Last Crusade or First Modern War? The Crimean War 1853-1856

surprise. Prokofi Podpalov remembers: “The French were at Malakhov before our boys had a chance to grab their weapons. In a few seconds they had filled the fort with hundreds of their men and barely a shot was fired on our part.” (Figes, p.388) At Redan, the British tried and failed three times: a bitter memory for Lieutenant Griffith: “We ran like mad through the trenches, with shrapnel flying around our ears and men falling everywhere. When I reached the edge of the Redan Radcliffe ditch and grabbed the ladder and climbed it to the top of the parapet where we were stopped by the press – wounded and dead kept falling on us” (Figs., p.390) The British infantrymen Terrified, they retreat again to their lines, this time after 2,600 casualties.   His officers order another attack, but it is not necessary: ​​since the French have taken Malakhov, Redan cannot be held and the Russians withdraw.

The Russian command now sees the sign on the wall and orders the evacuation of Sevastopol. Nurse Alexandra   StAkhova finds herself in the middle of the catastrophe: “The whole city was engulfed in flames; The sound of explosions could be heard from everywhere. It was a scene of terror and chaos! … Sevastopol was covered in black smoke, our own troops were setting the city on fire.” (Figes, p.394) The siege of Sevastopol has ended, at the cost of 102,000 Russian and 71,000 Allied lives.  Back in St. Petersburg, Tsar Alexander is defiant: “Sevastopol is not Moscow. Crimea is not Russia. Two years after the burning of Moscow, our victorious troops were in Paris.

We are still the same Russians and God is with us.” (Figes, p.397) At the end of 1855, the Allies and the Russians are exhausted and winter is approaching. On the Caucasus front, the Russians capture the besieged city of Kars on November 26 despite the efforts of the Anglo-Ottoman garrison. This leaves Russia in control of more enemy territory than allies, a bargaining chip for peace talks. Simultaneously, the British assemble a powerful Baltic fleet called the Great Armament of

1856

, to end the war the following year.   Some historians suggest that the threat of this fleet helps end the war, although it never takes action.

This is because Napoleon III is satisfied with the French victories and wants peace. In January

1856

, the French reject British proposals to open new fronts and the two nations decide to end the Crimean campaign. The French now approach the neutral Austrians, and the two powers present Russia with an ultimatum. The tsar cannot risk Austrian intervention, so negotiations begin in Paris. At

first

, the French and British argue, as the British insist on harsher conditions, but in the end the French prevail and the Treaty of Paris is signed on March 30, 1856. Russia agrees to return parts of Bessarabia to Moldova; give up influence over the Danube principalities;  accept the demilitarization of the Black Sea;   and abandon her claim to represent Ottoman Christians.

The pre-war borders of the Ottoman Empire are preserved, plus some small gains in Bessarabia: a great victory for Constantinople.  However, the Treaty of Paris is not a long-term answer to the Eastern Question, and the Concert of Europe is restless. Russia still wants to expand southward as soon as she can regain her strength. The Ottomans are more integrated into European affairs, but they are still weak and external interference in Ottoman affairs continues. Austria is isolated and will find itself without allies in the coming wars against France, Sardinia and Prussia. Britain remains the world's leading power, but there is public disappointment over scandals and heavy losses in the name of preserving the Ottomans.

France, on the other hand, gains international prestige, ends the war on its own terms, and solidifies the authority of the new Emperor.  As for the Sardinians, the Kingdom improves its relations with France, which will bear fruit in future wars for Italian unification.  However, for regular soldiers, nurses and civilians, geopolitics is a reality distant from the pain and loss of war. Russia loses about 450,000 dead, the French about 100,000, the Ottomans about 45,000, the British 22,000 and the Sardinians 2,300. Most men die from disease, not from combat.  In addition to being deadly, the Crimean War is also a transitional conflict: it is partly a traditional cabinet war and is the

last

European war in which religion is used as the main justification.

But it is also

modern

in terms of technology, science, media and cultural aspects: the

first

industrial war. Some even consider it the first

modern

war, although that debate still continues today, as another modern war has come to Crimea. Of course, any technological advance brings new challenges for simple humans like us, who need to use new devices. In

1853

, that cutting-edge telegraph connection brought with it its own set of problems, such as message interception. And 170 years later, the problem is not so different if we look at surfing the Internet and trying to use strong passwords to be able to make online purchases safely or watch the latest videos in real-time history on YouTube.

This is why password managers like NordPass are so important and useful. With NordPass you can generate unique and secure passwords for each account, store them in your own vault without the need to memorize each password and with the autofill feature you don't need to type each password, just fill them out, making all your online activities seamless. faster and more comfortable. And the best part: when you travel regularly like me and want to maintain that level of security and convenience, you can take NordPass with you and use it on multiple devices. Not only is this very useful for the passwords you need while traveling, but you can also safely store other data on your NordPass.

As a sponsor of this video, NordPass has a special offer for you at nordpass.com/realtimehistorypass: save 36% on a 2-year Nord Pass plan and get a full month free. You can try NordPass for 30 days and if you're not satisfied, we'll refund your money. Go to nordpass.com/realtimehistorypass for a special offer that also supports our channel. We would like to thank David Lang and Mark Newton for their help with this episode.   As usual, you can find all of our sources for this video in the video description.   If you're watching this on Patreon or Nebula, thank you so much for the support, we couldn't do this without you.

I'm Jesse Alexander and this is a production of Real Time History, the only history channel that wants to remind you that the tsar himself said that Crimea is not Russia.