Seven curious facts from the history of the Crimean War. Eight myths about the Crimean War Interesting facts about the Crimean War Post

During the XVIII-XIX centuries, constant military clashes took place between the Russian Empire and Turkey, resulting in large-scale wars. One of these clashes was the struggle between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain and France.

History of the conflict

A number of contradictions that arose between the major world powers regarding the issue of the distribution of spheres of influence in the Middle East appeared as early as 1850. A dispute arose over the lands of Bethlehem and Jerusalem between the Russian Empire and France. Catholics and Orthodox could not divide these lands among themselves. The Russians could not but support their brothers in faith, the French took the side of the Catholic population.


Later, the Ottoman Empire, which formerly belonged to Palestine, decided to join the struggle for dominion with France. Russia could not hide its dissatisfaction with this, which later turned into a war of a pan-European scale, since England also joined the alliance of France and Turkey.

• The loss by the Russian Empire of the right to enter the waters of the Black Sea straits.
• Turkey's desire to seize the lands she lost in the course of previous military conflicts.
• The desire of the leading European powers to deprive Russia of a sphere of influence in the Middle East.

Stages

1. Russian-Turkish campaign: November 1853 - April 1954.
2. Russian-English-French campaign: April 1854 - February 1856.

1. The first propaganda in the form of newspaper ducks appeared in the European expanses after the Battle of Sinop. November 30, 1853. The squadron of the Russian Empire, led by Vice Admiral P.S. Nakhimov, defeated the Turkish flotilla, several times superior to it, and thereby ensured dominance in the waters of the Black Sea at the beginning of hostilities. The next day, articles appeared in the European media about the bloodthirstiness and atrocities attributed to Russian sailors. They mercilessly fired at the dying Turks floating in the sea. But such a sensation was never confirmed by any facts, however, the propaganda caused a furore in European society.
2. During the Crimean War of 1853-56, photography began to be used, with its help, military operations were covered. The very first military photojournalist is considered to be Roger Fenton. During the entire war period, he made 363 lists, which were subsequently purchased by the US Library of Congress.
3. In 1854, the Solovetsky Monastery was attacked by an English flotilla, as a result of which no one was injured, even the seagulls living there. The English ships approaching the Solovetsky Islands hung out signal flags, which the monks perceived as a threat and hastened to be the first to join the battle. One core hit exactly on target - in the English ship. The next day, the British staged a sortie and fired 1800 cores towards the monastery. This battle did without human casualties, not even a single seagull was injured: these birds inhabited in in large numbers monastery walls.
4. The expression "The third does not light up" appeared in the Crimean War. It is associated with the accuracy and accuracy of English snipers. When a Russian sailor lit a pipe, the Englishman already noticed the light, when he passed it to his comrade, the Englishman stood in position, but the third sailor, who wanted to smoke from the pipe of the first, became a target for the shooter. Since that time, this expression has appeared.
5. The Crimean War is considered to be a world war in terms of scale, so at the same time Russia fought on several fronts: Crimea, the Caucasus, Kronstadt, and so on.
6. During the war, the British troops near Balaklava faced severe cold. To solve this problem, knitted hats were used, in which there were slits for the eyes and mouth, called balaclava.
7. The United States was the only ally of the Russian Empire. American surgeons saved the lives of Russian soldiers.
8. In the Crimean War of 1853-56, barrage mines were used for the first time, which are used in naval battles.
9. Sister of Mercy Florence Nightingale was the first to lay the foundations of sanitation, which influenced the reduction of mortality in infirmaries.
10. The Russian surgeon Nikolai Pirogov invented a plaster cast during the war period, it significantly accelerated the healing process of fractures.
11. In October 1854, Princess Elena Pavlovna established the Sisters of Mercy Foundation.
12. During the war, cigarettes were invented. The British and French spied on their Turkish allies how they wrap tobacco in an old newspaper.
13. Weather forecasting is becoming widespread. This is directly related to the storm that inflicted heavy damage on November 14, 1854 on the troops of the enemy coalition. Emperor of France Napoleon III ordered a personal astrologer to create a whole service of astrologers. In February 1855, one of the first forecast maps was created, and weather stations began to appear.
14. During the war period, the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy gained fame by publishing his Sevastopol Tales.
15. After the defeat of Russia in the war, an unusual prisoner was handed over to France - the Misty bell, which found a new home in the Cathedral of the Paris Company. He was returned to Russia in 1913 by Henri Poincaré, the French president.

The spirit in the troops is beyond description. In the days of ancient Greece, there was not so much heroism. I have not been able to be in business a single time, but I thank God that I have seen these people and live in this glorious time.

Lev Tolstoy

The wars of the Russian and Ottoman empires were a common occurrence in the international politics of the 18th-19th centuries. In 1853, the Russian Empire of Nicholas 1 entered another war, which went down in history as the Crimean War of 1853-1856, and ended with the defeat of Russia. In addition, this war showed the strong resistance of the leading countries Western Europe(France and Great Britain) strengthening the role of Russia in Eastern Europe especially in the Balkans. The lost war also showed Russia itself problems in domestic politics, which led to many problems. Despite victories at the initial stage of 1853-1854, as well as the capture of the key Turkish fortress of Kars in 1855, Russia lost the most important battles on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. This article describes the causes, course, main results and historical significance in a short story about the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

Causes of the aggravation of the Eastern question

Under the eastern question, historians understand a number of controversial issues in Russian-Turkish relations, which at any moment could lead to conflict. The main problems of the Eastern question, which became the basis for a future war, are as follows:

• The loss of the Crimea and the northern Black Sea region by the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 18th century constantly stimulated Turkey to start a war in the hope of regaining the territories. Thus began the wars of 1806-1812 and 1828-1829. However, as a result of them, Turkey lost Bessarabia and part of the territory in the Caucasus, which further strengthened the desire for revenge.
• Belonging to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Russia demanded that these straits be opened for the Black Sea Fleet, while the Ottoman Empire (under pressure from the countries of Western Europe) ignored these demands of Russia.
• The presence in the Balkans, as part of the Ottoman Empire, Slavic Christian peoples who fought for their independence. Russia supported them, thereby causing a wave of indignation among the Turks about Russia's interference in the internal affairs of another state.

An additional factor that intensified the conflict was the desire of the countries of Western Europe (Britain, France, and Austria) not to let Russia into the Balkans, and also to close its access to the straits. For the sake of this, the countries were ready to support Turkey in a potential war with Russia.

The reason for the war and its beginning

These troubled moments brewed throughout the late 1840s and early 1850s. In 1853, the Turkish Sultan handed over the Bethlehem Temple of Jerusalem (then the territory of the Ottoman Empire) to the management catholic church. This caused a wave of indignation of the highest Orthodox hierarchy. Nicholas 1 decided to take advantage of this, using the religious conflict as a pretext for attacking Turkey. Russia demanded that the temple be handed over to the Orthodox Church, and at the same time also open the straits for the Black Sea Fleet. Turkey refused. In June 1853, Russian troops crossed the border of the Ottoman Empire and entered the territory of the Danubian principalities dependent on it.

Nicholas 1 hoped that France was too weak after the revolution of 1848, and that Britain could be appeased by transferring Cyprus and Egypt to it in the future. However, the plan did not work, European countries called the Ottoman Empire to action, promising her financial and military assistance. In October 1853, Turkey declared war on Russia. Thus began, to put it briefly, the Crimean War of 1853-1856. In the history of Western Europe, this war is called Eastern.

The course of the war and the main stages

The Crimean War can be divided into 2 stages according to the number of participants in the events of those years. Here are the steps:

1. October 1853 - April 1854. During these six months the war was between the Ottoman Empire and Russia (without the direct intervention of other states). There were three fronts: Crimean (Black Sea), Danube and Caucasian.
2. April 1854 - February 1856. British and French troops enter the war, which expands the theater of operations, as well as a turning point in the course of the war. The allied troops were superior to the Russian ones from the technical side, which was the reason for the changes in the course of the war.

As for specific battles, the following key battles can be distinguished: for Sinop, for Odessa, for the Danube, for the Caucasus, for Sevastopol. There were other battles, but those listed above are the main ones. Let's consider them in more detail.

Battle of Sinop (November 1853)

The battle took place in the harbor of the city of Sinop in the Crimea. The Russian fleet under the command of Nakhimov completely defeated the Turkish fleet of Osman Pasha. This battle was perhaps the last major world battle on sailing ships. This victory significantly raised morale Russian army and gave hope for an early victory in the war.

Map of the Sinop naval battle November 18, 1853

Bombing of Odessa (April 1854)

In early April 1854, the Ottoman Empire launched a squadron of the Franco-British fleet through its straits, which swiftly headed for Russian port and shipbuilding cities: Odessa, Ochakov and Nikolaev.

On April 10, 1854, the bombardment of Odessa, the main southern port of the Russian Empire, began. After a rapid and intense bombardment, it was planned to land troops in the northern Black Sea region, which would force the withdrawal of troops from the Danube principalities, as well as weaken the defense of the Crimea. However, the city withstood several days of shelling. Moreover, the defenders of Odessa were able to deliver accurate strikes against the Allied fleet. The plan of the Anglo-French troops failed. The allies were forced to retreat towards the Crimea and begin battles for the peninsula.

Fights on the Danube (1853-1856)

It was with the entry of Russian troops into this region that the Crimean War of 1853-1856 began. After the success in the Battle of Sinop, another success awaited Russia: the troops completely crossed to the right bank of the Danube, an attack was opened on Silistria and further on Bucharest. However, the entry into the war of England and France complicated the offensive of Russia. On June 9, 1854, the siege of Silistria was lifted and the Russian troops returned to the left bank of the Danube. By the way, on this front, Austria also entered the war against Russia, which was worried about the rapid advance of the Romanov Empire into Wallachia and Moldavia.

In July 1854, near the city of Varna (modern Bulgaria), a huge landing of the British and French armies landed (according to various sources, from 30 to 50 thousand). The troops were supposed to enter the territory of Bessarabia, ousting Russia from this region. However, a cholera epidemic broke out in the French army, and the British public demanded that the leadership of the army first strike at the Black Sea fleet in the Crimea.

Fights in the Caucasus (1853-1856)

An important battle took place in July 1854 near the village of Kyuruk-Dara (Western Armenia). The combined Turkish-British forces were defeated. At this stage, the Crimean War was still successful for Russia.

Another important battle in this region took place in June-November 1855. Russian troops decided to attack the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, the fortress of Karsu, so that the Allies would send part of the troops to this region, thereby slightly weakening the siege of Sevastopol. Russia won the battle of Kars, but this happened after the news of the fall of Sevastopol, so this battle had little effect on the outcome of the war. Moreover, according to the results of the "peace" signed later, the fortress of Kars returned to the Ottoman Empire. However, as the peace talks showed, the capture of Kars still played a role. But more on that later.

Defense of Sevastopol (1854-1855)

The most heroic and tragic event of the Crimean War is, of course, the battle for Sevastopol. In September 1855, Franco-British troops captured the last point of the city's defense - Malakhov Kurgan. The city survived 11 months of siege, however, as a result, it was surrendered to the allied forces (among which the Sardinian kingdom appeared). This defeat became a key one and served as an impetus for the end of the war. From the end of 1855, intensified negotiations began, in which Russia had practically no strong arguments. It was clear that the war was lost.

Other battles in the Crimea (1854-1856)

In addition to the siege of Sevastopol on the territory of Crimea in 1854-1855, several more battles took place, which were aimed at "unblocking" Sevastopol:

1. Battle of the Alma (September 1854).
2. Battle of Balaklava (October 1854).
3. Battle of Inkerman (November 1854).
4. An attempt to liberate Evpatoria (February 1855).
5. Battle on the Chernaya River (August 1855).

All these battles ended in unsuccessful attempts to lift the siege of Sevastopol.

"Distant" battles

The main fighting of the war took place near the Crimean peninsula, which gave the name to the war. There were also battles in the Caucasus, on the territory of modern Moldova, as well as in the Balkans. However, few people know that battles between rivals also took place in remote regions of the Russian Empire. Here are some examples:

1. Peter and Paul Defense. The battle that took place on the territory of the Kamchatka Peninsula between the combined Franco-British troops on the one hand and Russian on the other. The battle took place in August 1854. This battle was the result of the victory of Britain over China during the Opium Wars. As a result, Britain wanted to increase its influence in the east of Asia, ousting Russia from here. In total, the Allied troops made two assaults, both ended in failure for them. Russia withstood the Peter and Paul defense.
2. Arctic Company. The operation of the British fleet to attempt to blockade or capture Arkhangelsk, carried out in 1854-1855. The main battles took place in the Barents Sea. The British also undertook the bombardment of the Solovetsky fortress, as well as the robbery of Russian merchant ships in the White and Barents Seas.

Results and historical significance of the war

In February 1855, Nicholas 1 died. The task of the new emperor, Alexander 2, was to end the war, and with minimal damage to Russia. In February 1856, the Paris Congress began its work. Russia was represented by Alexei Orlov and Philip Brunnov. Since neither side saw the point in continuing the war, already on March 6, 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed, as a result of which the Crimean War was completed.

The main terms of the Treaty of Paris were as follows:

1. Russia returned the Karsu fortress to Turkey in exchange for Sevastopol and other captured cities of the Crimean peninsula.
2. Russia was forbidden to have a Black Sea fleet. The Black Sea was declared neutral.
3. The Bosporus and Dardanelles were declared closed to the Russian Empire.
4. Part of Russian Bessarabia was transferred to the Moldavian Principality, the Danube ceased to be a border river, so navigation was declared free.
5. On the Aland Islands (an archipelago in the Baltic Sea), Russia was forbidden to build military and (or) defensive fortifications.

As for losses, the number of Russian citizens who died in the war is 47.5 thousand people. Britain lost 2.8 thousand, France - 10.2, the Ottoman Empire - more than 10 thousand. The Sardinian kingdom lost 12 thousand soldiers. Austrian casualties are unknown, possibly because they were not officially at war with Russia.

In general, the war showed the backwardness of Russia, compared with the states of Europe, especially in terms of the economy (the completion of the industrial revolution, the construction of railways, the use of steamships). After this defeat, the reforms of Alexander 2 began. In addition, in Russia long time a desire for revenge was brewing, which resulted in another war with Turkey in 1877-1878. But this is a completely different story, and the Crimean War of 1853-1856 was completed and Russia was defeated in it.

Initially, Russia began to fight with Turkey for control of the Black Sea straits and influence in the Balkans. The Russian army started the war very successfully. In November, through the efforts of Nakhimov, the Russian fleet defeated the Turkish fleet in the battle of Sinop. This event gave rise to the intervention of France and England in the war, under the pretext of protecting Turkish interests. Such protection eventually grew into an open aggression of the Europeans against Russia. For France and England did not want the strengthening of the Russian state.

In 1854, these countries officially declared war on the Russian Empire. The main hostilities of the Crimean War in Crimea unfolded. The allies landed in Yevpatoria and launched an offensive against the naval base - Sevastopol. The heroic defense of the city was led by the outstanding Russian naval commanders Kornilov and Nakhimov. Under their command, the city, poorly protected from the land, was turned into a real fortress. After the fall of the Malakhov Kurgan, the defenders of the city left Sevastopol. Russian troops managed to take the Turkish fortress of Kars, which slightly balanced the scales of the allies and the Russian empire. After this event, peace negotiations began. Peace was signed in Paris in 1856. The Peace of Paris deprived Russia of the opportunity to have a fleet on the Black Sea, the country also lost part of Bessarabia, the mouth of the Danube, and lost the right to patronage over Serbia.

The defeat in the Crimean War raised a lot of questions about its causes before the Russian society. The government found itself at a historic fork in the road, and it had to make a choice in which direction Russia would go. The Crimean War became a kind of catalyst for further reforms in the Russian Empire and innovative transformations.

When was the Crimean War?

Chronology of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 The Crimean (Eastern) War between Russia and a coalition of countries consisting of Great Britain, France, Turkey and the Kingdom of Sardinia lasted from 1853 to 1856 and was caused by a clash of their interests in the Black Sea basin, the Caucasus and the Balkans.

Where and how did the Crimean War start?

The Crimean War of 1853–1856 began. On October 4 (16), 1853, the Crimean War began, the war between Russia and the coalition of Great Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia for dominance in the Middle East. By the middle of the XIX century. Great Britain and France forced Russia out of the Middle East markets and subjugated Turkey to their influence.

Crimean War stages. Crimean War 1853-56 Its causes, stages, results.

CAUSES The reasons for the war were in the contradictions between the European powers in the Middle East, in the struggle of European states for influence on the weakening and gripped by the national liberation movement of the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas I said that the inheritance of Turkey can and should be divided. In the upcoming conflict, the Russian emperor counted on the neutrality of Great Britain, which he promised after the defeat of Turkey new territorial acquisitions of Crete and Egypt, as well as on the support of Austria, as a gratitude for Russia's participation in the suppression of the Hungarian revolution. However, Nicholas's calculations turned out to be wrong: England herself pushed Turkey to war, thus seeking to weaken Russia's position. Austria also did not want to strengthen Russia in the Balkans. The reason for the war was a dispute between the Catholic and Orthodox clergy in Palestine about who would be the guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the temple in Bethlehem. At the same time, it was not about access to holy places, since all pilgrims used them on an equal footing. The dispute over the Holy Places cannot be called a far-fetched pretext for unleashing a war. STAGES There are two stages in the course of the Crimean War: Stage I of the war: November 1853 - April 1854. Turkey was Russia's enemy, and hostilities took place on the Danube and Caucasian fronts. 1853 Russian troops entered the territory of Moldova and Wallachia and hostilities on land were sluggish. In the Caucasus, the Turks were defeated near Kars. II stage of the war: April 1854 - February 1856 Concerned that Russia would completely defeat Turkey, England and France, in the person of Austria, delivered an ultimatum to Russia. They demanded that Russia refuse to patronize the Orthodox population of the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas I could not accept such conditions. Turkey, France, England and Sardinia united against Russia. RESULTS Results of the war: - On February 13 (25), 1856, the Paris Congress began, and on March 18 (30) a peace treaty was signed. - Russia returned the city of Kars with a fortress to the Ottomans, receiving in exchange Sevastopol, Balaklava and other Crimean cities captured from it. - The Black Sea was declared neutral (that is, open to commercial and closed to military ships in peacetime), with the prohibition of Russia and the Ottoman Empire to have navies and arsenals there. - Navigation along the Danube was declared free, for which the Russian borders were moved away from the river and part of Russian Bessarabia with the mouth of the Danube was annexed to Moldova. - Russia was deprived of the protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia granted to it by the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhysky peace of 1774 and the exclusive patronage of Russia over the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire. - Russia pledged not to build fortifications on the Aland Islands. During the war, the members of the anti-Russian coalition failed to achieve all their goals, but managed to prevent the strengthening of Russia in the Balkans and deprive it of the Black Sea Fleet.

Initially, success was mixed. The main milestone is the Battle of Sinop in November 1853, when the Russian admiral, hero of the Crimean War P.S. Nakhimov completely defeated the Turkish fleet in the Sinop Bay within a few hours. In addition, all coastal batteries were suppressed. The Turkish naval base lost more than a dozen ships and over three thousand people only killed, all coastal fortifications were destroyed. The commander of the Turkish fleet is taken prisoner. Only one fast ship with an English adviser on board was able to escape from the bay.

The losses of the Nakhimovites were much smaller: not a single ship was sunk, several of them were damaged and went for repairs. Thirty-seven people died. These were the first heroes of the Crimean War (1853-1856). The list is open. However, this ingeniously planned and no less brilliantly conducted naval battle in the Sinop Bay is literally inscribed in gold on the pages of the history of the Russian fleet. And immediately after that, France and England became more active, they could not allow Russia to win. War was declared, and immediately foreign squadrons appeared in the Baltic near Kronstadt and Sveaborg, which were attacked. In the White Sea, British ships bombarded the Solovetsky Monastery. The war began in Kamchatka.

The Crimean War, or, as it is called in the West, the Eastern War, was one of the most important and decisive events of the middle of the 19th century. At this time, the lands of the non-falling Ottoman Empire found themselves in the center of the conflict between the European powers and Russia, and each of the warring parties wanted to expand their territories by annexing foreign lands.

The war of 1853-1856 was called the Crimean War, since the most important and intense hostilities took place in the Crimea, although military clashes went far beyond the peninsula and covered large areas of the Balkans, the Caucasus, as well as the Far East and Kamchatka. At the same time, tsarist Russia had to fight not just with the Ottoman Empire, but with a coalition where Turkey was supported by Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Causes of the Crimean War

Each of the parties that took part in the military campaign had their own reasons and claims that prompted them to enter into this conflict. But in general, they were united by one single goal - to take advantage of Turkey's weakness and establish themselves in the Balkans and the Middle East. It was these colonial interests that led to the outbreak of the Crimean War. But to achieve this goal, all countries followed different paths.

Russia longed to destroy the Ottoman Empire, and its territories to be mutually beneficially divided among the claiming countries. Under its protectorate, Russia would like to see Bulgaria, Moldavia, Serbia and Wallachia. And at the same time, she was not opposed to the fact that the territories of Egypt and the island of Crete would go to Great Britain. It was also important for Russia to establish control over the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, connecting the two seas: the Black and the Mediterranean.

Turkey with the help of this war hoped to suppress the national liberation movement that swept the Balkans, as well as to select the very important Russian territories of the Crimea and the Caucasus.

England and France did not want to strengthen the positions of Russian tsarism in the international arena, and sought to preserve the Ottoman Empire, since they saw in her face a constant threat to Russia. Having weakened the enemy, the European powers wanted to separate the territories of Finland, Poland, the Caucasus and Crimea from Russia.

The French emperor pursued his ambitious goals and dreamed of revenge in a new war with Russia. Thus, he wanted to take revenge on his enemy for the defeat in the military campaign of 1812.

If we carefully consider the mutual claims of the parties, then, in fact, the Crimean War was absolutely predatory and predatory. After all, it was not in vain that the poet Fyodor Tyutchev described it as a war of cretins with scoundrels.

The course of hostilities

The beginning of the Crimean War was preceded by several important events. In particular, it was the issue of control over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Bethlehem, which was decided in favor of the Catholics. This finally convinced Nicholas I of the need to start military operations against Turkey. Therefore, in June 1853, Russian troops invaded the territory of Moldova.

The response of the Turkish side was not long in coming: on October 12, 1853, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia.

The first period of the Crimean War: October 1853 - April 1854

By the beginning of hostilities, there were about a million people in the Russian army. But as it turned out, its armament was very outdated and significantly inferior to the equipment of Western European armies: smooth-bore guns against rifled weapons, a sailing fleet against ships with steam engines. But Russia hoped that it would have to fight with an approximately equal in strength Turkish army, as happened at the very beginning of the war, and could not imagine that it would be opposed by the forces of the united coalition of European countries.

During this period, the fighting was carried out with varying success. And the most important battle of the first Russian-Turkish period of the war was the Battle of Sinop, which took place on November 18, 1853. The Russian flotilla under the command of Vice Admiral Nakhimov, heading for the Turkish coast, discovered large enemy naval forces in the Sinop Bay. The commander decided to attack the Turkish fleet. The Russian squadron had an undeniable advantage - 76 cannons firing explosive shells. This is what decided the outcome of the 4-hour battle - the Turkish squadron was completely destroyed, and the commander Osman Pasha was taken prisoner.

The second period of the Crimean War: April 1854 - February 1856

The victory of the Russian army in the battle of Sinop greatly disturbed England and France. And in March 1854, these powers, together with Turkey, formed a coalition to fight a common enemy - the Russian Empire. Now a powerful military force fought against her, several times superior to her army.

With the beginning of the second stage of the Crimean campaign, the territory of hostilities expanded significantly and covered the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Baltic, the Far East and Kamchatka. But the main task of the coalition was the intervention in the Crimea and the capture of Sevastopol.

In the autumn of 1854, a united corps of 60,000 coalition forces landed in the Crimea near Yevpatoria. And the Russian army lost the first battle on the Alma River, so it was forced to retreat to Bakhchisaray. The garrison of Sevastopol began to prepare for the defense and defense of the city. The illustrious admirals Nakhimov, Kornilov and Istomin stood at the head of the valiant defenders. Sevastopol was turned into an impregnable fortress, which was protected by 8 bastions on land, and the entrance to the bay was blocked with the help of sunken ships.

349 days lasted heroic defense Sevastopol, and only in September 1855 the enemy captured the Malakhov Kurgan and occupied the entire southern part of the city. The Russian garrison moved to the northern part, but Sevastopol never capitulated.

Results of the Crimean War

The military actions of 1855 weakened both the allied coalition and Russia. Therefore, the continuation of the war could no longer be discussed. And in March 1856, the opponents agreed to sign a peace treaty.

According to the Treaty of Paris, Russia, like the Ottoman Empire, was forbidden to have a navy, fortresses and arsenals on the Black Sea, which meant that the southern borders of the country were in danger.

As a result of the war, Russia lost a small part of its territories in Bessarabia and the mouth of the Danube, but lost its influence in the Balkans.

Video Crimean War 1853 - 1856

The Crimean War is the course of the war. Crimean War: causes, participants, table of main events, outcome

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

The original relationship of events

So, the Crimean War was predetermined some time before its actual start. So, in the 40s, the Ottoman Empire deprived Russia 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, there was dissatisfaction with Russia's aggressive policies and growing influence in the Balkans.

Causes of the war

The prerequisites for such a large-scale conflict have been accumulating for a long time. We list the main ones:

1. The Eastern question is aggravated. The Russian Emperor Nicholas I sought to finally resolve the "Turkish" issue. Russia wanted to increase 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 wars with Russia, it lost the entire Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, and part of the Transcaucasus. Greece seceded from the Turks shortly before the war. Turkey's influence was falling, she was losing control over dependent territories. That is, the Turks sought to recoup their previous defeats, to 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 Peace of Adrianople in 1829, she received new lands from Turkey in the Danube Delta. All this led to the fact that anti-Russian sentiments grew and strengthened in Europe.

End of the Crimean War

The Crimean War was unleashed between the Russian Empire, on the one hand, and a coalition of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France, on the other, in October 1853 and ended on February 1, 1856 with the signing of an agreement in Paris and the complete defeat of the Russian Empire. The Egyptian army, which opposed the Russian Empire, also took part in the hostilities. As for the prerequisites for the start of the war, on July 3, 1853, Russian troops occupied Moldavia and Wallachia (which were Russian protectors under the terms of the Adrianople Treaty) in order to protect the sacred lands of Palestine and the Greek Church. Then the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Mejdid decided to bring his army to a state of full combat readiness in order, if necessary, to resist the aggressor who encroached on the great Ottoman Empire. Few people know that Emir Amr At-Tusun has a book about this war called "Egyptian army in the Russian war”, which was published in 1932. The Turks entered the Crimea in 1475, and the peninsula became part of the Ottoman Empire. Since then, Russia has been waiting for the right moment to invade the territory of the Ottoman Empire. When Sultan Abdul-Mejdid realized that the danger of war loomed over his empire, he asked Khedive Abbas, Vice Sultan of Egypt, to provide military support. Khedive Abbas Hilmi, at the request of the Ottoman Sultan, sends a fleet of 12 ships equipped with 642 guns and 6850 military sailors under the leadership of the Emir of the Egyptian fleet Hassan Bashu al-Iskandarani. Also, Vice Sultan Abbas equips his land army under the leadership of Salim Fathi Bashi, which has more than 20 thousand guns in its arsenal. So in October 1854, the Ottoman Empire officially declared war on Russia.

The opinion that the war began because of a religious conflict and "protection of the Orthodox" is fundamentally wrong. Since wars never started because of different religions or infringement of some interests of fellow believers. These arguments are only a pretext for conflict. The reason is always the economic interests of the parties.

Turkey by that time was the “sick link in Europe”. It became clear that it would not last long and would soon fall apart, so the question of who inherited its territory became increasingly relevant. Russia, on the other hand, wanted to annex Moldavia and Wallachia with an Orthodox population, and also in the future to seize the Bosphorus and Dardanelles.

Beginning and end of the Crimean War

In the Crimean War of 1853-1855, the following stages can be distinguished:

1. Danube Campaign. On June 14, 1853, the emperor issued a decree on the start of a military operation. On June 21, the troops crossed the border with Turkey and entered Bucharest on July 3 without firing a shot. At the same time, small skirmishes began at sea and on land.

1. Sinop battle. On November 18, 1953, a huge Turkish squadron was completely destroyed. This was the largest Russian victory in the Crimean War.

1. Allied entry into the war. In March 1854 France and England declared war on Russia. Realizing that he could not cope with the leading powers alone, the emperor withdraws troops from Moldavia and Wallachia.

1. Blocking from the sea. In June-July 1854, the Russian squadron of 14 battleships and 12 frigates is completely blocked in the Sevastopol Bay by the Allied fleet, numbering 34 battleships and 55 frigates.

1. Landing of the allies in the Crimea. On September 2, 1854, the allies began to land in Evpatoria, and on the 8th of the same month they inflicted a rather large defeat on the Russian army (a division of 33,000 people), which was trying to stop the movement of troops towards Sevastopol. The losses were small, but we had to retreat.

1. Destruction of part of the fleet. On September 9, 5 battleships and 2 frigates (30% of the total) were flooded at the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay to prevent the Allied squadron from breaking into it.

1. Deblockade attempts. On October 13 and November 5, 1854, Russian troops made 2 attempts to lift the blockade of Sevastopol. Both failed, but without major losses.

1. Battle for Sevastopol. From March to September 1855 there were 5 bombardments of the city. There was another attempt by the Russian troops to get out of the blockade, but it failed. On September 8, Malakhov Kurgan was taken - a strategic height. Because of this, the Russian troops left the southern part of the city, blew up the rocks with ammunition and weapons, and also flooded the entire fleet.

1. The surrender of half of the city and the flooding of the Black Sea squadron produced a strong shock in all circles of society. For this reason, Emperor Nicholas I agreed to a truce.

Participants in the war

One of the reasons for the defeat of Russia is called the numerical superiority of the allies. But actually it is not. The ratio of the land part of the army is shown in the table.

As you can see, although the allies had a general numerical superiority, this was far from being reflected in every battle. Moreover, even when the ratio was approximately parity or in our favor, the Russian troops still could not succeed. However, the main question remains not why Russia did not win without having a numerical superiority, but why the state could not supply more soldiers.

Important! In addition, the British and French caught dysentery during the march, which greatly affected the combat capability of the units.

The balance of fleet forces in the Black Sea is shown in the table:

The main naval force was the battleships - heavy ships with a huge number of guns. Frigates were used as fast and well-armed hunters who hunted transport ships. A large number of small boats and gunboats in Russia did not give superiority at sea, since their combat potential is extremely small.

Heroes of the Crimean War

Another reason is called command errors. However, most of these opinions are expressed after the fact, that is, when the critic already knows what decision should have been made.

1. Nakhimov, Pavel Stepanovich. He showed himself most of all at sea during the Battle of Sinop, when he sank the Turkish squadron. He did not participate in land battles, as he did not have the appropriate experience (he was still a naval admiral). During the defense, he served as a governor, that is, he was engaged in equipping the troops.

1. Kornilov, Vladimir Alekseevich. He showed himself as a brave and active commander. In fact, he invented the tactics of active defense with tactical sorties, laying minefields, mutual assistance of land and naval artillery.

1. Menshikov, Alexander Sergeevich. It is on him that all the accusations of losing the war are poured. However, firstly, Menshikov personally supervised only 2 operations. In one, he retreated for quite objective reasons (the numerical superiority of the enemy). In another, he lost because of his miscalculation, but at that moment his front was no longer decisive, but auxiliary. Secondly, Menshikov also gave quite rational orders (the sinking of ships in the bay), which helped the city to hold out longer.

Reasons for the defeat

Many sources indicate that the Russian troops were losing because of the fittings, which the Allied armies had in large numbers. This is an erroneous point of view, which is duplicated even in Wikipedia, so it needs to be analyzed in detail:

1. The Russian army also had fittings, and there were also enough of them.
2. The fitting was fired at 1200 meters - just a myth. Really long-range rifles were adopted much later. On average, the fitting fired at 400-450 meters.
3. The fittings were fired very accurately - also a myth. Yes, their accuracy was more accurate, but only by 30-50% and only at 100 meters. With increasing distance, the superiority fell to 20-30% and below. In addition, the rate of fire was 3-4 times inferior.
4. During major battles in the first half of the 19th century, the smoke from gunpowder was so thick that visibility was reduced to 20-30 meters.
5. The accuracy of the weapon does not mean the accuracy of the fighter. It is extremely difficult to teach a person even from a modern rifle to hit a target from 100 meters. And from a fitting that did not have today's aiming devices, it is even more difficult to shoot at a target.
6. During combat stress, only 5% of soldiers think about aimed shooting.
7. Artillery always brought the main losses. Namely, 80-90% of all killed and wounded soldiers were from cannon fire with grapeshot.

The Crimean War is a controversial event in history. In fact, it does not bring victories and defeats to any of the parties involved, but rich in battles, this war still excites the minds of historians. Today we will not delve into historical and political disputes, but simply recall the most unusual incidents of those years.

Sinop battle: the first propaganda.

Joseph Goebbels, perhaps the most famous military propagandist, could boldly adopt the techniques and methods of the Crimean War. And perhaps he did take it ... One thing is clear - it was during these years that the first large-scale use of propaganda, newspaper ducks and the now popular method of distorting facts was recorded.
It all started with the Sinop naval battle on November 30, 1853. The Russian squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Nakhimov swiftly defeated the numerically superior Turkish squadron and ensured the dominance of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. The Turkish fleet was defeated within a few hours. The day after the Battle of Sinop, English newspapers vying with each other wrote about the atrocities of Russian sailors: they say the ruthless military finished shooting the wounded Turks floating in the sea. In fact, such a "sensation" had no real basis.

First shots: war in photography.

"From Moscow to Brest
There is no such place
Wherever we wander in the dust.
With a watering can and with a notepad,
And even with a machine gun
Through the fire and the cold we passed ... "
These lines about the profession of correspondents and photographers were composed during the Great Patriotic War. But for the first time, photographs began to be widely used to cover military operations precisely in the Crimean War. The photographs of Roger Fenton, who is considered the first war photographer, are especially famous. From the battles of the Crimean War, there are 363 of his photographs, which were subsequently purchased by the US Library of Congress and are now available on the Internet.

Defense of the Solovetsky Monastery: not even seagulls were hurt.

In the spring of 1854, news arrived from Arkhangelsk on the Solovetsky Islands: enemy forces would soon attack the famous monastery. Church valuables are urgently sent to Arkhangelsk, and the monastery is preparing for defense. Everything would be fine, but the monks were not used to fighting and did not stock up on weapons: after inspecting the arsenal by the brethren, only old, unusable cannons, crossbows, and pistols were found. With such weapons, and against the English fleet ...
Insignificant but more reliable weapons arrived from Arkhangelsk: 8 cannons with shells.
On July 6, two English sixty-gun frigates "Brisk" and "Miranda" approached the Solovetsky Monastery. Trying to enter into negotiations, the foreign team hung signal flags on the masts. However, the monks, unfamiliar with the nautical letter, were silent, and two signal shots from the ship were perceived as the beginning of hostilities. And the monks hit back: one of the cores of the return salvo hit the English frigate, damaged it and forced it to go over the cape.
The unexpected resistance and refusal to surrender angered the British: the next day, cannonballs rained down from their ships on the monastery. The shelling of the monastery lasted almost nine hours. About 1800 cores and bombs were fired by English ships. They, according to historians, would be enough to destroy several cities. But everything turned out to be in vain. By evening, the resistance of the monks forced the English ships to cease hostilities.
Summing up the battle, the defenders were surprised by the complete absence of human casualties. Not even the seagulls, which inhabited the monastery walls in great numbers, were spared. Only a few buildings received minor damage. Moreover, an unexploded core was found behind one of the icons of the Mother of God, which completely confirmed the defenders in the Providence of God.

French trophies: captive bell.

The "foggy" bell in Chersonesos is a visiting card of Sevastopol. It was cast in 1776 from captured cannons captured from the enemy during the Russo-Turkish war of 1768-1774 and installed in the Chersonese monastery. The bell settled in Sevastopol by order of Emperor Alexander I in 1983. It was intended to warn sailors of danger.
After Russia lost in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, the bell was taken to France along with other trophies. The “captive” bell hung for almost 60 years in Notre Dame Cathedral and returned to Russia only after repeated insistent demands of the Russian government.
In 1913, during diplomatic negotiations, President Poincaré, as a sign of friendship with Russia, returned the alarm bell, on November 23 the "captive" arrived in Sevastopol, where he was temporarily installed on the belfry of the church of St. Vladimir. The Chersonese bell not only called the monks to service, it served as a sound beacon: in the fog, its voice warned the ships at sea about the proximity of the rocky shore.
By the way, its further fate is also interesting: in 1925, many monasteries were abolished, and the bells began to be removed for remelting. The alarm bell was the only one that was lucky because of its great "importance for the safety of sailors." At the suggestion of the Office for the Safety of Navigation in the Black and Azov Seas, it was installed on the shore as a sound beacon.

Russian sailors: the third does not light up.

When the British and the Allies laid siege to Sevastopol in the Crimean War, they were already armed with rifles (the first analogues of rifled weapons). They shot accurately, and because of this, a sign was born in the fleet - "the third one does not light up." Our sailor will light his pipe, and the Englishman has already noticed the light. The sailor gives a light to another, the Englishman is already at the ready. Well, the third sailor received a bullet from a rifle. Since then, there has even been a belief among our sailors: if you smoke a third, you will receive a mortal wound.

Theater of operations: almost world.

In terms of its grandiose scale, the width of the theater of operations and the number of mobilized troops, the Crimean War was quite comparable to the world war. Russia defended itself on several fronts - in the Crimea, Georgia, the Caucasus, Sveaborg, Kronstadt, Solovki and Kamchatka. In fact, our fatherland fought alone, on our side were insignificant Bulgarian forces (3000 soldiers) and the Greek legion (800 people). From the opposite shore, an international coalition consisting of Great Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia, with a total number of more than 750 thousand, was heading towards us.

Peace treaty: Orthodox without Russia.

The peace treaty was signed on March 30, 1856 in Paris at an international congress with the participation of all the belligerent powers, as well as Austria and Prussia.
Under the terms of the agreement, Russia returned Kars to Turkey in exchange for Sevastopol, Balaklava and other cities in the Crimea, captured by the allies; conceded to the Moldavian Principality the mouth of the Danube and part of Southern Bessarabia. The Black Sea was declared neutral, Russia and Turkey could not keep a navy there. Russia and Turkey could only maintain 6 steam ships of 800 tons each and 4 ships of 200 tons each for guard duty. The autonomy of Serbia and the Danubian Principalities was confirmed, but the Turkish Sultan's supreme power over them was preserved. The previously adopted provisions of the London Convention of 1841 on the closure of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles for military vessels of all countries except Turkey were confirmed. Russia pledged not to build military fortifications on the Aland Islands and in the Baltic Sea.
The patronage of the Turkish Christians was transferred into the hands of the "concert" of all the great powers, that is, England, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia. The treaty deprived our country of the right to protect the interests of the Orthodox population on the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

History is always an ambiguous thing. The same episode can be presented in different ways and used for different purposes. For example, 160 years ago, in February 1856, the Crimean War ended. Even after more than a century and a half, one of the bloodiest international conflicts is described by mythological constructions of the times of Engels and Palmerston. The myths of the century before last turned out to be extremely tenacious.

Let's read the refutation of the myths about the Crimean War and speak out - are these really myths or can refutations be refuted? And you also check if you are trapped in these myths.

The war began because of the desire of Nicholas to divide the Ottoman Empire

Since 1853, Nicholas I went to aggravate relations with Turkey, wanting to seize the Black Sea straits, or even annex the European part of Turkey. A number of historians directly point out that the starting point of the conflict was the proposal of Nicholas I to the English ambassador Seymour on January 9, 1853 on the division of Turkey. Here we have already discussed

Sources refute this version: the tsar, on the contrary, stated that he intends to protect the formal territorial integrity of Turkey in the Balkans, as well as the ownership of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. From the British side, he only wanted guarantees that England would not take the straits from Turkey. In return, Nicholas I offered London Egypt and Crete: the emperor accurately guessed the desires of the British, although he was a little stingy. Within 30 years of this, Britain took over Egypt and Cyprus, an island larger than Crete.

The British retelling speaks of Nicholas' intention to establish a protectorate over the Christian areas of European Turkey. But the tsar repeatedly emphasized that since the 1830s he had not planned to annex “not an inch of land” to Russia, explaining this simply: “I could have captured Constantinople and Turkey twice already ... What benefits would there be for our mother Russia from the conquest of Turkey ?

More realistically, the causes of the war are described by later Western historians: Britain and France hoped to weaken Russia's influence on Europe.

Russia was ready for war with Turkey, but not with England and France

The opinion that the Turks were a second-class enemy still prevails. This stamp was formed because since the 19th century, all major wars with the Turks were fought only by Russia, which won them. However, a closer analysis of these conflicts does not reveal Turkey's weakness. In all the Russian-Turkish wars of the 19th century, the ratio of losses for the Russian army was worse than in the war of 1812, but no one calls Napoleon's army second-rate.

Russian-Turkish battles of the Crimean War produce the same impression. In the European theater, the Russians failed to win a single victory over the Turks. And in the Transcaucasus, the Turks proved to be an extremely combat-ready enemy: two major victories over them cost the Russian troops 15 and 17 percent of the personnel. Menshikov's army suffered the same percentage of losses from the Europeans in the defeat at Alma.

Superiority in armament as a reason for the Allied victory

The European armies were armed with progressive rifled artillery and fittings, but the backward Russian industry could not produce them, which is why everything in our country was smooth-bore. In addition, the Allied rifles fired at 1.2 kilometers and several times per minute, while the Russians only at 300 paces and once per minute.

The few Allied rifled guns were not used after a series of barrel bursts. Rifled small arms were technologically available as early as the 15th century, and there was nothing progressive about them: one shot took a minute, since the bullets were hammered into the barrel. The smoothbore fired four times a minute, which made it the choice of the majority.

A quarter of the British and two-thirds of the French in the Crimea were armed with smoothbore guns. During the war, industrially backward Russia gave its army significantly more rifles than advanced England and France. The reasons are simple: the Tula plant was the most powerful in Eurasia, and even under Alexander I, it was the first in the world to switch to interchangeability. In addition, his machines were powered by steam engines, and the English Royal Factory in Lee only after the end of hostilities launched the first steam engines, eliminating the technological gap from the Tula plant.

The Allies near Sevastopol used up more than 28 million bullets, killing and injuring 85,000 Russians.

Even without taking into account that 1,350,000 Anglo-French artillery shells are responsible for part of the losses, it is easy to see: the “accurate” fittings of the British and French required tens of thousands of shots per hit. The Russian infantry in the Crimea fired 16.5 million bullets, inflicting comparable casualties on the enemy. The thesis about the choke as the main reason for the Allied victory is very difficult to back up with specific numbers.

Alas, all this did not help Russia win the war, and could not help.

The Western fleets were dominated by steamships, which forced the Black Sea Fleet to self-sink.

Only a smaller part of the allied fleet in the Black Sea was steam-powered, and the steamship of that time was not a superweapon at all: primitive engines required tens of tons of coal and water per day, leaving less room for guns. A single pipe was no less vulnerable than the sails, which could only be completely knocked down after dozens of volleys. The Russian frigate Flora, which fought off three Turkish steamships in that war, as well as the sailboats of the Mexican fleet a decade earlier, fully proved their ability to effectively resist steamships.

In the 1830s, sea mines were invented in Russia, both percussion and remotely activated. In the Crimean War, their charge reached 0.16 tons - quite enough for the then wooden ships without bulkheads. Even a collision with light mines forced the Allies to abandon their attempt to land in the Baltic. In addition, ordinary carts were enough to transport mines and watercraft for their installation. It was possible to mine allied supply ports even with very limited forces.

However, the fleet in the Crimea was led by Admiral Alexander Menshikov, who did not consider such actions reasonable. It seemed to the minister that 160 kilograms of gunpowder might not damage the ship, and he recognized the amount of 27 thousand rubles required for the supply of mines (3 percent of the daily military spending of that time) as excessive.

Even before 1830, Menshikov distinguished himself by efficiency in spending budgetary funds, stopping the tests of the world's first all-metal submarine with missile and explosive weapons. As a result, it was also possible to avoid unnecessary expenses for the introduction of ship electric motors and batteries already tested on the Neva. However, Menshikov was reserved about the steam engine, publicly declaring that a trip by rail was as dangerous as a duel with pistols. Saving budgetary funds, since the 1840s he also rejected the demands of the Black Sea Fleet to adopt propeller-driven battleships.

"Lion-headed soldiers, donkey-headed officers, and headless generals"

This biting characterization of the Russian army of the times of the Crimea was given out by the French who stormed Sevastopol, and at first glance it is much closer to the truth than the stilted notion that feudal Russia lost the military-technological race to the countries of the West.

In fact, many decisions of the Russian generals are puzzling. Menshikov, having as many soldiers in the Crimea as the enemy, gathered only a part of them for the battle of Alma, and of those, half of the whole battle stood still, not participating in the battle. It is also not entirely clear why he ruled out the possibility of an Allied landing in September 1854, which prevented the strengthening of Sevastopol and even the organization of elementary naval reconnaissance.

However, the theory of "generals without a head" has its weak points. Generals Schilder, Leaders, Rediger, Dibich, Muravyov, Bebutov and Zavoiko were exceptionally competent, and they did not serve with the allies at all. All successful battles of the Russian army are distributed on the map of that war quite uniformly: outside the European part of the country. All this forced even pre-revolutionary historians, starting with Zayonchkovsky, to put forward the opinion that, on average, the military abilities of a commander of that time were directly proportional to the distance from his place of service to the top leadership.

If the landing in Evpatoria came as a complete surprise to the Black Sea Fleet, which the Minister’s policy did not allow to organize reconnaissance, then Major General Zavoiko, who commanded the Peter and Paul garrison in Kamchatka, thanks to personal contacts with the king of Hawaii, received information about the attack in advance.

Measures were taken: the allied squadron with 2600 people on board lost 270 killed while trying to land, Zavoiko - 37. The rifled weapons of the English infantry helped her even less than in battles with the Zulus - just like the French in the war with Austria in 1859 year, the Russians successfully compensated for the inferior weapons with a quick bayonet throw, sweeping away the outnumbered landing force.

It was not for nothing that they said in St. Petersburg: the Minister of Marine Menshikov “ruined the Baltic Fleet with his management, and that if anything good is being done in the Black Sea, then we owe it” not to him. Zavoyko had a significant advantage over the Black Sea: Kamchatka was much further from the naval minister.

The Victory That Wasn't

Zavoyko's actions gave rise to one of the few patriotic myths of that war. Allegedly the following year, he "inflicted a complete defeat on the four times the strongest British squadron in the Gulf of Castries." In fact, two of his warships collided there with only three British ones. The commander ordered the flags to be nailed to the masts and was clearly determined. However, the British prudently avoided the battle, deciding to wait for reinforcements in the form of 11 more ships. Zavoiko, on the contrary, did not wait for them and left the Tatar Strait.

According to another myth, the Anglo-French did not pursue it because they considered Sakhalin a peninsula, and the strait a bay. This is very doubtful: back in the 1830s, Belinsky mocked Bulgarin, calling him an ignoramus for not suspecting the island nature of Sakhalin. It is unlikely that the English admirals knew geography worse than Russian critics and publicists.

"Cabal" Parisian world

This is the last myth of the war: the terms of the peace were difficult and allegedly included secret points. Even quite serious historians I. Wallerstein and P. Bairoch support this theory. They argue that the Liberal Trade Tariff of 1857 was imposed under pressure from the victorious Britain, who sought to undermine the opponent's economy, as they did with China after the Opium Wars. Immediately after the abolition of the protectionist tariff, Russian industry collapsed (a third of jobs disappeared), and per capita industrial output, which had grown rapidly under Nicholas, froze for decades at the same level.

The theory looks logical, but the Paris Peace Treaty did not have secret articles, and all the circumstances of its conclusion were described in detail by Tarle. Yes, and England ended the war with Russia not with an easy walk, as in China, but with an expensive campaign to capture half of the town with the population of modern Morshansk.

The reasons for the sharp break in economic policy were more trivial. The parents of Nicholas I were not involved in his upbringing, and General Lamzdorf, who was responsible for this, beat the child with ramrods and also against the wall “so that .... Nikolay… almost fainted.” With such educators, he had no interest in learning at all. Therefore, as the emperor later admitted, "in the lessons ... [on political economy] we either dozed off or drew some kind of nonsense." As a result, the theories about free trade that were fashionable at that time passed him by, and Nikolai was guided by intuition in economic policy, which is why he was a protectionist.

But he took care of the education of his children. Alexander II subsequently not only reduced duties, but also gave state-owned factories, railways and banks to private management.

strange war

The combat losses of Russia in the war - 41 thousand killed and died from wounds, the Anglo-French coalition - 35 thousand, the losses of the Turks and Italians have not been reliably calculated. The shameful defeat of a backward country, at first glance, looks somewhat strange: especially when you consider that even 10 percent of the total number of the Russian army was not concentrated in the Crimea until the end of the war. In its history, Russia has never been able to resist the main forces of the two leading powers with the help of a few percent of its armed forces.

Even leaving aside the mythical fittings, "shooting at 1.2 kilometers", it should be admitted: with Menshikov and Gorchakov in command, one could expect both a complete defeat and a ratio of losses at the level of opium wars. The reason for such a strange outcome could be, on the one hand, the significant moral stability of the troops, which partially compensated for the "breaking that the troops of European Russia were subjected to" in peacetime.

However, the flagrant mistakes of the Allied leadership played no less a role. Even contemporaries noted that, by storming Sevastopol, they suffered the bulk of the losses in the campaign, while a simple blockade could force him to surrender without firing a shot.

And more about this war. Read what they did. Let's remember what is The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -