![empire total war russian empire total war russian](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1391574/ww1.jpg)
The shock of defeat forced Russia to adopt a programme of sweeping internal reforms and industrialisation under Tsar Alexander II, who came to throne in early 1855. The Baltic, where so many key events took place, was ignored, because the casualties were minimal.Īt the Treaty of Paris, signed on March 30, 1856, Russia returned southern Bessarabia and the mouth of the Danube to Turkey Moldavia, Walachia and Serbia were placed under an international rather than a Russian guarantee the Sultan promised to respect the rights of his Christian subjects and the Russians were forbidden to maintain a navy on the Black Sea, or refortify Bomarsund. The massing of naval forces for an attack on Cronstadt-St Petersburg backed up allied demands, and in early 1856 Russia accepted an Austro-French initiative.įurther afield, the allies had also attacked Russia in the White Sea and the Pacific, but it was the heroism and blunders of the Crimea, along with the pioneering nursing work of Florence Nightingale and others, that came to dominate the literature. With France anxious to end the war and harvest the prestige of victory, Britain needed a strategy to ensure he Russians accepted the demilitarisation of the Black Sea and the European settlement of the Turkish question. In the Baltic, the allies had demolished the fortress and arsenal of Sweaborg, outside Helsinki, in August, and threatened Cronstadt and St Petersburg. Over the winter, the allies were joined by the Italian kingdom of Sardinia, which sent a useful army to secure British and French support for the expulsion of Austria from Italy. A week later the weather broke, sinking transport ships, ruining vital roads and bringing the campaign to a standstill. On 5 November, a major Russian attack at the Inkerman was beaten back with massive losses by isolated British infantry units. The Russians were so frightened by the cold courage of the British troopers, they never again dared face them in the open field. The first, the Battle of Balaclava on 24 October, ended with the legendary British ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’, which was, although misguided, an astonishingly successful operation of war, with relatively light casualties - only 118 killed out of 620.
![empire total war russian empire total war russian](https://s1.gaming-cdn.com/images/products/393/screenshot/game-steam-empire-total-war-collection-wallpaper-1.jpg)
This allowed the Russians time to fortify the city, and stage two flank attacks from their field army, based in the central Crimea. They failed to follow up the blow by attacking Sevastopol directly, largely to avoid a rupture in allied command system, and marched around the city to begin a regular siege from the south. This advantage, in concert with superior skill, initiative and numbers, enabled the allies to drive the Russians out of a strong position north of Sevastopol. The battle of the Alma on 20 September 1854 was the first in which new rifled muskets were used, although only by the British and French. In the event in took twelve months, three major land battles and countless actions between two large and well equipped armies deeply entrenched just outside the city. Sensing an opening for a useful diplomatic success France joined Britain in support of Turkey, which rejected the Tsar’s outrageous terms. He was mistaken, neither Britain nor Austria wanted to see Russia controlling the Dardanelles. Expecting support from Prussia, Austria and Britain, he planned to carve up the European part of Turkey. Having established the Second Empire, (Louis) Napoleon III lost interest, but Nicholas decided to settle the ‘sick man of Europe’ once and for all. When Tsar Nicholas I of Russia retaliated, sending a mission to recover Greek Orthodox rights, the Turks simply gave way to both parties, and hoped the issue would go away.
![empire total war russian empire total war russian](https://wiki.totalwar.com/images/6/6b/Rus_large.jpg)
The new president of France, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, exploited Turkish weakness to secure concessions for the Catholic church in Palestine, hoping to gain conservative support for his planned coup d’etat. The initial problem was the weakness of the Ottoman-Turkish empire, and the opportunities this provided for European interference in support of the Christian populations. But eventually the Vienna system broke down. After the Treaty of Vienna the great powers enjoyed three decades of peace, years in which industrial, political, economic, social and nationalist pressures were suppressed or deflected.