Crimean War

The **Crimean War** (1853–1856), also called  the **Eastern War** (), was fought between the Russian Empire against the French Empire, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. Most of the fighting, including the Battle of Balaclava, happened in Crimea, but some of it was what is now western Turkey and around the Baltic Sea.

The Crimean War is sometimes called the first "modern" war since its weaponry and tactics were used for the first time and affected all later wars. It was also the first war to use a telegraph to give information to a newspaper quickly.

## Background

The Ottoman Empire was declining by the mid-1800s. The war started after the Ottoman Empire decided that France, not Russia, had the right to protect Christians in the Holy Land near the area of Palestine.

Russia sent an army to take part of Ottoman controlled Romania and so the British and the French allies sent an army and a navy to help the Ottomans. When the allies got to their camp in Gallipoli, Russia retreated and so the allies decided instead to take back Crimea, where Russia had its naval base. Russia had taken Crimea from the Ottoman Empire in an earlier war.

## Results

The Allies won the war in Crimea but gave it back to Russia in return for Russia giving back other places and promising not to have a navy on the Black Sea.

The Crimean War was a very important point in the history of warfare since new weapons were used. It was also the first war to be reported by the press via photography and journalists. Another very important factor was that it was the first war with real field hospitals, which were started by Florence Nightingale.

After it lost the war, Russia decided to make changes, including increasing its development of weaponry and ending serfdom in 1861.

## Related pages

- Florence Nightingale
- Elizabeth Thompson

## Other websites

- Austria Chronology Crimean War
- France Chronology Crimean War
- Great Britain Chronology Crimean War
- Italy Chronology Crimean War
- Russia Chronology Crimean War
- Turkey Chronology Crimean War

## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Crimean War
- **partof**: the Ottoman wars in Europe and the Russo-Turkish Wars
- **image**: William Simpson - Attack on the Malakoff.jpg
- **image size**: 300px
- **caption**: _Battle of Malakoff, Attack on the Malakoff_, by William Simpson (Scottish artist), William Simpson
- **date**:
(2 years, 5 months and 2 weeks)
- **place**: Crimea, North Caucasus, Balkans, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, White Sea, Far East
- **result**: Allied victory
- **territory**: Russia loses the Danube Delta and Southern Bessarabia.
- **combatant1**:

Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Sardinia
- **combatant2**: <hr>
- [[Ivane Andronikashvili]]
- **strength1**: **Total: 673,900**
 235,568
 309,268
 97,864
 21,000
- **strength2**: **Total: 889,000**

888,000 mobilised
324,478 deployed
- **casualties1**: **Total: 165,363–223,000 dead**
45,770 combat deaths
119,593 non-combat deaths
* **45,400 dead**
20,900 combat deaths
24,500 non-combat deaths
*  **95,615 dead**
20,240 combat deaths
75,375 non-combat deaths
*  **22,182 dead**
4,602 combat deaths
17,580 non-combat deaths
*  **2,166 dead**
28 combat deaths
2,138 non-combat deaths
- **casualties2**:
73,125 combat deaths
376,890 non-combat deaths
- **notes**: Casualties include death by disease. In all cases, death by disease exceeded the sum of "killed in action" or "died of wounds".