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Holy Lands, Unholy War: The Religious Dispute That Led to The Crimean War
The Crimean War ended forty years of peace following the Napoleonic Wars
The Crimean War shattered the peace that had settled over Europe following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. After decades of near-constant warfare, Europe was finally at peace. For nearly forty years, from 1815 until 1852, the continent refrained from devastating wars (minus a brief stint of widespread revolution in 1848.) But the peace didn’t last. The Crimean War would rage for two-and-a-half years and leave over 500,000 people dead. It was a stunning turn of events.
The war pitted the British Empire, France, and the Ottoman Empire against Russia. It was an odd pairing. Traditionally, France and Russia were friendly, and the French and the British were not. Despite that, former enemies went to war against Russia to help prop up the Ottoman Empire. But why?
Why did Europe throw peace away in such a stunning fashion? What caused the Crimean War? What caused the British and French to put aside their differences and fight on the same side for the first time in centuries?
By 1850, Tsar Nicolas I of Russia had convinced himself that the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of collapse. He considered their demise to be imminent. Through…
