Crimean_War

qas: question: What year did the Crimean War begin?
answers: text: 1853

question: What year did the Crimean War end?
answers: text: 1856

question: Who controlled the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land?
answers: text: Ottoman Empire

question: Who promoted the rights of the Catholic people?
answers: text: The French

question: Who promoted the rights of the Eastern Orthodox Christians?
answers: text: Russia
context: The Crimean War was a military conflict fought between October 1853 – March 1856 in which Russia lost to an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. The immediate cause involved the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land, which was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The French promoted the rights of Catholics, while Russia promoted those of the Eastern Orthodox Christians. The longer-term causes involved the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the unwillingness of the United Kingdom and France to allow Russia to gain territory and power at Ottoman expense. It has widely been noted that the causes, in one case involving an argument over a key, have never revealed a "greater confusion of purpose", yet led to a war noted for its "notoriously incompetent international butchery."

qas: question: Which two figures refused to back down after the churches worked out their disagreements?
answers: text: Nicholas I of Russia and Napoleon III

question: Who wanted the Orthodox subjects to be placed under their protection?
answers: text: Nicholas

question: Who arranged the compromise that Nicholas agreed to?
answers: text: Britain

question: Who demanded the changes that Nicholas later refused?
answers: text: Ottomans

question: What month did the Ottomans declare war on Russia?
answers: text: October
context: While the churches eventually worked out their differences and came to an initial agreement, both Nicholas I of Russia and Napoleon III refused to back down. Nicholas issued an ultimatum that the Orthodox subjects of the Empire be placed under his protection. Britain attempted to mediate, and arranged a compromise that Nicholas agreed to. When the Ottomans demanded changes, Nicholas refused and prepared for war. Having obtained promises of support from France and Britain, the Ottomans officially declared war on Russia in October 1853.

qas: question: Where did the war begin?
answers: text: Balkans

question: Russian troops took over which provinces first?
answers: text: modern Romania

question: Who were the Ottomans led by?
answers: text: Omar Pasha

question: When the Turkish tried to provide reinforcements, where were they stopped at?
answers: text: Sinop

question: Who hurried their forces to Gallipoli when they feared the Ottoman for would collapse?
answers: text: France and the UK
context: The war opened in the Balkans when Russian troops occupied provinces in modern Romania and began to cross the Danube. Led by Omar Pasha, the Ottomans fought a strong defensive battle and stopped the advance at Silistra. A separate action on the fort town of Kars in eastern Turkey led to a siege, and a Turkish attempt to reinforce the garrison was destroyed by a Russian fleet at Sinop. Fearing an Ottoman collapse, France and the UK rushed forces to Gallipoli. They then moved north to Varna in June, arriving just in time for the Russians to abandon Silistra. Aside from a minor skirmish at Constanța there was little for the allies to do. Karl Marx quipped that "there they are, the French doing nothing and the British helping them as fast as possible".

qas: question: Near what sea did the allies decide to attack the Russians?
answers: text: Black Sea

question: In what year did the allies land on the Crimean peninsula?
answers: text: 1854

question: The battle of Battle of Balaclava took place in what month?
answers: text: October

question: Who defeated Nicholas's second counter strike at the Battle of Balaclava?
answers: text: Omar Pasha

question: The Crimean peninsula is located in what city?
answers: text: Sevastopol
context: Frustrated by the wasted effort, and with demands for action from their citizens, the allied force decided to attack the center of Russian strength in the Black Sea at Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula. After extended preparations, the forces landed on the peninsula in September 1854 and fought their way to a point south of Sevastopol after a series of successful battles. The Russians counterattacked on 25 October in what became the Battle of Balaclava and were repulsed, but at the cost of seriously depleting the British Army forces. A second counterattack, ordered personally by Nicholas, was defeated by Omar Pasha. The front settled into a siege and led to horrible conditions for troops on both sides. Smaller actions were carried out in the Baltic, the Caucasus, the White Sea and in the North Pacific.

qas: question: How long did it take for Sevastopol to fall?
answers: text: eleven months

question: Who wanted peace when they feared of being invaded from the west?
answers: text: Russia

question: What was the name of the treaty that ended the war?
answers: text: Treaty of Paris

question: When was the Treaty of Paris signed?
answers: text: 30 March 1856

question: Who regained control of the Christian churches after the war was over?
answers: text: Orthodox church
context: Sevastopol fell after eleven months, and formerly neutral countries began to join the allied cause. Isolated and facing a bleak prospect of invasion from the west if the war continued, Russia sued for peace in March 1856. This was welcomed by France and the UK, where the citizens began to turn against their governments as the war dragged on. The war was officially ended by the Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 March 1856. Russia lost the war, and was forbidden from hosting warships in the Black Sea. The Ottoman vassal states of Wallachia and Moldavia became largely independent. Christians were granted a degree of official equality, and the Orthodox church regained control of the Christian churches in dispute.:415

qas: question: What modern technologies were first used during the Crimean War?
answers: text: explosive naval shells, railways, and telegraphs

question: Who was recognized for treating the wounded while pioneering modern nursing?
answers: text: Florence Nightingale

question: The war was one of the first to be documented in what two ways?
answers: text: written reports and photographs
context: The Crimean War was one of the first conflicts to use modern technologies such as explosive naval shells, railways, and telegraphs.(Preface) The war was one of the first to be documented extensively in written reports and photographs. As the legend of the "Charge of the Light Brigade" demonstrates, the war quickly became an iconic symbol of logistical, medical and tactical failures and mismanagement. The reaction in the UK was a demand for professionalization, most famously achieved by Florence Nightingale, who gained worldwide attention for pioneering modern nursing while treating the wounded.

qas: question: In what year did The Greek Uprising take place?
answers: text: 1821

question: Who disbanded the Janissary corps?
answers: text: Sultan Mahmud II

question: In what year was the Janissary corp disbanded?
answers: text: 1826

question: Who destroyed most of the Ottoman's naval forces during the Battle of Navarino?
answers: text: the allied Anglo-Franco-Russian fleet

question: In what year did Greece finally become an independent state?
answers: text: 1830
context: In 1820-1830’s the Ottoman Empire endured a number of strikes which challenged the existence of the country. The Greek Uprising (began in the spring of 1821) evidenced internal and military weakness of Ottoman Empire and caused severe atrocities by Ottoman military forces (see Chios massacre). The disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary corps by Sultan Mahmud II on 15 June 1826 (Auspicious Incident) was a good deed for the country in the longer term, but it has deprived the country from its army forces for the nearest future. In 1827 the allied Anglo-Franco-Russian fleet destroyed almost all the Ottoman naval forces during the Battle of Navarino. In 1830 Greece becomes an independent state after 10 years of independence war and the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829. According to the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) Russian and European commercial ships were authorized to freely pass through Black Sea straits, Serbia received autonomy, and Danubian Principalities (Moldavia and Walachia) became the territories under Russian protection.

qas: question: In what year did France move into Alger?
answers: text: 1830

question: In 1831, who was the strongest vassal of the Ottoman Empire?
answers: text: Muhammad Ali of Egypt

question: Who wanted to take over Constantinople?
answers: text: Egyptians

question: What military force did Mahmud II ask for aid?
answers: text: Russian

question: How many Russians troops were sent to the Bosphorus shores?
answers: text: 10 000
context: France used the right moment and occupied Alger in 1830. In 1831 Muhammad Ali of Egypt, who was the most powerful vassal of the Ottoman Empire, claimed independence. Ottoman forces were defeated in a number of battles, and Egyptians were ready to capture Constantinople, which forced the sultan Mahmud II to seek for Russian military aid. 10 000 Russian army corps landed on the Bosphorus shores in 1833 and helped to prevent the capture of Constantinople, thus the possible disappearance of the Ottoman Empire was prevented.

qas: question: In 1838, who was not pleased of their lack of power in Syria?
answers: text: Muhammad Ali of Egypt

question: Who did the Ottomans lose to at the Battle of Nezib?
answers: text: Egyptians

question: In what year did the Battle of Nezib take place?
answers: text: 1839

question: Who helped save the Ottomans by signing a convention in London? 
answers: text: Great Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia

question: In what year did Muhammad Ali  finally accept the terms of the London convention?
answers: text: 1840
context: In 1838 the situation was slightly the same as in 1831. Muhammad Ali of Egypt was not happy about lack of his control and power in Syria, he resumed military actions. The Ottoman army lost to Egyptians at the Battle of Nezib on June 24, 1839. The Ottoman Empire was saved by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia by signing a convention in London in July 15, 1840 to grant Muhammad Ali and his descendants the right to inherit power in Egypt in exchange for removal of Egyptian military forces from Syria and Lebanon. Moreover, Muhammad Ali had to admit a formal dependence from the Ottoman sultan. After Muhammad Ali refused to obey the requirements of the London convention, the allied Anglo-Austrian fleet blocked the Delta, bombarded Beirut and captured Acre. Muhammad Ali accepted the conditions of the London convention in 1840.

qas: question: Who operated as the "police of Europe"?
answers: text: Russia

question: What treaty was signing in 1815?
answers: text: Treaty of Vienna

question: In what year did the Hungarian Revolution take place?
answers: text: 1848

question: Who did Russia help during the Hungarian Revolution?
answers: text: Austria

question: In exchange for helping Austria, Russia wanted to be freely able to handle any issues they had with who?
answers: text: Ottoman Empire
context: Russia, as a member of the Holy Alliance, had operated as the "police of Europe", maintaining the balance of power that had been established in the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. Russia had assisted Austria's efforts in suppressing the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and expected gratitude; it wanted a free hand in settling its problems with the Ottoman Empire — the "sick man of Europe". The United Kingdom could not tolerate Russian dominance of Ottoman affairs, as that would challenge the British domination of the eastern Mediterranean.

qas: question: For 200 years, Russia been expanding across what area?
answers: text: Wild Fields

question: Why did Russia move towards the warmer ports of the Black Sea?
answers: text: to promote year-round trade and a year-round navy

question: Who did Russia first have issues with when moving towards the warmer ports in the Black Sea?
answers: text: Ukrainian Cossacks

question: Who was treated as second class citizens under the Ottomans?
answers: text: Orthodox Christians

question: During the Russian imperial times, what other name was southern Ukraine known by?
answers: text: New Russia
context: For over 200 years, Russia had been expanding southwards across the sparsely populated "Wild Fields" toward the warm water ports of the Black Sea that did not freeze over like the handful of other ports available in the north. The goal was to promote year-round trade and a year-round navy.:11 Pursuit of this goal brought the emerging Russian state into conflict with the Ukrainian Cossacks and then with the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate and Circassians. When Russia conquered these groups and gained possession of southern Ukraine, known as New Russia during Russian imperial times, the Ottoman Empire lost its buffer zone against Russian expansion, and Russia and the Ottoman Empire fell into direct conflict. The conflict with the Ottoman Empire also presented a religious issue of importance, as Russia saw itself as the protector of Orthodox Christians, many of whom lived under Ottoman control and were treated as second-class citizens.(ch 1)

qas: question: What did Russia fail to build south?
answers: text: railroad network

question: What did some feel the Russian army was only good for?
answers: text: parades

question: What did Russian colonels due to the men who served under them?
answers: text: pocketed their men's pay
context: It is often said that Russia was militarily weak, technologically backward, and administratively incompetent. Despite its grand ambitions toward the south, it had not built its railroad network in that direction, and communications were poor. The bureaucracy was riddled with graft, corruption and inefficiency and was unprepared for war. Its navy was weak and technologically backward; its army, although very large, was good only for parades, suffered from colonels who pocketed their men's pay, poor morale, and was out of touch with the latest technology developed by Britain and France. By the war's end, everyone realized the profound weaknesses of the Russian military, and the Russian leadership was determined to reform it.

qas: question: In what year did France and the U.K declare war on Russia?
answers: text: 1854

question: What individual was responsible for France and the U.K declaring war on Russia?
answers: text: Napoleon III

question: Who demanded protection for Roman Catholic rights in sacred places in Palestine?
answers: text: Charles de La Valette

question: Charles de La Valette was a devoted and leading member of what party?
answers: text: clerical party

question: What position did Napoleon III appoint to La Valette?
answers: text: ambassador to the Porte
context: The immediate chain of events leading to France and the United Kingdom declaring war on Russia on 27 and 28 March 1854 came from the ambition of the French emperor Napoleon III to restore the grandeur of France. He wanted Catholic support that would come his way if he attacked Eastern Orthodoxy, as sponsored by Russia.:103 The Marquis Charles de La Valette was a zealous Catholic and a leading member of the "clerical party," which demanded French protection of the Roman Catholic rights to the holy places in Palestine. In May 1851, Napoleon appointed La Valette as his ambassador to the Porte (the Ottoman Empire).:7–9 The appointment was made with the intent of forcing the Ottomans to recognise France as the "sovereign authority" over the Christian population.:19 Russia disputed this attempted change in authority. Pointing to two more treaties, one in 1757 and the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, the Ottomans reversed their earlier decision, renouncing the French treaty and insisting that Russia was the protector of the Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire.

qas: question: What was the name of the ship that Napoleon sent to the Black Sea?
answers: text: Charlemagne

question: Sending a ship to the Black Sea violated the terms made during what agreement?
answers: text: London Straits Convention

question: Who felt threaten by France's force and ended up signing a new treaty?
answers: text: Sultan Abdülmecid I

question: Who previously held the keys to the Church of the Nativity?
answers: text: Greek Orthodox Church

question: Who held authority over Roman Catholic holy places after Sultan Abdülmecid I agreed to the new treaty?
answers: text: France and the Roman Catholic Church
context: Napoleon III responded with a show of force, sending the ship of the line Charlemagne to the Black Sea. This action was a violation of the London Straits Convention.:104:19 Thus, France's show of force presented a real threat, and when combined with aggressive diplomacy and money, induced the Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I to accept a new treaty, confirming France and the Roman Catholic Church as the supreme Christian authority with control over the Roman Catholic holy places and possession of the keys to the Church of the Nativity, previously held by the Greek Orthodox Church.:20

qas: question: Who was the British ambassador in 1853?
answers: text: George Hamilton Seymour

question: Who declared they no longer wanted to spread Imperial Russian?
answers: text: Nicholas

question: Who did the Tsar send on a mission to Ottoman Sublime Porte?
answers: text: Prince Menshikov

question: In what year was Prince Menshikov sent to the Ottoman Sublime Porte?
answers: text: 1853

question: Who wanted to ruled over the 12 million Orthodox Christians in the Empire?
answers: text: Menshikov
context: Nicholas began courting Britain by means of conversations with the British ambassador, George Hamilton Seymour, in January and February 1853.:105 Nicholas insisted that he no longer wished to expand Imperial Russia:105 but that he had an obligation to the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire.:105  The Tsar next dispatched a highly abrasive diplomat, Prince Menshikov, on a special mission to the Ottoman Sublime Porte in February 1853. By previous treaties, the sultan was committed "to protect the (Eastern Orthodox) Christian religion and its churches." Menshikov demanded a Russian protectorate over all 12 million Orthodox Christians in the Empire, with control of the Orthodox Church's hierarchy. A compromise was reached regarding Orthodox access to the Holy Land, but the Sultan, strongly supported by the British ambassador, rejected the more sweeping demands.

qas: question: Who was the Prime Minister of the British Government in 1853?
answers: text: Lord Aberdeen

question: Who did Aberdeen appoint the position of British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire to?
answers: text: Stratford Canning

question: Who replaced Stratford Canning after he first resigned as British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire ?
answers: text: Colonel Rose

question: After resigning where did Stratford Canning sail off to?
answers: text: Constantinople

question: Who did Stratford Canning convince to turn down the treaty proposal?
answers: text: Sultan
context: In February 1853, the British government of Lord Aberdeen, the prime minister, re-appointed Stratford Canning as British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.:110 Having resigned the ambassadorship in January, he had been replaced by Colonel Rose as chargé d'affaires. Lord Stratford then turned around and sailed back to Constantinople, arriving there on 5 April 1853. There he convinced the Sultan to reject the Russian treaty proposal, as compromising the independence of the Turks. The Leader of the Opposition in the British House of Commons, Benjamin Disraeli, blamed Aberdeen and Stratford's actions for making war inevitable, thus starting the process which would eventually force the Aberdeen government to resign in January 1855, over the war.

qas: question: Who sent armies across the Pruth River?
answers: text: the Tsar

question: Who commanded the armies across the Pruth River?
answers: text: Field Marshal Ivan Paskevich and General Mikhail Gorchakov

question: Who was in control of the Danubian Principalities?
answers: text: Ottoman

question: In what year did Russian soldiers cross the Pruth River?
answers: text: 1853

question: How did most Russians die when crossing the Pruth River?
answers: text: sickness
context: Shortly after he learned of the failure of Menshikov's diplomacy toward the end of June 1853, the Tsar sent armies under the commands of Field Marshal Ivan Paskevich and General Mikhail Gorchakov across the Pruth River into the Ottoman-controlled Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Fewer than half of the 80,000 Russian soldiers who crossed the Pruth in 1853 survived. By far, most of the deaths would result from sickness rather than combat,:118–119 for the Russian army still suffered from medical services that ranged from bad to none.

qas: question: Who was given the special role of guardian over the Orthodox Christians in Moldavia and Wallachia?
answers: text: Russia

question: Who recognized and gave Russia the special guardian role?
answers: text: Ottoman Empire of the Tsar's

question: Who felt Europe would not object to the joining of neighboring Ottoman provinces?
answers: text: Nicholas
context: Russia had previously obtained recognition from the Ottoman Empire of the Tsar's role as special guardian of the Orthodox Christians in Moldavia and Wallachia. Now Russia used the Sultan's failure to resolve the issue of the protection of the Christian sites in the Holy Land as a pretext for Russian occupation of these Danubian provinces. Nicholas believed that the European powers, especially Austria, would not object strongly to the annexation of a few neighbouring Ottoman provinces, especially considering that Russia had assisted Austria's efforts in suppressing the Hungarian Revolution in 1849.

qas: question: What European powers met in Vienna for a conference?
answers: text: United Kingdom, France, Austria and Prussia

question: Who delivered the peace terms of the Vienna Conference to the Russians?
answers: text: Count Karl von Buol

question: In what year did Count Karl von Buol deliver the Vienna Conference news to the Russians?
answers: text: 1853

question: Who rejected the proposal due to poor word phrasing?
answers: text: Abdülmecid I

question: Who approved the proposal given by Count Karl von Buol ?
answers: text: Nicholas I
context: The European powers continued to pursue diplomatic avenues. The representatives of the four neutral Great Powers—the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Prussia—met in Vienna, where they drafted a note that they hoped would be acceptable to both the Russians and the Ottomans. The peace terms arrived at by the four powers at the Vienna Conference were delivered to the Russians by the Austrian Foreign Minister Count Karl von Buol on 5 December 1853. The note met with the approval of Nicholas I; however, Abdülmecid I rejected the proposal, feeling that the document's poor phrasing left it open to many different interpretations. The United Kingdom, France, and Austria united in proposing amendments to mollify the Sultan, but the court of St. Petersburg ignored their suggestions.:143 The UK and France then set aside the idea of continuing negotiations, but Austria and Prussia did not believe that the rejection of the proposed amendments justified the abandonment of the diplomatic process.

qas: question: What battle took place on November 30, 1853?
answers: text: Battle of Sinop

question: What did the Russian send to Sinop?
answers: text: a fleet

question: While anchored in the port, what did the Russians destroy?
answers: text: a patrol squadron of Ottoman frigates and corvettes

question: What did Battle of Sinop provide for France and the U.K?
answers: text: cause for war

question: When did the Russia disregard the ultimatum to leave the Danubian Principalities?
answers: text: 28 March 1854
context: The Russians sent a fleet to Sinop in northern Anatolia. In the Battle of Sinop on 30 November 1853 they destroyed a patrol squadron of Ottoman frigates and corvettes while they were anchored in port. Public opinion in the UK and France was outraged and demanded war. Sinop provided the United Kingdom and France with the casus belli ("cause for war") for declaring war against Russia. On 28 March 1854, after Russia ignored an Anglo-French ultimatum to withdraw from the Danubian Principalities, the UK and France formally declared war.

qas: question: Who was concerned with Russia  capturing Constantinople?
answers: text: Britain

question: Who sent men to the Dardanelles?
answers: text: The Corps of Royal Engineers

question: As men were sent to the Dardanelles, where did Burgoyne go?
answers: text: Paris

question: Who was Burgoyne visiting in Paris?
answers: text: British Ambassador and the French Emperor

question: Who wrote to Burgoyne on February 8th?
answers: text: Lord Cowley
context: Britain was concerned about Russian activity and Sir John Burgoyne senior advisor to Lord Aberdeen urged that the Dardanelles should be occupied and throw up works of sufficient strength to block any Russian move to capture Constantinople and gain access to the Mediterranean Sea. The Corps of Royal Engineers sent men to the Dardanelles while Burgoyne went to Paris, meeting the British Ambassador and the French Emperor. The Lord Cowley wrote on 8 February to Burgoyne "Your visit to Paris has produced a visible change in the Emperor's views, and he is making every preparation for a land expedition in case the last attempt at negotiation should break down.":411

qas: question: In what year did the Hungarian revolution take place?
answers: text: 1848

question: Who felt Austria would side with him due to the Hungarian revolution outcome?
answers: text: Nicholas

question: Who did Austria feel threatened by?
answers: text: Russian troops in the Balkans

question: Who wanted the Russian forces to leave the principalities?
answers: text: the United Kingdom and France

question: Why did the U.K and France get involved with the war against the Russia?
answers: text: Russia's rejection of the ultimatum
context: Nicholas felt that, because of Russian assistance in suppressing the Hungarian revolution of 1848, Austria would side with him, or at the very least remain neutral. Austria, however, felt threatened by the Russian troops in the Balkans. On 27 February 1854, the United Kingdom and France demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from the principalities; Austria supported them and, though it did not declare war on Russia, it refused to guarantee its neutrality. Russia's rejection of the ultimatum caused the UK and France to enter the war.

qas: question: The Ottoman ultimatum took place in what year?
answers: text: 1853

question: What general crossed across the Danube at Vidin?
answers: text: Omar Pasha

question: After crossing the Danube at Vidin, what city did General Omar Pasha take control over?
answers: text: Calafat

question: After crossing the Danube at Silistra, in what city did the Ottomans attack the Russians?
answers: text: Oltenița

question: What is the name of the village 9 miles north of Calafat where the Ottoman forces attacked the Russians?
answers: text: Chetatea or Cetate
context: Following the Ottoman ultimatum in September 1853, forces under the Ottoman general Omar Pasha crossed the Danube at Vidin and captured Calafat in October 1853. Simultaneously, in the east, the Ottomans crossed the Danube at Silistra and attacked the Russians at Oltenița. The resulting Battle of Oltenița was the first engagement following the declaration of war. The Russians counterattacked, but were beaten back. On 31 December 1853, the Ottoman forces at Calafat moved against the Russian force at Chetatea or Cetate, a small village nine miles north of Calafat, and engaged them on 6 January 1854. The battle began when the Russians made a move to recapture Calafat. Most of the heavy fighting, however, took place in and around Chetatea until the Russians were driven out of the village. Despite the setback at Chetatea, on 28 January 1854, Russian forces laid siege to Calafat. The siege would continue until May 1854 when the Russians lifted the siege. The Ottomans would also later beat the Russians in battle at Caracal.:130–43

qas: question: Who advanced on Dobruja in the spring of 1854?
answers: text: the Russians

question: What river did the Russians cross to get to Dobruja?
answers: text: Danube River

question: How man troops did the Russians have when they attacked Silistra ?
answers: text: 60,000 troops

question: When did the siege of Silistra end?
answers: text: 23 June 1854

question: Why couldn't the French and English take control of the field?
answers: text: lack of equipment
context: In the spring of 1854 the Russians again advanced, crossing the Danube River into the Turkish province of Dobruja. By April 1854, the Russians had reached the lines of Trajan's Wall where they were finally halted. In the center, the Russian forces crossed the Danube and laid siege to Silistra from 14 April with 60,000 troops, the defenders with 15,000 had supplies for three months.:415 The siege was lifted on 23 June 1854. The English and French forces at this time were unable to take the field for lack of equipment.:415

qas: question: Who stopped the Russians from attacking Vidin?
answers: text: Austrian forces

question: How man men did the Austrian forces have when stopping the attack on Vidin?
answers: text: 280,000

question: What river did the Russians crossed when they entered the city of Moldavia?
answers: text: River Pruth

question: Who didn't show any signs of rising up against the Turks?
answers: text: Orthodox Christians

question: After the settlement between Russia and Turkey, who did the Austrians decide to join?
answers: text: Turkey
context: In the west, the Russians were dissuaded from attacking Vidin by the presence of the Austrian forces, which had swelled to 280,000 men. On 28 May 1854 a protocol of the Vienna Conference was signed by Austria and Russia. One of the aims of the Russian advance had been to encourage the Orthodox Christian Serbs and Bulgarians living under Ottoman rule to rebel. However, when the Russian troops actually crossed the River Pruth into Moldavia, the Orthodox Christians still showed no interest in rising up against the Turks.:131, 137 Adding to the worries of Nicholas I was the concern that Austria would enter the war against the Russians and attack his armies on the western flank. Indeed, after attempting to mediate a peaceful settlement between Russia and Turkey, the Austrians entered the war on the side of Turkey with an attack against the Russians in the Principalities which threatened to cut off the Russian supply lines. Accordingly, the Russians were forced to raise the siege of Silistra on 23 June 1854, and begin abandoning the Principalities.:185 The lifting of the siege reduced the threat of a Russian advance into Bulgaria.

qas: question: The city of Varna is located on what coast of the Black Sea?
answers: text: western coast

question: Who lead the Turks when crossing the Danube into Wallachia ?
answers: text: Omar Pasha

question: In what year did the Turks cross the Danube into Wallachia ?
answers: text: 1854

question: In what city did Omar Pasha attack the Russians after crossing the Danube into Wallachia ?
answers: text: Giurgiu

question: The ordered the Russian troops to leave the Principalities?
answers: text: Tsar Nicholas I
context: In June 1854, the Allied expeditionary force landed at Varna, a city on the Black Sea's western coast (now in Bulgaria). They made little advance from their base there.:175–176 In July 1854, the Turks under Omar Pasha crossed the Danube into Wallachia and on 7 July 1854, engaged the Russians in the city of Giurgiu and conquered it. The capture of Giurgiu by the Turks immediately threatened Bucharest in Wallachia with capture by the same Turk army. On 26 July 1854, Tsar Nicholas I ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Principalities. Also, in late July 1854, following up on the Russian retreat, the French staged an expedition against the Russian forces still in Dobruja, but this was a failure.:188–190

qas: question: At what harbor did a Russian fleet attacked a Ottoman force?
answers: text: harbour at Sinop

question: What was the name of the ship that was attacked outside of the Odessa harbor?
answers: text: Furious

question: Who attacked the port after the attack outside of Odessa harbor?
answers: text: an Anglo-French fleet

question: After the battle of Sinop, what steamship approached the Port of Sevastopol to show support for Turkey?
answers: text: HMS Retribution
context: During this period, the Russian Black Sea Fleet was operating against Ottoman coastal traffic between Constantinople (currently named Istanbul) and the Caucasus ports, while the Ottoman fleet sought to protect this supply line. The clash came on 30 November 1853 when a Russian fleet attacked an Ottoman force in the harbour at Sinop, and destroyed it at the Battle of Sinop. The battle outraged opinion in UK, which called for war. There was little additional naval action until March 1854 when on the declaration of war the British frigate Furious was fired on outside Odessa harbour. In response an Anglo-French fleet bombarded the port, causing much damage to the town. To show support for Turkey after the battle of Sinop, on the 22th of December 1853, the Anglo-French squadron entered the Black Sea and the steamship HMS Retribution approached the Port of Sevastopol, the commander of which received an ultimatum not to allow any ships in the Black Sea.

qas: question: Where was the port where most of the Black Sea fleet was located?
answers: text: Sevastopol

question: What did the Russians turn their warships into?
answers: text: blockships

question: Why did the Russians strip their warships of their guns?
answers: text: to reinforce batteries on shore

question: How many 60-gun frigates did the Russians lose in the Black Sea?
answers: text: four

question: How many 84-gun two-deckers did the Russians lose in the Black Sea?
answers: text: twelve
context: In June, the fleets transported the Allied expeditionary forces to Varna, in support of the Ottoman operations on the Danube; in September they again transported the armies, this time to the Crimea. The Russian fleet during this time declined to engage the allies, preferring to maintain a "fleet in being"; this strategy failed when Sevastopol, the main port and where most of the Black Sea fleet was based, came under siege. The Russians were reduced to scuttling their warships as blockships, after stripping them of their guns and men to reinforce batteries on shore. During the siege, the Russians lost four 110- or 120-gun, three-decker ships of the line, twelve 84-gun two-deckers and four 60-gun frigates in the Black Sea, plus a large number of smaller vessels. During the rest of the campaign the allied fleets remained in control of the Black Sea, ensuring the various fronts were kept supplied.

qas: question: In what year did the Russians leave Wallachia and Moldavia?
answers: text: 1854

question: War fever from what two countries caused the war to continue on?
answers: text: UK and France

question: Who voted to have a committee investigate the mismanagement during the war?
answers: text: Parliament
context: The Russians evacuated Wallachia and Moldavia in late July 1854. With the evacuation of the Danubian Principalities, the immediate cause of war was withdrawn and the war might have ended at this time.:192 However, war fever among the public in both the UK and France had been whipped up by the press in both countries to the degree that politicians found it untenable to propose ending the war at this point. Indeed, the coalition government of George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen fell on 30 January 1855 on a no-confidence vote as Parliament voted to appoint a committee to investigate mismanagement of the war.:311

qas: question: In what year did the Crimean campaign open?
answers: text: 1854

question: 360 ships landed in what bay?
answers: text: bay of Eupatoria

question: How many Marines cause Eupatoria to surrender? 
answers: text: 500 Marines

question: What is the name of the bay located at the south west coast of the Crimean Peninsula?
answers: text: Calamita Bay

question: The Russians were surprised because they were expecting the fleet to land where?
answers: text: Katcha
context: The Crimean campaign opened in September 1854. 360 ships sailed in seven columns, each steamer towing two sailing ships.:422 Anchoring on 13 September in the bay of Eupatoria, the town surrendered and 500 Marines landed to occupy it. This town and bay would provide a fall back position in case of disaster.:201 The ships then sailed east to make the landing of the allied expeditionary force on the sandy beaches of Calamita Bay on the south west coast of the Crimean Peninsula. The landing surprised the Russians, as they had been expecting a landing at Katcha; the last minute change proving that Russia had known the original battle plan. There was no sign of the enemy and the men were all landed on 14 September. It took another four days to land all the stores, equipment, horses and artillery.

qas: question: How many men did the Russians lose after three hours?
answers: text: 6000 men

question: Which river did the allies come across the Russian Army?
answers: text: Alma river

question: How many hours did it take to force the Russians away during the attack?
answers: text: three hours

question: How many allies were lost during the battle?
answers: text: 3,300

question: Which way did the Russians believe they should have traveled? 
answers: text: south
context: The landing was north of Sevastopol, so the Russians had arrayed their army in expectation of a direct attack. The allies advanced and on the morning of 20 September came up to the Alma river and the whole Russian army. The position was strong, but after three hours,:424 the frontal attack had driven the Russians out of their dug in positions with losses of 6000 men. The Battle of the Alma had 3,300 Allied losses. Failing to pursue the retreating forces was one of many strategic errors made during the war, and the Russians themselves noted that had they pressed south that day they would have easily captured Sevastopol.

qas: question: When did the army march to the southeast?  
answers: text: 25 September

question: Where did the Russians retreat to? 
answers: text: into the city.

question: Who was the engineer adviser? 
answers: text: Sir John Burgoyne

question: Who were the joint commanders? 
answers: text: Raglan and St Arnaud
context: Believing the northern approaches to the city too well defended, especially due to the presence of a large star fort and because Sevastopol was on the south side of the inlet from the sea that made the harbour, Sir John Burgoyne, the engineer advisor, recommended that the allies attack Sevastopol from the south. This was agreed by the joint commanders, Raglan and St Arnaud.:426 On 25 September the whole army marched southeast and encircled the city to the south. This let them set up a new supply center in a number of protected inlets on the south coast. The Russians retreated into the city.

qas: question: When did the continuous attack start?
answers: text: 17 October

question: When the continuous attack started, how many guns were firing?
answers: text: 126 guns

question: Who was not ready to start the attack?
answers: text: the French

question: Who was outgunned due to heavy guns at a southern defense?
answers: text: the allies

question: Who wanted to commence with the attack during the afternoon?
answers: text: The British
context: The Allied army relocated without problems to the south and the heavy artillery was brought ashore with batteries and connecting trenches built so that by 10 October some batteries were ready and by 17 October—when the bombardment commenced—126 guns were firing, 53 of them French.:430 The fleet at the same time engaged the shore batteries. The British bombardment worked better than the French, who had smaller caliber guns. The fleet suffered high casualties during the day. The British wanted to attack that afternoon, but the French wanted to defer the attack. A postponement was agreed, but on the next day the French were still not ready. By 19 October the Russians had transferred some heavy guns to the southern defenses and outgunned the allies.:431

qas: question: Who did the Russians attack at the beginning off the Battle of Balaclava?
answers: text: 93rd Highlanders

question: Near what village were the 93rd Highlanders posted at?
answers: text: Kadikoi

question: Who led the 93rd Highlanders?
answers: text: Sir Colin Campbell

question: What weapon did Sir Colin Campbell troops use during the Battle of Alma?
answers: text: Minie rifles

question: What risky maneuver did Sir Colin Campbell have the 93rd Highlanders form? 
answers: text: a single line, two men deep
context: A large Russian assault on the allied supply base to the southeast, at Balaclava was rebuffed on 25 October 1854.:521–527 The Battle of Balaclava is remembered in the UK for the actions of two British units. At the start of the battle, a large body of Russian cavalry charged the 93rd Highlanders, who were posted north of the village of Kadikoi. Commanding them was Sir Colin Campbell. Rather than 'form square', the traditional method of repelling cavalry, Campbell took the risky decision to have his Highlanders form a single line, two men deep. Campbell had seen the effectiveness of the new Minie rifles, with which his troops were armed, at the Battle of the Alma a month before, and was confident his men could beat back the Russians. His tactics succeeded. From up on the ridge to the west, Times correspondent William Howard Russell saw the Highlanders as a 'thin red streak topped with steel', a phrase which soon became the 'Thin Red Line.'

qas: question: Who countered the Russian cavalry's movement?
answers: text: Heavy Brigade

question: Who failed to take advantage of the retreat?
answers: text: local commanders

question: Who sent the order to have them advance their position?
answers: text: Lord Raglan

question: Who ignored Lord Raglan's advice to advance?
answers: text: The local commanders
context: Soon after, a Russian cavalry movement was countered by the Heavy Brigade, who charged and fought hand-to-hand until the Russians retreated. This caused a more widespread Russian retreat, including a number of their artillery units. When the local commanders failed to take advantage of the retreat, Lord Raglan sent out orders to move up. The local commanders ignored the demands, leading to the British aide-de-camp personally delivering a quickly written and confusing order to attack the artillery. When the Earl of Cardigan questioned what they referred to, the aide-de-camp pointed to the first Russian battery he could see – the wrong one.

qas: question: Who led the charge on the Valley of Balaclava?
answers: text: Cardigan

question: Who was Cardigan under fire from when advancing on the Valley of Balaclava?
answers: text: Russian batteries

question: How many people did Cardigan lose during the Light Brigade?  
answers: text: 278

question: Who wrote the famous poem about the Light Brigade? 
answers: text: Alfred Lord Tennyson

question: What was the name of the poem that memorialized the Light Brigade?
answers: text: The Charge of the Light Brigade
context: Cardigan formed up his unit and charged the length of the Valley of the Balaclava, under fire from Russian batteries in the hills. The charge of the Light Brigade caused 278 casualties of the 700-man unit. The Light Brigade was memorialized in the famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Although traditionally the charge of the Light Brigade was looked upon as a glorious but wasted sacrifice of good men and horses, recent historians say that the charge of the Light Brigade did succeed in at least some of its objectives. The aim of any cavalry charge is to scatter the enemy lines and frighten the enemy off the battlefield. The charge of the Light Brigade had so unnerved the Russian cavalry, which had previously been routed by the Heavy Brigade, that the Russian Cavalry was set to full-scale flight by the subsequent charge of the Light Brigade.:252

qas: question: What stopped ground operations during the winter?
answers: text: a deteriorating supply situation

question: What caused the HMS Prince to sink?
answers: text: a storm

question: What was the HMS Prince carrying when it sunk?
answers: text: a cargo of winter clothing

question: What arrived in January with an engineering crew?
answers: text: A tramroad

question: What caused the electrical telegraph to be delayed for some time?
answers: text: the frozen ground
context: Winter, and a deteriorating supply situation on both sides of troops and materiel, led to a halt in ground operations. Sevastopol remained invested by the allies, while the allied armies were hemmed in by the Russian army in the interior. On 14 November a storm sank thirty allied transport ships including HMS Prince which was carrying a cargo of winter clothing.:435 The storm and heavy traffic caused the road from the coast to the troops to disintegrate into a quagmire, requiring engineers to devote most of their time to its repair including quarrying stone. A tramroad was ordered. It arrived in January with a civilian engineering crew, however it was March before it was sufficiently advanced to be of any appreciable value.:439 An Electrical telegraph was also ordered, but the frozen ground delayed its installation until March, when communications from the base port of Balaklava to the British HQ was established. The Pipe-and-cable-laying plough failed because of the hard frozen soil, but even so 21 miles of cable were laid.:449

qas: question: What did the French believe was instrumental in their defense?
answers: text: the Malakoff

question: Where was the Russians building a new fort?
answers: text: Mamelon

question: Mamelon is found on a hill in front of what suburban commune?
answers: text: Malakoff

question: After fighting for weeks, what did the Russians continue to have control over?
answers: text: the Mamelon
context: The Allies had had time to consider the problem. The French being brought around to agree that the key to the defence was the Malakoff.:441 Emphasis of the siege at Sevastopol shifted to the British left, against the fortifications on Malakoff hill.:339 In March, there was fighting by the French over a new fort being built by the Russians at Mamelon, located on a hill in front of the Malakoff. Several weeks of fighting saw little change in the front line, and the Mamelon remained in Russian hands.

qas: question: Who was the garrison commander that died on June 30th 1855?
answers: text: Admiral Nakhimov

question: What figure died on June 28th 1855?
answers: text: Raglan

question: What did the Russians try to attack during the month of August?
answers: text: the base at Balaclava

question: Who defended the base at Balaclava?
answers: text: newly arrived Sardinian and Ottoman troops

question: Who was defeated at the battle of Tchernaya?
answers: text: the Russians
context: Many more artillery pieces had arrived and been dug into batteries. In June, a third bombardment was followed after two days by a successful attack on the Mamelon, but a follow-up assault on the Malakoff failed with heavy losses. During this time the garrison commander, Admiral Nakhimov fell on 30 June 1855.:378 Raglan having also died on 28 June.:460 In August, the Russians again made an attack towards the base at Balaclava, defended by the French, newly arrived Sardinian and Ottoman troops.:461 The resulting battle of Tchernaya was a defeat for the Russians, who suffered heavy casualties.

qas: question: What was being built that caused unpremeditated fighting on each side?
answers: text: forward rifle pits and defensive positions

question: What month did the capture of Malakoff take place?
answers: text: September

question: Who captured Malakoff?
answers: text: the French

question: Who failed to take back Malakoff?
answers: text: the Russian defences

question: Who took control of the Great Redan?
answers: text: the British
context: For months each side had been building forward rifle pits and defensive positions, which resulted in many skirmishes. Artillery fire aiming to gain superiority over the enemy guns.:450–462 September saw the final assault. On 5 September, another French bombardment (the sixth) was followed by an assault by the French Army on 8 September resulting in the capture of the Malakoff by the French, and following their failure to retake it, the collapse of the Russian defences. Meanwhile, the British captured the Great Redan, just south of the city of Sevastopol. The Russians retreated to the north, blowing up their magazines and the city fell on 9 September 1855 after a 337-day-long siege.:106

qas: question: What did the British-French commanders send to disrupt Russian communications and supplies?
answers: text: Anglo-French naval squadron

question: What sea was the Anglo-French naval squadron sent to?
answers: text: Azov Sea

question: Where did British-French warships enter on May 12th 1855?
answers: text: the Kerch Strait

question: What seaport did the British-French attack with steamers and gunboats?
answers: text: the seaport of Taganrog

question: The seaport of Taganrog is near what port city?
answers: text: Rostov on Don
context: In spring 1855, the allied British-French commanders decided to send an Anglo-French naval squadron into the Azov Sea to undermine Russian communications and supplies to besieged Sevastopol. On 12 May 1855, British-French warships entered the Kerch Strait and destroyed the coast battery of the Kamishevaya Bay. On 21 May 1855, the gunboats and armed steamers attacked the seaport of Taganrog, the most important hub near Rostov on Don. The vast amounts of food, especially bread, wheat, barley, and rye that were amassed in the city after the outbreak of war were prevented from being exported.

qas: question: What caused the HMS Jasper to get stuck in shallow water?
answers: text: a fisherman who moved buoys

question: Who blew up the HMS Jasper?
answers: text: The Cossacks

question: During what days did the allied squadron third siege attempt take place?
answers: text: 19–31 August

question: The allied fleet departed the Gulf of Taganrog on what date?
answers: text: 2nd September

question: Why did the third siege attempt fail?
answers: text: the city was already fortified
context: In July 1855, the allied squadron tried to go past Taganrog to Rostov on Don, entering the Don River through the Mius River. On 12 July 1855 HMS Jasper grounded near Taganrog thanks to a fisherman who moved buoys into shallow water. The Cossacks captured the gunboat with all of its guns and blew it up. The third siege attempt was made 19–31 August 1855, but the city was already fortified and the squadron could not approach close enough for landing operations. The allied fleet left the Gulf of Taganrog on the 2nd September 1855, with minor military operations along the Azov Sea coast continuing until late autumn 1855.

qas: question: Who captured the border front of Saint Nicholas during a night attack?
answers: text: the Turks

question: How many troops did the Turks have when crossing the Cholok River?
answers: text: 20000 troops

question: After giving up their position at Poti and Redut Kale, where did the Russians retreat to?
answers: text: Marani

question: How many troops did the Turks send to Gyumri?
answers: text: 30000

question: What were the Turks waiting for when positioned near Akhaltsike?
answers: text: reinforcements
context: 1853: There were four main events. 1. In the north the Turks captured the border fort of Saint Nicholas in a surprise night attack (27/28 October). They then pushed about 20000 troops across the Cholok River border. Being outnumbered the Russians abandoned Poti and Redut Kale and drew back to Marani. Both sides remained immobile for the next seven months. 2. In the center the Turks moved north from Ardahan to within cannon-shot of Akhaltsike and awaited reinforcements (13 November). The Russians routed them. The claimed losses were 4000 Turks and 400 Russians. 3. In the south about 30000 Turks slowly moved east to the main Russian concentration at Gyumri or Alexandropol (November). They crossed the border and set up artillery south of town. Prince Orbeliani tried to drive them off and found himself trapped. The Turks failed to press their advantage, the remaining Russians rescued Orbeliani and the Turks retired west. Orbeliani lost about 1000 men out of 5000. The Russians now decided to advance, the Turks took up a strong position on the Kars road and attacked. They were defeated in the battle of Başgedikler, losing 6000 men, half their artillery and all their supply train. The Russians lost 1300, including Prince Orbeliani. This was Prince Ellico Orbeliani whose wife was later kidnaped by Shamyl at Tsinandali. 4. At sea the Turks sent a fleet east which was destroyed by Admiral Nakhimov at Sinope.

qas: question: Who make the Turks retreat back to Batum?
answers: text: Eristov

question: Who occupied Bayazit?
answers: text: Wrangel

question: Where did the main forces stand?
answers: text: Kars and Gyumri

question: On August 4th, who thought the other side was withdrawing? 
answers: text: the Russians

question: Who made a secret agreement to remain neutral?
answers: text: the Persians
context: In the north Eristov pushed southwest, fought two battles, forced the Turks back to Batum, retired behind the Cholok River and suspended action for the rest of the year (June). In the far south Wrangel pushed west, fought a battle and occupied Bayazit. In the center the main forces stood at Kars and Gyumri. Both slowly approached along the Kars-Gyumri road and faced each other, neither side choosing to fight (June–July). On 4 August Russian scouts saw a movement which they thought was the start of a withdrawal, the Russians advanced and the Turks attacked first. They were defeated, losing 8000 men to the Russian 3000. 10000 irregulars deserted to their villages. Both sides withdrew to their former positions. About this time the Persians made a semi-secret agreement to remain neutral in exchange for the cancellation of the indemnity from the previous war.

qas: question: What caused the number of Turkish soldiers to decrease?
answers: text: disease

question: How man troops were the Turks forces in the east reduced to? 
answers: text: 75,000

question: Who kept Muravyev informed about the Turks at Kar?
answers: text: The local Armenian population

question: What did Muravyev attend to do to the Turks in order to defeat them?
answers: text: starve them out

question: What city did Muravyev decide not to take control over?
answers: text: Erzerum
context: 1855:Kars: In the year up to May 1855 Turkish forces in the east were reduced from 120,000 to 75,000, mostly by disease. The local Armenian population kept Muravyev well-informed about the Turks at Kars and he judged they had about five months of supplies. He therefore decided to control the surrounding area with cavalry and starve them out. He started in May and by June was south and west of the town. A relieving force fell back and there was a possibility of taking Erzerum, but Muravyev chose not to. In late September he learned of the fall of Sevastopol and a Turkish landing at Batum. This led him to reverse policy and try a direct attack. It failed, the Russians losing 8000 men and the Turks 1500 (29 September). The blockade continued and Kars surrendered on 8 November.

qas: question: Who vetoed Omar Pasha from landing in Georgia?
answers: text: the western powers

question: In September of 1855, how many Turks could be found at Batum?
answers: text: 8000

question: When landing at Batum, what were the Turks primary focus?
answers: text: Sukhum Kale

question: What river divides Abkhazia from Georgia?
answers: text: the Ingur River

question: What did Omar Pasha finally reach on December 2nd 1855?
answers: text: the Tskhenis-dzqali
context: 1855: Georgian coast: Omar Pasha, the Turkish commander at Crimea had long wanted to land in Georgia, but the western powers vetoed it. When they relented in August most of the campaigning season was lost. In September 8000 Turks landed at Batum, but the main concentration was at Sukhum Kale. This required a 100-mile march south through a country with poor roads. The Russians planned to hold the line of the Ingur River which separates Abkhazia from Georgia proper. Omar crossed the Ingur on 7 November and then wasted a great deal of time, the Russians doing little. By 2 December he had reached the Tskhenis-dzqali, the rainy season had started, his camps were submerged in mud and there was no bread. Learning of the fall of Kars he withdrew to the Ingur. The Russians did nothing and he evacuated to Batum in February of the following year.

qas: question: What is the Russian capital?
answers: text: Saint Petersburg

question: Which theater was next to Saint Petersburg?
answers: text: The Baltic

question: Which fleet joined the Baltic attack?
answers: text: Anglo-French fleet

question: When did the Anglo-French fleet join the Baltic attack?
answers: text: April 1854

question: Which two fleets returned to Kronstadt?
answers: text: British and French fleet
context: The Baltic was[when?] a forgotten theatre of the Crimean War. Popularisation of events elsewhere overshadowed the significance of this theatre, which was close to Saint Petersburg, the Russian capital. In April 1854 an Anglo-French fleet entered the Baltic to attack the Russian naval base of Kronstadt and the Russian fleet stationed there. In August 1854 the combined British and French fleet returned to Kronstadt for another attempt. The outnumbered Russian Baltic Fleet confined its movements to the areas around its fortifications. At the same time, the British and French commanders Sir Charles Napier and Alexandre Ferdinand Parseval-Deschenes—although they led the largest fleet assembled since the Napoleonic Wars—considered the Sveaborg fortress too well-defended to engage. Thus, shelling of the Russian batteries was limited to two attempts in the summers of 1854 and 1855, and initially, the attacking fleets limited their actions to blockading Russian trade in the Gulf of Finland. Naval attacks on other ports, such as the ones in the island of Hogland in the Gulf of Finland, proved more successful. Additionally, allies conducted raids on less fortified sections of the Finnish coast. These battles are known in Finland as the Åland war.

qas: question: When did the French and British capture the Russian Bomarsund fortress?
answers: text: August 1855

question: Where was the Russian Bomarsund fortress at?
answers: text: Åland Islands

question: Who led the ship Rossiya?
answers: text: Captain Viktor Poplonsky

question: What was captain Viktor Poplonsky defending? 
answers: text: entrance to the harbor
context: In August 1855 a Franco-British naval force captured and destroyed the Russian Bomarsund fortress on Åland Islands. In the same month, the Western Allied Baltic Fleet tried to destroy heavily defended Russian dockyards at Sveaborg outside Helsinki. More than 1000 enemy guns tested the strength of the fortress for two days. Despite the shelling, the sailors of the 120-gun ship Rossiya, led by Captain Viktor Poplonsky, defended the entrance to the harbor. The Allies fired over 20,000 shells but failed to defeat the Russian batteries. A massive new fleet of more than 350 gunboats and mortar vessels was prepared[by whom?], but before the attack was launched, the war ended.

qas: question: What greatly benefited the Russian resistance?
answers: text: newly invented blockade mines

question: Who contributed the most to developing naval mining?
answers: text: Immanuel Nobel

question: Immanuel Noble had expensive knowledge in what field?
answers: text: industrial explosives

question: Who named the torpedo mines?
answers: text: Fulton

question: What was Immanuel Nobel son's name?
answers: text: Alfred Nobel
context: Part of the Russian resistance was credited[by whom?] to the deployment of newly invented blockade mines. Perhaps the most influential contributor to the development of naval mining was a Swede resident in Russia, the inventor and civil engineer Immanuel Nobel (the father of Alfred Nobel). Immanuel Nobel helped the Russian war effort by applying his knowledge of industrial explosives, such as nitroglycerin and gunpowder. One account dates modern naval mining from the Crimean War: "Torpedo mines, if I may use this name given by Fulton to self-acting mines underwater, were among the novelties attempted by the Russians in their defences about Cronstadt and Sevastopol", as one American officer put it in 1860.

qas: question: Who was in charge of the HMS Pique?
answers: text: Rear Admiral David Price

question: The Russians escaped under the cover of what in 1855?
answers: text: snow

question: Petropavlovsk is located on what peninsula?
answers: text: the Kamchatka Peninsula
context: Minor naval skirmishes also occurred in the Far East, where at Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula a British and French Allied squadron including HMS Pique under Rear Admiral David Price and a French force under Counter-Admiral Auguste Febvrier Despointes besieged a smaller Russian force under Rear Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin. In September 1854, an Allied landing force was beaten back with heavy casualties, and the Allies withdrew. The Russians escaped under the cover of snow in early 1855 after Allied reinforcements arrived in the region.

qas: question: Who gave Camillo di Cavour the orders to send soldiers to aid the French and British forces?
answers: text: Victor Emmanuel II

question: Camillo di Cavour sent how many troops to aid the French and British forces?
answers: text: 15,000

question: Who commanded the soldiers sent by Camillo di Cavour?
answers: text: General Alfonso La Marmora

question: The Battle of the Chernaya took place in what year?
answers: text: 1855

question: Where was Victor Emmanuel II from?
answers: text: Piedmont-Sardinia
context: Camillo di Cavour, under orders of Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia, sent an expeditionary corps of 15,000 soldiers, commanded by General Alfonso La Marmora, to side with French and British forces during the war.:111–12 This was an attempt at gaining the favour of the French, especially when the issue of uniting Italy would become an important matter. The deployment of Italian troops to the Crimea, and the gallantry shown by them in the Battle of the Chernaya (16 August 1855) and in the siege of Sevastopol, allowed the Kingdom of Sardinia to be among the participants at the peace conference at the end of the war, where it could address the issue of the Risorgimento to other European powers.

qas: question: When Russia attacked the Ottoman Empire who glimpsed an opportunity to advance North and South?
answers: text: King Otto of Greece

question: When the Ottoman forces were busy, who did Greece invade?
answers: text: Thessaly and Epirus

question: From April 1854 to February 1857, what port did the British and French lock down?
answers: text: Greek port at Piraeus

question: In what year did the Epirus Revolt take place?
answers: text: 1854

question: Who stirred up the Epirus Revolt of 1854?
answers: text: Greeks
context: Greece played a peripheral role in the war. When Russia attacked the Ottoman Empire in 1853, King Otto of Greece saw an opportunity to expand North and South into Ottoman areas that had large Greek Christian majorities. However, Greece did not coordinate its plans with Russia, did not declare war, and received no outside military or financial support. Greece, an Orthodox nation, had considerable support in Russia, but the Russian government decided it was too dangerous to help Greece expand its holdings.:32–40 When the Russians invaded the Principalities, the Ottoman forces were tied down so Greece invaded Thessaly and Epirus. To block further Greek moves, the British and French occupied the main Greek port at Piraeus from April 1854 to February 1857, and effectively neutralized the Greek army. Greeks, gambling on a Russian victory, incited the large-scale Epirus Revolt of 1854 as well as uprisings in Crete. The insurrections were failures that were easily crushed by the Ottoman army. Greece was not invited to the peace conference and made no gains out of the war.:139 The frustrated Greek leadership blamed the King for failing to take advantage of the situation; his popularity plunged and he was later forced to abdicate.

qas: question: On January 21 1855, where did people protest the war?
answers: text: Trafalgar Square

question: How did troops stop the riot?
answers: text: with truncheons

question: What were the people using during the protest?
answers: text: snowballs

question: Who resigned as Prime Minister on January 30, 1855?
answers: text: Aberdeen

question: What position did Lord Palmerston previously hold before becoming a Prime Minister?
answers: text: Foreign Secretary
context: Dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war was growing with the public in the UK and in other countries, aggravated by reports of fiascos, especially the humiliating defeat of the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. On Sunday, 21 January 1855, a "snowball riot" occurred in Trafalgar Square near St. Martin-in-the-Field in which 1,500 people gathered to protest against the war by pelting buses, cabs, and pedestrians with snow balls. When the police intervened, the snowballs were directed at them. The riot was finally put down by troops and police acting with truncheons. In Parliament, Tories demanded an accounting of all soldiers, cavalry and sailors sent to the Crimea and accurate figures as to the number of casualties that had been sustained by all British armed forces in the Crimea; they were especially concerned with the Battle of Balaclava. When Parliament passed a bill to investigate by the vote of 305 to 148, Aberdeen said he had lost a vote of no confidence and resigned as prime minister on 30 January 1855. The veteran former Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston became prime minister. Palmerston took a hard line; he wanted to expand the war, foment unrest inside the Russian Empire, and permanently reduce the Russian threat to Europe. Sweden and Prussia were willing to join the UK and France, and Russia was isolated.:400–402, 406–408

qas: question: Where was the Treaty of Paris signed?
answers: text: the Congress of Paris

question: What year was the Treaty of Paris signed?
answers: text: 1856

question: Who agreed to not have any military arsenal on the Black Sea coast?
answers: text: the Tsar and the Sultan

question: Who were the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia later return to?
answers: text: the Ottoman Empire

question: Who returned towns and seaports to Russia?
answers: text: The United Kingdom, France, Sardinia and Turkey
context: Peace negotiations at the Congress of Paris resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Paris on 30 March 1856. In compliance with article III, Russia restored to the Ottoman Empire the city and citadel of Kars in common with "all other parts of the Ottoman territory of which the Russian troop were in possession". Russia ceded some land in Bessarabia at the mouth of the Danube to Moldavia. By article IV The United Kingdom, France, Sardinia and Turkey restored to Russia "the towns and ports of Sevastopol, Balaklava, Kamish, Eupatoria, Kerch, Jenikale, Kinburn, as well as all other territories occupied by the allied troops". In conformity with article XI and XIII, the Tsar and the Sultan agreed not to establish any naval or military arsenal on the Black Sea coast. The Black Sea clauses weakened Russia, and it no longer posed a naval threat to the Ottomans. The principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were nominally returned to the Ottoman Empire; in practice they became independent. The Great Powers pledged to respect the independence and territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire.:432–33

qas: question: What year did the Treaty of Paris fall?
answers: text: 1871

question: In what war was France defeated by Prussia?
answers: text: Franco-Prussian War

question: Between what years did the  Franco-Prussian War take place?
answers: text: 1870–1871

question: Napoleon III was removed to form what?
answers: text: a Third French Republic

question: Who renounced the Black Sea clause?
answers: text: Russia
context: The Treaty of Paris stood until 1871, when France was defeated by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. While Prussia and several other German states united to form a powerful German Empire, the Emperor of the French, Napoleon III, was deposed to permit the formation of a Third French Republic. During his reign, Napoleon III, eager for the support of the United Kingdom, had opposed Russia over the Eastern Question. Russian interference in the Ottoman Empire, however, did not in any significant manner threaten the interests of France. Thus, France abandoned its opposition to Russia after the establishment of a republic. Encouraged by the decision of the French, and supported by the German minister Otto von Bismarck, Russia renounced the Black Sea clauses of the treaty agreed to in 1856. As the United Kingdom alone could not enforce the clauses, Russia once again established a fleet in the Black Sea.

qas: question: Who lost the most due to the Crimean War?
answers: text: Austria

question: Russia failed to help Austria during what war that took place in 1866?
answers: text: Austro-Prussian War

question: Who became diplomatically isolated after the war?
answers: text: Kingdom of Sardinia
context: Although it was Russia that was punished by the Paris Treaty, in the long run it was Austria that lost the most from the Crimean War despite having barely taken part in it.:433 Having abandoned its alliance with Russia, Austria was diplomatically isolated following the war,:433 which contributed to its disastrous defeats in the 1859 Franco-Austrian War that resulted in the cession of Lombardy to the Kingdom of Sardinia, and later in the loss of the Habsburg rule of Tuscany and Modena, which meant the end of Austrian influence in Italy. Furthermore, Russia did not do anything to assist its former ally, Austria, in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War:433 with its loss of Venetia and more important than that, its influence in most German-speaking lands. The status of Austria as a great power, with the unifications of Germany and Italy was now severely questioned. It had to compromise with Hungary, the two countries shared the Danubian Empire and Austria slowly became a little more than a German satellite. With France now hostile to Germany, allied with Russia, and Russia competing with the newly renamed Austro-Hungarian Empire for an increased role in the Balkans at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, the foundations were in place for creating the diplomatic alliances that would lead to World War I.

qas: question: France rose to power after what war?
answers: text: The Crimean War

question: What empire declined after the Crimean War?
answers: text: the Ottoman Empire

question: The Crimean war marked the end of what dominant European power?
answers: text: Concert of Europe
context: The Crimean War marked the ascendancy of France to the position of pre-eminent power on the Continent,:411 the continued decline of the Ottoman Empire, and the beginning of a decline for Tsarist Russia. As Fuller notes, "Russia had been beaten on the Crimean peninsula, and the military feared that it would inevitably be beaten again unless steps were taken to surmount its military weakness." The Crimean War marks the demise of the Concert of Europe, the balance of power that had dominated Europe since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and which had included France, Russia, Austria and the United Kingdom.

qas: question: Who made the view of diplomatic drift popular?
answers: text: A. W, Kinglake

question: What did A.W Kinglake make the British out to be?
answers: text: as victims

question: Who believed Britain was following a strategy when trying to destroy Russian Navy?
answers: text: Andrew Lambert and Winfried Baumgart
context: This view of 'diplomatic drift' as the cause of the war was first popularised by A. W, Kinglake, who portrayed the British as victims of newspaper sensationalism and duplicitous French and Ottoman diplomacy. More recently, the historians Andrew Lambert and Winfried Baumgart have argued that, first, Britain was following a geopolitical strategy in aiming to destroy a fledgling Russian Navy which might challenge the Royal Navy for control of the seas, and second that the war was a joint European response to a century of Russian expansion not just southwards but also into western Europe.

qas: question: What did the Russians fear losing without compensation?
answers: text: British Columbia

question: What province became more popular and saw a increase in population after the war?
answers: text: British Columbia

question: Who made the call to sell Alaska?
answers: text: Alexander II

question: Who did the Russians offer to sell Alaska to?
answers: text: the United States

question: Who is Russia's largest regional rival?
answers: text: the United Kingdom
context: Russia feared losing Russian America without compensation in some future conflict, especially to the British. While Alaska attracted little interest at the time, the population of nearby British Columbia started to increase rapidly a few years after hostilities ended. Therefore, the Russian emperor, Alexander II, decided to sell Alaska. In 1859 the Russians offered to sell the territory to the United States, hoping that its presence in the region would offset the plans of Russia's greatest regional rival, the United Kingdom.

qas: question: Who provided notable documentation of the war?
answers: text: William Howard Russell

question:  William Howard Russell wrote for what newspaper at the time?
answers: text: The Times

question: Who's photographs accompanied William Howard Russell documentation?
answers: text: Roger Fenton

question: Who extended the telegraph to the coast of the Black Sea?
answers: text: the French

question: After the telegraph was extended to the coast of the Black Sea, how long did it take news of the war to reach London?
answers: text: two days
context: Notable documentation of the war was provided by William Howard Russell (writing for The Times newspaper) and the photographs of Roger Fenton.:306–309 News from war correspondents reached all nations involved in the war and kept the public citizenry of those nations better informed of the day-to-day events of the war than had been the case in any other war to that date. The British public was very well informed regarding the day-to-day realities of the war in the Crimea. After the French extended the telegraph to the coast of the Black Sea during the winter of 1854, the news reached London in two days. When the British laid an underwater cable to the Crimean peninsula in April 1855, news reached London in a few hours. The daily news reports energised public opinion, which brought down the Aberdeen government and carried Lord Palmerston into office as prime minister.:304–11

qas: question: Who demanded drastic reforms after the war?
answers: text: the newspapers

question: The outbreak of the Indian Revolution took place in what year?
answers: text: 1857

question: What poem demonstrates that the war became a symbol of failures?
answers: text: Charge of the Light Brigade
context: As the memory of the "Charge of the Light Brigade" demonstrates, the war became an iconic symbol of logistical, medical and tactical failures and mismanagement. Public opinion in the UK was outraged at the logistical and command failures of the war; the newspapers demanded drastic reforms, and parliamentary investigations demonstrated the multiple failures of the Army. However, the reform campaign was not well organized, and the traditional aristocratic leadership of the Army pulled itself together, and blocked all serious reforms. No one was punished. The outbreak of the Indian Revolution in 1857 shifted attention to the heroic defense of British interest by the army, and further talk of reform went nowhere. The demand for professionalization was, however, achieved by Florence Nightingale, who gained worldwide attention for pioneering and publicizing modern nursing while treating the wounded.:469–71

qas: question: The tactical use of railways was first used during what war?
answers: text: The Crimean War

question: Who gave the first live war report?
answers: text: William Howard Russell

question: Due to his reporting skills, some give Russell credit for doing what?
answers: text: prompting the resignation of the sitting British government

question: What reduced the independence of British overseas possessions from their commanders in London?
answers: text: the telegraph

question: What was the first European war to be photographed?
answers: text: The Crimean War
context: The Crimean War also saw the first tactical use of railways and other modern inventions, such as the electric telegraph, with the first "live" war reporting to The Times by William Howard Russell. Some credit Russell with prompting the resignation of the sitting British government through his reporting of the lacklustre condition of British forces deployed in Crimea. Additionally, the telegraph reduced the independence of British overseas possessions from their commanders in London due to such rapid communications. Newspaper readership informed public opinion in the United Kingdom and France as never before. It was the first European war to be photographed.