Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/669

* CRIMEA. 577 CRIMEAN WAR. came a great emporium of the commerce between Europe and Asia. After forming a part of the independent Khanate of Krim for about forty- iive years, the Crimea was conquered in 1475 by the Turks, and was ruKxl by a klian inulcr the suzerainty of the Sultan. In 1571 tlio Khan raided Moscow and sacked the town. Russian aggressions on the Crimea began in 1735, and in the following year an army imder General Miin- nicb laid the country waste. By the Treaty of Kutchuk-Kainardji, in 1774, the Porte was forced to recognize the independence of the IChan, In 1783 the country was incorporated with Rus- sia. In lS54-5(i tile Crimea was the scene of conflict between the Russian armies and the allied forces of England, France, Sardinia, and Turkey. (See Crimean Wab.) Consult: Telfer, The Crimea and Transcaucasia (London, 1872) ; Wood, The Crimea in ISoJi and JS9.'i (London, 1895) ; Beaulieu. The Empire of Tsars and the liussians (Xew York, 1893). CRIMEAN WAR. The name given to the war of 1854-50 between Russia on the one hand, and Turkey with her allies, France, England, and Sardinia, on the other. It was ushered in by the struggle l)etwcen Russia and Turkey, which broke out in 1853, the immediate occa- sion of which was the assertion by Russia of a protectorate over the Greek Christians in the Turkish dominions. Coupled with this was a dispute between Russia and France over the guardianship of the holy places in Palestine. The real ground, however, for the attitude as- sumed by France and Great Britain was resist- ance to the aggressive policy of the Russian Em- peror, Nicholas I. The latter believed that the other Powers of Europe were not in a position to interfere, and saw an opportunity to con- tinue the Russian advance which had Constan- tinople for its objective. Accordingly, in the spring of 1853 he submitted to the Porte, through Prince JlenshikolT. an ultimatum in regard to the Greek Christians and other matters. England and France prepared to sustain the Sultan against Russia, and stationed their fleets in Besika Bay. In July the Russian forces ad- vanced into the Danubian principalities. The Vienna Note, prepared by Austria and signed by the neutral Powers as a basis of settlement, was so modified by Turkey as to be unacceptable to Russia, and on October 4, IS53, Turkey declared war. The English and French fleets thereupon passed through the Dardanelles. Though the Turks were at first victorious upon land, the Russian admiral, Nakhimoft", won an important naval victory at Sinope, November 30; on March 12, 1854, France and Great Britain concluded an alliance with Turkey, and two weeks later they declared war against Russia. Prussia stood firmly neutral. Austria, though desirous of checking the Russian advance across the Dan- ube, dared not become involved in a war on the east, leaving its western frontiers open to pos- sible attack by Prussia and other States of the Germanic Confederation, and contented itself, therefore, with mobilizing an army on the south- em frontier. The allied Western Powers deter- mined to assist the Sultan by a naval expedition against Kronstadt. in the Baltic, and by a com- bined attack with land forces in the south. The Baltic expedition proved a complete failure, achieving nothing beyond the capture of Bomar- sund on August 10, Early in the summer 20,000 English troops, under Lord Raglan, and 50,000 French soldiers, under 3larshal Saint-.rnaud. assembled at Varna, on the Black Sea. Against the advice of the Turks, who wished to drive Russia out of the Caucasus, Saint-Arnaud and Raglan decided upon the siege of Sebastopol, Russia's stronghold and de])ot in the Crimea. The war was thus narrowed down to a limited sphere, and wa.s fought in a long siege and a series of stubborn engagements. The fir.st of these occurred at the river Alma, on September 20, 1854, six days after the landing of the Allies. Saint - Arnaud died on Septeml>er 2!), and was succeeded by General Canrobert. At the beginning of October the Allies began the regular siege of Sebastopol, the defense of which was directed by Todleben. On October 25th the Russians attacked the British at Bala- klava (q.v. ). The engagement was marked by bad generalsiii)) on the British side, and by the gal- lant but ill-advised charge of the Light Brigade. The Russians followed this up with an unsuccess- ful attack at Inkcrmann on November 5. The se- vere winter caused the suspension of active operations, and the English and Turks endured terrible hardships because of the inadecpiate com- missary arrangements. During the winter an in- ternational conference attempted to adjust mat- ters, but without avail. Austria entered into an alliance with France and Great Britain; but as Prussia could not be drawn into action unfavor- able to Russia, Austria refrained from entering into hostilities. Sardinia, on the other hand, joined the Allies in January, 1855, and sent 10,000 men of her new army, under General La Marmora, to the Crimea, (See Cavour and Italy.) The Russians resumed activities in Febniary, assailing the Turkish positions at Eupatoria, but without result. After the death of the Emperor Nicholas and the accession of Alexander II., in March, 1855, Prince Michael Gortchakoff succeeded Prince Menshikoff in com- mand of the Russian forces. Operations were renewed with great vigor in the spring, the Allies having 174,000 men in the field and the Russians about 150,000, Gen- eial Pelissier succeeded Canrobert in command in May, and General vSimpson succeeded Lord Rag- lan, upon the latter's death in June. A Russian army, advancing to the relief of Sebastopol. was defeated at the Tchernaya on August 10. From the 19th of August to the 8th of September a ter- rible bombardment of the besieged city was kept up, and was followed on the latter day by a gen- eral assault, in which the French took the Malakoft' Tower and the British took the Little Redan. Gortchakolf now blew up the south- ern fortifications and evacuated the city, retir- ing into the hills. General Muravieff cap- tured Kars, in Armenia, on November 28. All the parties were ready for peace, which was signed at Paris, where a congress of the Powers had been in session, on March 30, 1856. The integrity of the Ottoman Empire was guaranteed by the Powers, which also renounced all right of intervention in Ottoman aflfairs; reforms were promised by the Sultan : Russia renounced her protectorate over the Danubian principalities, and ceded a strip of Bessarabia to ^Moldavia; the navigation of the Danube was decl.ared free to all nations under the supervision of .a com- mission of members from the bordering States; the Black Sea was neutralized. The Congress