In the first half of the 19th century, the once powerful Ottoman Empire was rapidly weakening. With the help of Russia, Britain and France, Greece gained freedom from Turkey. The Danube principalities fell under the protectorate of St. Petersburg. Algeria was occupied by Paris. And Egypt not only got out of the control of yesterday's overlord, but also began to exert military pressure on him.
As a result, Turkey turned to Russia, agreeing to conclude an alliance agreement and grant Russian ships special rights when passing the Black Sea Straits in wartime.
Way to war
When the direct threat to the existence of the Ottoman Empire disappeared, the Turkish authorities regretted the preferences granted to Russia. They relied on rapprochement with the European powers, where anti-Russian sentiment reigned. Even Austria, in spite of the help that Russia provided to it during the Hungarian demonstrations in 1849, saw for itself a threat in St. Petersburg’s desire to achieve independence for the Balkan peoples.
Against this background, the attempts of Nicholas I to patronize the Christians living in the Ottoman Empire were presented by European politicians as a struggle of “Russian barbarism” with the Turks who embarked on the path of “civilized transformation”. On the advice of British diplomats, the Sultan refused St. Petersburg the right to protect Christians in the Balkans and the Middle East.
In the summer of 1853, Russia broke off diplomatic relations with Turkey and, taking advantage of the right previously granted to it by the Sultan, sent troops into Moldova and Wallachia in order to persuade the Turks to negotiate. However, the leadership of the Ottoman Empire, feeling the support of the West European powers, refused to comply with the requirements of St. Petersburg anyway and on October 16 declared war on Russia.
On November 30, 1853, ships of the Black Sea Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Pavel Nakhimov in the Sinop battle destroyed most of the Turkish squadron on the Black Sea. The level of anti-Russian propaganda in the European media has gone wild. Britain began to develop plans for the division of the Russian Empire by alienating its territories in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
- Reproduction of the painting “The Battle of Sinop” (1853) by the artist Alexei Bogolyubov from the collection of the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg
- RIA News
On March 27, 1854, Great Britain and France declared war on Russia. April 22, the Anglo-French squadron bombarded Odessa. The port was seriously damaged, but the fire of coastal batteries did not allow the enemy to land an assault.
Russian troops won a number of victories over the Turks in the Caucasus, however, they were forced to withdraw their troops beyond the Danube due to the negative reaction of Vienna to the actions of St. Petersburg.
“The Crimean War was largely the result of an erroneous assessment by St. Petersburg of the international situation. A powerful coalition was formed against Russia, which significantly exceeded it in financial and mobilization opportunities, ”the candidate of historical sciences, associate professor of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov Oleg Airapetov.
War for Crimea
In the summer of 1854, a large Franco-British squadron blocked the Russian fleet in the bays of Sevastopol. Against 14 linear sailing ships, six frigates and six steamboats of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the enemy set 34 battleships and 55 frigates (mainly steam). At the end of summer, another 350 ships of the anti-Russian coalition advanced from Varna to the coast of Crimea.
Sevastopol, despite the status of the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, at that time was not sufficiently protected. To save the situation, the command sent a military engineer Eduard Totleben who had distinguished himself earlier in the Caucasus and the Danube. But Prince Alexander Menshikov, who directed the preparation of the city for defense, received it very coolly. Nevertheless, Totleben nevertheless examined the fortifications of the city and reported on their disastrous condition.
As a result, the engineer led the defensive work. Under his leadership, in just a few weeks, 6,000 workers and soldiers built a system of powerful fortifications. At natural heights around the city, a network of bastions has grown.
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September 14, 1854 near Yevpatoria, the landing of more than 60,000th corps of the anti-Russian coalition began, the basis of which was French troops (about 30 thousand people).
Menshikov, who considered it impossible to stop the enemy at this stage, concentrated his corps of about 35–36 thousand people in a place convenient for defense — on the banks of the Alma River.
Units of the Vladimir regiment in a bayonet attack drove the British Royal Fusiliers and the Scottish Guard. However, the French, due to the insufficient efficiency of Menshikov’s actions and the lack of Russian troops in the direction of the main attack, were able to capture the central heights in the river area.
Anglo-French forces lost in the Battle of Alma, according to various estimates, from 3.3 to 4.5 thousand people killed and wounded, Russian - from 3.7 to 5.7 thousand soldiers and officers.
- Battle of Alma, engraving of 1860
- globallookpress.com
- © World History Archive
On September 21, 1854, at a military council, it was decided to flood part of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet at the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay, in order to prevent the enemy squadron from breaking through to the city. Menshikov was afraid of being locked up in Sevastopol, so he took his corps in the direction of Bakhchisarai. The city’s defense was first assigned to the 18,000th garrison under the command of Vice Admirals Vladimir Kornilov and Pavel Nakhimov.
On September 24, French troops occupied the heights located near the city of Fedyukhin. On the night of September 25-26, the British entered Balaclava.
The coalition command did not dare to immediately storm Sevastopol, having begun to prepare for the siege.
Defense of Sevastopol
The day of the beginning of the defense of Sevastopol is considered to be October 17, 1854 - then the city was subjected to simultaneous bombardment from land and sea. On this day, on the Malakhov Hill, the head of the defense of the city, Vice Admiral Vladimir Kornilov, was mortally wounded. However, the coalition’s artillery strike did not bring any fundamental successes, which significantly demoralized its participants.
On October 25, 1854, the Battle of Balaklava took place between the Fedyukhin Heights, the Sapun Mountain and the Black River. The Russian troops in it were led by Menshikov’s deputy, General Pavel Liprandi.
- View of the Balaklava Bay, 1855
- globallookpress.com
- © Heritage-Images / Imagestate
Around Balaclava, the Allies built four redoubts that defended the approaches to the city, which became the main base of the English corps. Early in the morning, Russian troops knocked out the Turkish garrison from one of the redoubts. Then the hussars threw back the heavy British cavalry. The enraged Lord Fitzroy Raglan, who commanded the English corps, sent an easy cavalry brigade to attack the Russian positions, about two thirds of which were disabled in just 20 minutes.
Russian troops, who were in the minority (about 16 thousand against about 20 thousand allies), won, but could not defeat the English camp.
On November 5, 1855, the Inkerman battle took place. The troops under the command of Menshikov were able to inflict significant losses on the British, however, an unexpected attack by the French forced the Russian troops to return to their positions. The outcome of the battle disappointed Prince Menshikov, who had lost faith in the success of the campaign. After February 17, 1855, Russian troops were unable to seize Evpatoria, Nicholas I replaced Menshikov with General Mikhail Gorchakov.
By this time, the Allies had concentrated a 170,000-strong army near Sevastopol and made desperate attempts to capture the Malakhov Kurgan, a key point in the defense of the city. Sardinia entered the war on the side of the coalition.
The defenders of Sevastopol numerically and in terms of security of the troops were inferior to the members of the coalition, but continued to desperately resist. On June 18, the Allies tried to attack the Malakhov Kurgan, but were repelled, having suffered significant losses.
On June 20, Totleben was seriously wounded, and on July 12, Nakhimov died from a wound received on the Malakhov Hill.
From August 17 to August 20 and from August 21 to September 5, Sevastopol was heavily bombed by 800 guns. Up to 1 thousand defenders and residents of the city died per day.
“Although civilians were taken out of the city, many chose to stay. They helped to build and repair the fortifications, children collected cores, women carried water on the bastions, ”said Valery Krestyannikov, historian and writer, ex-director of the Sevastopol State Archive, in an interview with RT.
In early September, increased bombardment silenced guns on the Malakhov Hill. The city has actually turned into ruins. On September 8, the French were able to capture Malakhov Kurgan, but did not advance in other positions. However, due to heavy losses, the Russian command considered holding the southern part of Sevastopol pointless. Having blown up the powder cellars and flooding the remaining ships, Russian troops across the bridge from rafts crossed the bay to the north side of the city. The Allies entered Sevastopol on September 11, 1855.
- The battle for Malakhov Kurgan
- © Library of Congress
During the defense of the city, such national heroes became famous as one of the first sisters of mercy, Daria Mikhailova (Dasha Sevastopolskaya), who equipped the march dressing station for the defenders, the sailor Ignatiy Shevchenko, who covered the commander with his chest, and his comrade Peter Koshka, who made numerous attacks on enemy positions . Artilleryman Leo Tolstoy and surgeon Nikolai Pirogov, who was the first in Russian military medicine to apply a plaster cast, participated in the defense of Sevastopol.
End of war
After the fall of the southern part of Sevastopol, a relative calm fell in the war. In the Baltic, the Far East and near Nikolaev, the actions of the anti-Russian coalition, by and large, were unsuccessful.
“After the victory in the First Opium War, the Western countries were set for a successful campaign in Russia, but this did not happen. Napoleon III decided that his country was not ready to wage war "until the last Frenchman." And Sevastopol resistance pushed him to such conclusions in many ways, ”said Oleg Ayrapetov.
- The Allied Army enters Sevastopol
- © Library of Congress
March 30, 1856 under pressure from Austria, declaring its readiness to join the coalition, Russia signed the Paris Peace Treaty. The allies returned to Russia all the Crimean cities, but St. Petersburg refused Kars, part of Bessarabia, the protectorate over Moldova, Wallachia and Serbia, as well as the right to have a navy, arsenals and fortifications on the Black Sea, which received neutral status. The provisions of the Paris Treaty were canceled only in the 1870s. However, according to historians, if not for the long defense of Sevastopol, the conditions of the world could be much more painful for Russia.
According to Oleg Ayrapetov, the defeat in the Crimean War prompted the Russian leadership to reform and a more balanced foreign policy.
“The defenders of Sevastopol saved the prestige of the state and did not allow the enemy to advance inland, changing the course of the war,” Valery Krestyannikov summed up.