Clouds over Crimea: 1853

The Crimean War (October1853–February1856) was mainly a war fought on the Crimean Peninsula. The warring parties were the Russian Empire and an alliance consisting of the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France and, since January 1855, the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont. The root cause of the war lies in the struggle between the great powers in the Middle East. The direct trigger was Russia's request to exercise protection rights for Orthodox subjects in the Ottoman Empire. Another major factor is the dispute between Russia and France over the privileges of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in the "Holy Lands" of Palestine. After Austria threatened to join the Allies, Russia accepted preliminary peace terms, and the two sides formally concluded a peace treaty at the Paris Conference in 1856. Russia suffered a crushing defeat. Austria played a key but embarrassing role in this "first modern war": not only did it not make a profit, but it created a passive situation for decades. But just a few years ago, Austria had just achieved a brilliant diplomatic victory over Prussia in the Olmitz Agreement, with the help of Russian Tsar Nicholas I. The person who led this diplomatic victory was none other than the "Bismarck of Austria", the Imperial Prime Minister Prince Schwarzenberg. His untimely death a year before the outbreak of the Crimean War was very sad.