chapter 3 the impact of war and revolution and the development of the Russian empire and the USSR

the crimean war 1853-6

long term origins

• Russia was concerned to resolve the Eastern question in a way that best preserved its economic and political interests

• 1827- Russia decided to support an agreement with Turkey to allow the Greeks to government themselves
• the Sultan of Turkey was reluctant to stick to the agreement
• resulted in the Battle of Navarino Bay
• Russian, British and French naval squadrons combined to defeat the Sultan's naval fleet
• Tsar Nicholas I reached an agreement with the sultan that allowed Russian merchant shipping easier access through the Straits and the Turkish seas
• 2 months later the sultan reneged on the agreement
• a full blown war between Russia and Turkey ensued
• major Russian victories in the Balkans and Caucasus
• Treaty of Adrianpole signed- sultan had to honor the Akkermann agreements; territory in the Caucasus and mouth of the Danube on the Black Sea ceded to Russia; Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia recognised as temporary Russian protectorates

• the war against Turkey had bothered Nicholas I- believed it contradicted the concept of legitimism that underpinned his foreign policy
• 1833- decided to help the Ottomans in a struggle against Egyptian rebels led by Mehmet Ali
• Russian efforts were rewarded through the Treaty of Unkiar Skelesi
• resulted in Turkey agreeing to close the Straits to foreign warships during times of conflict
• implied that Russian warships would be allowed to enter the Bosphorus and the heart of the Ottoman Empire
• first attempt by Russia to transform the Turkish core area into a Russian protectorate
• Russia agreed to support Turkey if it was attacked by another of the world powers

• a further revoltion by Mehmet Ali culminated in the signing of the Straits Convention 1841
• as a result of pressure from the other great powers, this weakened Russia's arrangments with the Turks
• all of the major european powers conceded that Turkey should ban all foreign warships from entering the Straits during periods of international tensions
• to clarify the confusion over the 1833 agreement, Russian warships were banned from the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus

• this aggrieved Nicholas I
• knew that Russia was not really in a position to go to war with any of the other european powers
• proceeded to use diplomacy to ensure that Russia's interests in the East were preserved

short-term origins

• by the middle of the 19th century a dispute between Russia and France arose over Orthodox Christian and Catholic rights and duties in the Holy Lands (part of the Ottoman Empire)
• arguments over this issue escalated
• sparked the beginning of the Crimean War

• before the squabble erupted Russia had persuaded the sultan to allow special priviledges to be granted to Orthodox Christians in the Holy Lands
• considered fair as Orthodox Christians represented a majority in the region and contributed much to the local economy

• 1851- this arrangement was challenged by Charles Louis Napoleon, the first president of the French Republic and Emperor of France from 1852 to 1870
• stated that according to a rather obscure treaty of 1740, the…