The Crimean War was fought from October 1853 – February 1856 on the Crimean Peninsula, a peninsula lying between the Black Sea and Sea of Azov in Eastern Europe. The conflict happened between the Russians, British, French, and Ottoman Turkish. Arising from a conflict over Russian demands to exercise protection over the Orthodox subjects of the Ottoman Sultan living in Crimea. The Ottoman Turks were supported by Britain who launched a fleet to Constantinople, and successive victories and defeats ended in a sort of stalemate. Threatened by Austrian involvement on the side of the British and Ottomans, Russia entered peace negotiations and settled on March 30, 1856 with the Treaty of Paris. The Black Sea was neutralized and the Danube River was opened to all international shipping.

Later historians and contemporary writers found the Crimean War to be managed and commanded poorly from both sides of the conflict. Disease ran rampant and accounted for 250,000 casualties out of the estimated 600-650,000. Mary Seacole was one of the many British citizens appalled by the conditions when news reached the public and without support of Britain’s War Office, financed the trip to the war herself and opened a field hospital and officer’s club for the soldiers at field.

Crimea and the Crimean Peninsula has a long history as a boundary between the classical world and the steppe, a meeting point of what we inherit as western culture and eastern culture. Great powers have historically been active here, from the Greeks to Romans, the Ottoman Empire, as well as the Golden Horde through it’s time as a khanate. Russia and Ukraine are currently keeping war alive in this area as well – a testament to the lasting importance of this tiny island as a meeting ground for great powers, and the Crimean War is argued by some scholars to be the first outbreak of ‘total war’.

Works Consulted and Further Readings

Crimean Peninsula | Map, Facts, & Location | Britannica. 13 Sept. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/place/Crimean-Peninsula.

Crimean Peninsula -- Britannica Academic. https://academic-eb-com.er.lib.k-state.edu/levels/collegiate/article/Crimean-Peninsula/27904. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

Crimean War | Map, Summary, Combatants, Causes, & Facts | Britannica. 16 Aug. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/event/Crimean-War.

“THE CRIMEAN WAR: A History.” Kirkus Reviews, vol. LXXIX, no. 3, Feb. 2011. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/central/docview/915738269/abstract/D674F09E85A1413APQ/3.

“The New Crimean War: Peninsula Is Both a Playground and a Battleground, Coveted by Ukraine and Russia.” Toronto Star, 6 Aug. 2023, p. IN.1.