Crimean War

The Crimean War was fought from 1853 to 1856. The combatants were Russia and the alliance of France, Britain, Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. Battles were fought in Turkey, the Crimean Peninsula and the Baltic Sea.

Fast Facts:

1. First tactical use of railways
2. Use of new military tactics:
   • Trench warfare
   • Blind artillery fire
   • Minié ball increased Allied range and damage
3. 670,000 Allies fought
4. 700,000 Russians fought
5. 252,000 dead
6. Florence Nightingale began modern nursing methods
7. Subject of the poem Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Backstory

The decline of the Ottoman Empire left a power gap in the region. Although the ostensible cause of the war was conflict over control of religious sites, some historians believe that Russia was actually seeking to control Constantinople and its access to the Black Sea.¹

Role of the Press

Information about the Crimean War was received by the public back home much more rapidly than in previous conflicts. Journalists at the front used the telegraph to file battle reports, which were eagerly awaited by newspapers and magazines. The art of photography also gave people a view of the horrors of war that they had not previously seen.

Aftermath

The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1856, in which both sides pledged to recognize the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire. On a wider scale, the war prompted the breakup of old alliances, in particularly removing Germany from Austrian dominance. This set the stage for Germany's emergence as a major power in the next century.

Charge of the Light Brigade

• Half a league, half a league,
• Half a league onward,
• All in the valley of Death
• Rode the six hundred.
• 'Forward, the Light Brigade!
• Charge for the guns!' he said:
• Into the valley of Death
• Rode the six hundred.
• 'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
• Was there a man dismay'd ?
• Not tho' the soldier knew
• Someone had blunder'd:
• Their's not to make reply,
• Their's not to reason why,
• Their's but to do and die:
• Into the valley of Death
• Rode the six hundred...

—Alfred Lord Tennyson

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