Sites of The Crimean War

Britain, France and Turkey were  unlikely allies but they banded together against Imperial Russia, in the Crimean War in the mid 19th century.

Russian Tsar, Nicholas the First was a Christian zealot with delusions of imperial grandeur .A dispute with the a Ottoman Empire over access to the holy sites of Jerusalem , ballooned into a major quarrel and eventually all our war.

The causes are muddy, and the results, other than horrific losses and injuries on both sides, were equally ambiguous. But it will be remembered for many innovations and “firsts”. And of course, the epic poem, memorized by countless generations of school children, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”.

Military historians consider it the first “modern” war, or the last “human” war, with hand-to-hand combat; the last time men looked into each other’s eyes to fight.

It also spawned curious inventions ranging from modern “cigarettes”, to Cardigan  sweaters and Balaclava hats. Florence Nightingale helped  found the Red Cross here and Crimea saw the first war photographers and eye -witness accounts  from journalists..

In fields outside of Sevastopol, battle re-enactors still a re-stage the Battle of Alma. Despite  a massive loss of life from both sides, the Crimean War didn’t have a huge impact on the status quo. Almost more famous for its  failures. Russia still memorializes the siege of Sevastopol, though its forces actually capitulated.