853, Crimean War broke out. Although this war only took place in the Eastern European region, it has an important influence in world history. The war lasted for three years and ended with the failure of Tsarist Russia . Of course, the reason why Tsarist Russia failed was because it was fighting alone and the other side was united by the four countries. Let’s take a look at what Tsarist Russia has done and will be beaten by the four countries.
The two sides of the war in the Crimean War were Tsarist Russia against Britain, France, Ottoman Turkish Empire , Kingdom of Sardinia . Just looking at this camp, you know that Russia has no chance of winning. Under the circumstances at that time, few countries could confront Britain and France, let alone Britain and France to play with the other two countries. Therefore, it is normal for Tsarist Russia to fail. However, the problem now is that the European relations at that time were complex and the interests and contradictions between countries were constantly occurring. What exactly did Tsarist Russia do to make the other four countries unite to fight against itself? Let’s take a look at the general situation.
The reason why the Crimean War was called this name is because it happened in Crimea. Many people are familiar with the place name Crimea. The Crimea region is a peninsula, 150 kilometers long, 50 kilometers wide, with an area of 24,700 square kilometers, and a relatively large area. This place has a subtropical climate, pleasant climate and beautiful scenery, which is very suitable for people to live in. Of course, the most important thing is that Crimean Peninsula goes deep into Black Sea . As long as you occupy this place, you can control the areas around the Black Sea. By entering, you can enter the Mediterranean through the Turkish Strait, which has a great impact on the entire Europe.
Will you understand why European countries have wars here? In a place with such an important geographical location, which country can not be moved? However, this war is not just the issue of the Crimean Peninsula, but more importantly, the issue of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
The Crimean Peninsula was before the territory of the Ottoman Turkish Empire and was occupied by Tsarist Russia in 1783. Ottoman Turkish Empire was established in 1299 and destroyed in 1453 Eastern Roman Empire . By the 17th century, national strength reached its peak, and its ruling territory spanned three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, with an area of 5.5 million square kilometers. Many regions in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Central Europe, West Asia, North Africa are their territory. not only that, but the vast Mediterranean is also its sphere of influence. Since it is located at the intersection of East-West exchanges, it monopolizes trade between East-West, so it is very rich.
However, this great empire began to decline in the 19th century, and its strength was getting worse day by day. The central government of the empire was unable to control the local area, and there were many waves of opposing the central area. Not only that, the forces of European countries took the opportunity to enter the Ottoman Turkish Empire, hoping to divide this huge empire.
However, although Western countries want to divide the Ottoman Turkish Empire, they have never discussed how to divide it. To put it bluntly, now everyone is slowly eroding the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and everyone does their own things, just don’t go too far. Anyway, the Ottoman Turkish Empire is so huge and has so many families, which is enough for us to share for a long time. After thinking about how to divide it, or when negotiations are made, we will take action on a large scale.
However, in 1853, Tsarist Russia invaded Ottoman Türkiye, which made the situation different. Originally, everyone was slowly eroding. Now you invade Ottoman Türkiye and want to occupy Asia Minor, so you have eaten a little too much now. You eat more means others take less, which is definitely not possible. Tsarist Russia obviously touched other people's cheese. Under such circumstances, the countries united to oppose the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
For European countries, uniting against Tsarist Russia is obviously uneven in the sharing of spoils, because Tsarist Russia has taken too much in the Ottoman Turkish Empire. However, for the Ottoman Turkish Empire, this war was a naked invasion of Tsarist Russia. Therefore, Ottoman Türkiye is willing to unite with European countries that oppose Tsarist Russia. This led to the situation where the four-national coalition forces fought against Tsarist Russia together.
Of course, although the above reasons are correct, they are all big aspects. The reason why countries can unite is their own little thoughts. Let’s take a look at the little thoughts of the countries in the Four-Nation Alliance.
First talk about the Ottoman Turkish Empire. It seems that Ottoman Türkiye was the victim in this war and was invaded by Tsarist Russia. But if we understand the history between Ottoman Türkiye and Tsarist Russia, we can find that the relationship between these two countries is not just a war, but a feud. Before the Crimean War, eight large-scale wars between the two countries began in the 17th century, and countless small-scale wars were found. The two countries can be said to be feuds. In general, the Ottoman Turkish Empire failed more, while the Tsarist Russia failed less. Much of Ottoman Türkiye's territory was occupied by Tsarist Russia and gradually withdrew from Eastern Europe.
This time Tsarist Russia entered Asia Minor. Ottoman Türkiye not only wanted to drive Tsarist Russia out of Asia Minor, but also wanted to take the opportunity to regain other places occupied by Tsarist Russia, so that it could restore its former glory. Of course, this war is not bad for Ottoman Türkiye, regardless of whether it is victorious or not. If you win, you can drive away Tsarist Russia and Asia, and you may also recover other places. If it fails, there will be conflicts between Russia and Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia, which will also be beneficial to Ottoman Türkiye.
Second look at the UK. At that time, Britain was the world overlord and had its own interests all over the world. To put it bluntly, wars that occur anywhere in the world will have an impact on Britain, and it is impossible for Britain to not interfere. However, in addition to the big reason why Britain opposes Tsarist Russia, it is also because it takes back what it has belonged to it from Russia, which is its status in Europe.
When Napoleon rose, Britain took the lead in opposing France many times and paid a great price. However, what is unexpected is that Napoleon failed during the invasion of Tsarist Russia, and Tsarist Russia became a hero against Napoleon. Napoleon failed, Tsarist Russia began to interfere in European affairs everywhere and became a European gendarmerie. Tsarist Russia became the biggest winner, which caused dissatisfaction among Britain. After all, Britain has always believed that it is the one who gives the most, but now it is making wedding clothes for others, and it feels unbalanced. Of course, besides the above reasons. Once Tsarist Russia is defeated, Britain can also take the opportunity to expand its power in Eastern Europe.
Let’s take a look at France. France is sure to make a profit in this war. If the Ottoman Türkiye won or not, then France can make a profit no matter who wins. France participated in this war not only to defeat Tsarist Russia and expand its power in Ottoman Turkey, but more importantly to dismantle other forces that oppose themselves.
Napoleon's rise has made European countries panic about themselves. Even after Napoleon's failure, the countries united against France. The most important thing here is the four-nation alliance of four powers, including Britain, Russia, , Austria, , and , Prussia, , in 1815. The Four-Nation Alliance completely blocked France from both the left and right sides, causing France to lose the opportunity to expand externally. France has always been unwilling to be blocked by the Four-Nation Alliance. Although the alliance was later dissolved, these countries were still opposing France. As the outbreak of the Crimean War, Britain began to oppose Tsarist Russia. As long as the war is fierce, the alliance between Britain and Tsarist Russia will definitely collapse. By then, the four-nation alliance will collapse and France will continue to expand.
means that it doesn’t matter even if you lose France, the Four-Nation Alliance is gone anyway. It would be even better if we win, the four-nation alliance collapsed, and Tsarist Russia lost its position in Europe. France can replace Tsarist Russia and become the overlord on the European continent. From this point of view, France kills two birds with one stone.
Last look at the Kingdom of Sardinia. Many people are not familiar with the Kingdom of Sardinia. This country later unified Apennine Peninsula and established the Kingdom of Italy. In addition to the big aspects, there are two other reasons for the Kingdom of Sardinia to join the Crimean War.
The first is to follow France and consolidate the relationship with France.The Kingdom of Sardinia is far less powerful than that of Britain and France. However, the country's strength began to rise in the mid-19th century and had the idea of unifying the Apennine Peninsula. However, some areas on the Apennine Peninsula were occupied by the Austria-Hungarian Empire . If the Kingdom of Sardinia wanted to unify it, it would inevitably have conflicts with the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Moreover, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Prussia are one, and they have a good relationship, so they will definitely unite at that time. The Kingdom of Sardinia could not confront these two countries, but France had a bad relationship with Prussia and Austro-Hungary and had always been enemies. Therefore, the Kingdom of Sardinia began to move closer to France. This time, the Kingdom of Sardinia supported France, and when it was unified in the future, France would somehow support the Kingdom of Sardinia. Even if you don't support it, you should not object.
The second is to maintain its position in the Mediterranean. The Kingdom of Sardinia penetrated deep into the Mediterranean, so it was very concerned about the power of various countries in the Mediterranean. If Russia occupied the Crimean Peninsula, it would be easier to enter the Mediterranean, which would weaken the power of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Mediterranean.
This is the reason why the four countries jointly beat Tsarist Russia. After all, they are all in need of interests when they unite. The reason why it is said to be a slaughter is that Tsarist Russia lost more than 400,000 troops in this war. The other side is not only strong, but also uses many modern tactics, which is incomparable to Tsarist Russia.
However, what all countries did not expect was that although Tsarist Russia failed in the Crimean War, it was not the biggest victim itself, and the four-national coalition was not the biggest winner. The Qing Dynasty , far away in East Asia, became the biggest victim, and the United States, far away in North America, became the biggest winner. After the failure of Tsarist Russia invaded here, it turned around and expanded eastward. During the Second Opium War of , it occupied more than 1.5 million square kilometers of territory of the Qing Dynasty and expanded its power in Northeast Asia region. The United States took the opportunity to buy Tsarist Russia's Alaska region and expanded its territory by 1.71 million square kilometers. In the Qing Dynasty and the United States, one was caught in the shooting and the other was won.
Reference: "Global History"
