Crimean War - causes, events and impacts

Russian Empire was growing in power and size while the Ottoman Empire was declining
1. fighting broke out where these two areas met by land and sea
  1. Britain and France wanted to prevent Russian naval power growing in the Black Sea
Run up to war - Russians defeated a Turkish fleet and occupied Turkish territory around River Danube
1. Initial aim was to expel Russian forces from Turkish territory
  1. When the Russians withdrew, Britain and France sent troops to the Crimea
    1. Planning to take the naval base of Sebastopol and destroy the Russian Black Sea fleet based there
Planned 12 week campaign - lasted 12 months
1. 25,000 British died
  1. French lost 4x as many and Russians 20x as many
  2. Almost all died not from battle but from disease, malnutrition and exposure to freezing temperatures
Public Reaction in Britain
1. Initially, the suffering of British soldiers had a huge impact on public response to the war
2. War caused limited political change
  1. But the newspapers moved onto other events and outrage about the War was forgoten

Resource summary

	Created by Heidi Buckingham over 12 years ago