The war began as a quarrel between Russian Orthodox monks and French Catholics over who had precedence at the holy Places in Jerusalem and Nazereth. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia demanded the right to protect the Christian shrines in the Holy Land and to back up his claims moved troops into Wallachia and Moldavia (present day Rumania) then part of the Ottoman Turkish empire. His fleet then destroyed a Turkish flotilla off Sinope in the Black Sea. The British felt unable to accept such Russian moves against the Turks.

Louis Napoleon III, emperor of France, wishing to extend his protection to the French monks in Jerusalem allied himself with Britain. Both countries despatched expeditionary forces to the Balkans. The British was commanded by Lord Raglan, the French by General St. Arnaud.

The war began in March 1854 and by the end of the summer, the Franco-British forces had driven the Russians out of Wallachia and Moldavia. It was decided that the great Russian naval base at Sevastopol was a direct threat to the future security of the region and in September 1854 the French and British landed their armies on the Crimean peninsula.

From their landing beaches the allies marched southward to Sevastopol. They fought their first major battle at the River Alma. The defeated Russians retreated inland and as the siege of Sevastopol began a regrouped Russian army hovered menacingly on the flank of the British army. Sevastopol was invulnerable to any kind of seaborne attack and her landward defences were also formidable. Soon the major strongpoints in the defences, the Redan, the little Redan and the Malakoff bastion, would become household words in Britain.

As the British and French prepared their siegeworks the Russian army on the British right flank struck. They were flung back at the Battle of Balaklava but only with great loss and the near annihilation of the British light cavalry. A further attempt by the Russians resulted in the Battle of Inkerman, and again the Russians were pushed back.

The war settled down to one of artillery as the Allies pushed their trenches nearer the defensive lines of Sevastopol. The winter of 1854-55 brought great misery to the troops, particularly the British. The only bright light in this sorry tale of official negligence and stupidity was the work of Florence Nightingale who almost singlehandedly drastically cut mortality rates for the Britsh wounded.

Finally, in early 1856, Sevastapol fell and the war was brought to a conclusion by the Peace of Paris.

1) Lord Cardigan and Lord Raglan were key figures in the Battle at Balaklava. What are their names associated with today?

2) What was the primary cause of the Crimean War?

3) Who were the British fighting? Who were their allies?

4) What other famous name is associated with the Crimean War?