The introduction and causes of the crimean War.

 The Crimean war is the third violent event in the 19th century eastern 
question. It was fought
by Turkey, Britain, France and Piedmont against Russia on the island of 
Crimea in the black
sea from 1854-1856.
The Crimean war was the first major war between the great powers after 
the Napoleonic war.
It is one of the most wasteful and useless wars fought without strong reasons. 
A critical view
of the characteristics of the war has made some historians to conclude that 
it was a war of
insanity and absurdity fought without clear objectives and principles. The 
immediate event
that sparked off the war was the Russian occupation of the two Turkish 
provinces of Wallacia
and Moldavia in 1853.
Causes of the Crimean Wars in Europe
1. The Russian imperialism in the Balkans was a serious threat to the British, 
French & Turkish interests.
Tsar Nicholas 1 of Russia exaggerated the conditions of Turkey as a sick-man 
of Europe in order to facilitate the disintegration of the Empire. Russian's 
interest was to dominate the remains of the Ottoman Empire. Russia had 
gained commercial, strategic and economic benefits within the Turkish 
Empire through the treaties of Adrianople (1828) and Unkier Skellessi (1833). 
This strengthened Russian imperialism in the Balkan and forced the great 
powers to intervene (in the Syrian question) and nullify the treaties in the 
1841 straits convention. Russia surprised the powers in 1853 when she 
conquered and occupied Moldavia and Wallacia. By this time Britain and 
France were fed up with Russian imperialism and decided to help Turkey to 
push Russia out of the two provinces which led to the Crimean war.
2. Besides, the Crimean war was caused by Russia's false confidence. Russia 
disregarded Turkey as a sick man of Europe that would easily collapse with 
her invasion. Russia had also relatively been peaceful and free from 
revolutions compared to other powers like France, Prussia, Turkey and 
Austria. Tsar Nicholas I therefore falsely concluded that such powers were 
already weakened by revolutions and Russian victory over them would be 
obvious. This encouraged the Tsar to pursue a reckless policy towards Turkey 
that led to the outbreak of the Crimean war. On the other hand, earlier 
events made Tsar Nicholas 1 to have a misconception that no other power 
would support Turkey against his aggression. He falsely believed that 
alliance between Britain and Russia against Napoleon I would still continue 
against Napoleon III. He was also mistaken to think that Russia's solidarity 
with Britain against France in Egypt, Syrian question and the 1840 London 
convention were too recent to make Britain and France ally against him. 
He also expected assistance from Austria for he had assisted Austria to 
suppress the 1848 revolution in Hungary. Above all, he believed that no 
Christian power would ally with Turkey being an Islamic state. All these, 
gave Tsar Nicholas 1 false confidence that Turkey was an isolated state 
prompting him to occupy Moldavia and Wallacia only to be disapproved 
when France and Britain joined hands to assist Turkey.
3. The Franco-Russian scramble for the control of the holy places in 
Jerusalem and Bethlehem has been greatly blamed for making the 
Crimean war inevitable. France was given the right to protect the holy 
places by the treaty of 1740, but she relaxed due to domestic and financial 
problems. This made the sultan to give Russia, a nearer neighbour with more 
pilgrims the right to protect the holy shrines by the Kurchuk kainardji treaty 
of 1774. However, Napoleon III revived the old French claim and instructed 
the French ambassador in Constantinople to present this demand to Russia.and the Sultan. The sultan accepted although he didn't accept to exclude 
the Russians. Russia protested and occupied Moldavia and Wallacia to 
justify her claim, which sparked off the Crimean war.
4. Napoleon Ill's ambitions to revenge the Moscow campaign of 1812 was 
also responsible for the Crimean war. In 1812, Napoleon I who was 
Napoleon Ill's uncle was disastrously defeated and humiliated by Russia. 
Napoleon I lost over 550,000 troops, which became a turning point and 
contributed to his downfall. In 1848, Napoleon III rose to power by promising 
to revive the Napoleonic tradition in Europe (i.e. in his campaign manifesto 
for the 1848 elections). This made him to look for an opportunity to fight 
Russia and revenge the 1812 disastrous defeat of his great uncle Napoleon 
I inter-alia. This opportunity came in 1853 when Russia occupied Moldavia 
and Walachia.
5. Besides, there were personal and political problems between Tsar 
Nicholas I and Napoleon III. Tsar Nicholas 1treated the rise of Napoleon III 
to the French throne as a challenge to the Vienna settlement, which had 
provided that no one from Napoleon's line should ever again rule France. 
He refused to recognize Napoleon III as a legitimate ruler and kept on 
addressing him as "my friend" instead of "my brother", which was 
traditionally used in addressing fellow monarchs. This irritated Napoleon III 
and he decided to teach the Tsar a lesson when he occupied Moldavia 
and Wallacia, which made the Crimean war inevitable.
6. The absence of international organization and a capable statesman left 
a vacuum for the explosion of the Crimean war. The congress system and 
Metternich had maintained peace after the downfall of Napoleon I. But 
the congress system collapsed by 1830 and Metternich fell in 1848 leaving 
Europe without an organization and incapable men like Stratford de-Red 
cliff and Napoleon III who had little provision for diplomacy in settling 
conflicts. This is why the Turko-Russian conflict over Moldavia and Wallacia 
easily degenerated into the Crimean war.
7. The weaknesses of Turkey as a sick man of Europe played no small 
contribution to the outbreak of the Crimean war. Turkey misgoverned her 
subjects, which provoked uprisings within the Empire and attracted the 
intervention of European powers (to safeguard their interests). This led to 
clashes and rivalry that climaxed into the Crimean war. Besides, it was 
Turkey who persecuted Christians in Moldavia and Wallacia and gave 
Russia an excuse to occupy the territories with a pretext of protecting the 
minority Christian population.lt should be noted that if Turkey was not sick,there would be no controversy over diagnosis and treatment since there 
would be no disease. The crux of the matter is that she was sick and that is 
why there was tension over Russian Medicine of Partitioning the empire to 
avoid the chaos and quarrels that would arise.
8. The convergent and conflicting interests of European powers over the 
Ottoman Empire made the war inevitable. Industrial revolution had created 
an urgent need to acquire colonies and areas of influence for raw 
materials, markets, investment and resettlement of excess population. This 
is why there was rivalry for influence in the Ottoman Empire between Russia, 
Britain and France. Britain that was the most industrialized hated Russian 
expansion because it would jeopardize her trade within the Ottoman 
Empire, the Far East and the Mediterranean Sea. This is why Britain and even 
France decided to force Russia out of Moldavia and Wallacia leading to 
the Crimean war.
9. The Crimean war was also caused by anti-Russian hysteria in Britain and 
France. Tsar Nicholas 1 of Russia was very oppressive and despotic to his 
subjects plus the poles and Hungarians who were under his influence. The 
French and British therefore called for war against Russia so as to bring 
peace and Justice to the Russian subjects. The middle class and the 
parliament of both countries argued for war as a solution to Russian 
oppression, exploitation and despotism. This negative public opinion 
against Russia propelled Britain and France to declare war against Russia in 
1854.
10. The downfall of capable statesmen and the rise of aggressive and self 
seeking ambitious leaders in Europe made the outbreak of the Crimean 
war inevitable. In Austria, Metternich who had maintained peace in Europe 
after the downfall of Napoleon I was forced to flee to exile in 1848. 
Schwarzenburg and later Count Boul who replaced Metternich were 
incompetent in maintaining diplomatic cooperation between Western and 
Eastern Europe leave alone the Balkans. In France, Louis Philippe who 
pursued a peaceful foreign policy was replaced by Napoleon III who was 
determined to pursue an aggressive foreign policy and revive French 
influence in Europe. In Russia, Tsar Alexander I was replaced by Tsar 
Nicholas I in 1825 who was more aggressive ^and interested in breaking up 
the Ottoman Empire. In Britain, Palmer stone (prime minister) was replaced 
by Lord Aberdeen who was weak willed, soft on Russia and not enthusiastic 
for war as Palmer stone was, which indirectly encouraged Russia to invade 
Moldavia and Wallacia. Thus, one can conclude that the rise and 
weaknesses of Schwarzenburg, Count Boul, Napoleon III, Tsar Nicholas I andLord Aberdeen brought inexperienced and uncompromising men in 
sensitive political offices making the outbreak of the Crimean war 
inevitable.
11. The role of men on the spot was also instrumental in the Crimean war. 
Prince Menshikoff the Russian representative in Turkey advised Russia to use 
force as the only way to safeguard her interest in the Balkans and holy 
Shrines. Stratford de-Red-Cliffe consolidated the British anti-Russian feeling 
and policy by exaggerating Russian threats in the Balkans. He advised 
Turkey to declare war on Russia after the Russian occupation of Moldavia 
and Wallacia. Thus, Menshikoff inspired Russia to forcefully occupy 
Moldavia and Wallacia and Stratford-de-Red cliffe influenced Britain and 
Turkey to fight Russia, which made the Crimean war inevitable.
12. The Russian occupation of Moldavia and Wallacia in July 1853 was a 
major event that led to the Crimean war. Moldavia and Wallacia were 
semi-independent provinces of Ottoman Empire under the Sultan of Turkey. 
Russia occupied them to press the sultan to accept her claim of protecting 
the holy places of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The sultan protested the 
Russian occupation and declared war against her in October 1853. France 
and Britain joined Turkey and shifted the war from Moldavia and Wallacia 
up to Crimea in Russia and hence the Crimean or crime war as John Bright 
the British liberal politician told his son.
13. The Great Sinope massacre of November 1853 was the most immediate 
incident that triggered the Crimean war. When Turkey declared war on 
Russia, Russia reacted by sinking the Turkish warship at Sinope in the black 
sea. This was considered an unjustifiable massacre and created war fever 
in Britain and France. Britain and France reacted by sending their warships
in the black sea and ordering Russia to withdraw from Moldavia and 
Wallacia, to which the Tsar refused. This made Britain and France to declare 
war on Russia in March 1854 and follow her up to Crimea in August when 
she finally withdrew due to pressure of events.Readmore