondents, prompted the work of Florence Nightingale, which was perhaps the most positive result of the war.

See studies by D. Wetzel (1985), A. Palmer (1987) and T. Royle (2000).

The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Wikipedia search results for: Crimean War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining Ottoman Empire. Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Peninsula, but there were smaller campaigns in western Turkey, the Baltic Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the White Sea. The war has gone by different names. In Russia it is also known as the "Oriental War", and in Britain at the time it was sometimes known as the "Russian War". The Crimean War is...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Crimean War
Results 1 - 10  of 97
  • Russo-Turkish Wars

    Russo-Turkish Wars. The great eastward expansion of Russia in the 16th and 17th cent., during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, nevertheless left the shores of the Black Sea in the hands of t...

  • Niel, Adolphe

    Niel, Adolphe, 1802–69, marshal of France under Napoleon III. He served with the corps of engineers in the Algerian campaigns, in the French intervention against the Roman republic (1849), in ...

  • Malakhov

    Malakhov, hill overlooking Sevastopol, SE Ukraine, in the Crimea, just east of the city. A major fortified point in the Crimean War, it was stormed (1855) by the French after an 11-month siege...

  • Failly, Pierre Louis Charles de

    Failly, Pierre Louis Charles de, 1810–92, French general. He fought in Algeria, in the Crimean War, and at Magenta and Solferino (1859) in the Italian War. Heading the French expeditionary for...

  • Galliffet, Gaston Alexandre Auguste, marquis de

    Galliffet, Gaston Alexandre Auguste, marquis de, 1830–1909, French general. He served in the Crimean War, in colonial campaigns, in the Mexican expedition, and in the Franco-Prussian War. His ...

  • Osman Nuri Pasha

    Osman Nuri Pasha, 1837–1900, Turkish general. He fought in the Crimean War of 1854–56 and in Lebanon, Crete, and Arabia in the 1860s and 70s. He was made muşir [marshal] for his successes (187...

  • Canrobert, François Certain

    Canrobert, François Certain, 1809–95, marshal of France. After brilliant service in Africa, he returned to Paris and aided Louis Napoleon (later Napoleon III) in the coup of 1851. He served in...

  • Bourbaki, Charles Denis Sauter

    Bourbaki, Charles Denis Sauter, 1816–97, French general of Greek ancestry. In the Algerian campaigns and the Crimean War he gained one of the highest military reputations in Europe. Offered th...

  • Trochu, Louis Jules

    Trochu, Louis Jules, 1815–96, French general. He fought in Algeria, in the Crimean War, and in the Italian war of 1859. In L'Armée française en 1867 (1867), he criticized the French army and u...

  • MacMahon, Marie Edmé Patrice de

    MacMahon, Marie Edmé Patrice de, 1808–93, president of the French republic (1873–79), marshal of France. MacMahon, of Irish descent, fought in the Algerian campaign, in the Crimean War, and in...

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