page_title: Treaty of Paris (1856)
section_title: Short-term consequences
hierarchical_section_title: Treaty of Paris (1856) / Short-term consequences
context_page_description: The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia.
  The treaty, signed on 30 March 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closed it to all warships and prohibited fortifications and the presence of armaments on its shores.
  The treaty marked a severe setback to Russian influence in the region. Conditions for the return of Sevastopol and other towns and cities in the south of Crimea to Russia were severe since no naval or military arsenal could be established by Russia on the coast of the Black Sea.
context_section_description: One immediate result of the treaty was the reopening of the Black Sea for safe, open international trade after both the naval war and the presence of Russian warships had made trade difficult. The Russian fleet in the Black Sea was formidable and sank the Turkish fleet.
  Now that the Russian fleet was banned from the waterway, peaceful trade could return.
  The Peace of Paris also allowed the war to end and for temporary stability to return to Europe. The Ottomans could focus their attention on the crumbling internal infrastructure, and the Russians could look to their faltering economy. Tensions built up by opportunistic fears between Britain and France could temporarily ease.
  However, nothing in the Peace of Paris could keep Europe stable for the long run, as much more troubling long-term consequences were caused.
  The Peace of Paris was also affected by the general public in places such as France and Britain because the Crimean War, as one of the first modern wars, was also the first in which the general public received timely and accurate media coverage of the carnage. The British prime minister, Lord Aberdeen, who was viewed as being incompetent with the war effort, lost a vote in Parliament and resigned in favour of Lord Palmerston, who was seen as having a clearer plan to victory. Peace was necessary because for the first time, foreign policy was very accessible to the people, who demanded an end to the bloodshed.
caption: From Auguste Blanchard's copper-plate engraving, based on Édouard Dubufe's picture
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