History UsefulNotes / TheCrimeanWar

* Mentioned in an unusual context in [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=2006561&postcount=13 this]] hilarious post on the discussion board of Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom. [[spoiler:The post spoofs the overuse of [=WWII=] as a setting for {{FPS}} games by inverting it to the Crimean War as the most popular game setting and [=WWII=] getting barely any mention at all in games.]]

Crimea would also become the theater of further conflicts, namely the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Civil War]] (as one of the last strongholds of the White Russians) and especially UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (the German conquest then retreat there). In more recent times, the 1850s conflict has received renewed interest thanks to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War another war]], this time between UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} (which has illegally annexed the penincula in 2014) and UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} (which aims at militarily getting it back).

Crimea would also become the theater of further conflicts, namely the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Civil War]] (as one of the last strongholds of the White Russians) and especially UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (the German conquest then retreat there). In more recent times, the 1850s conflict has received renewed interest thanks to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War another war]] concerning Crimea, this time between UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} (which has illegally annexed the penincula in 2014) and UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} (which aims at militarily getting it back).

Crimea would also become the theater of further conflicts, namely the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Civil War]] (as one of the last strongholds of the White Russians) and especially UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (the German conquest then retreat there). In more recent times, the conflict has received renewed interest thanks to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War another war]] concerning Crimea, this time between UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} (which has illegally annexed the penincula in 2014) and UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} (which aims at militarily getting it back).

In more recent times, the conflict has received renewed interest thanks to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War another war]] concerning Crimea, this time between UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Ak78uo0UA&feature=related The Trooper]]", one of Music/IronMaiden's most famous songs, retells the Charge of the Light Brigade from the point of view of one of the British cavalrymen involved.

A major cultural touchstone is the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava (25 October 1854). Over six hundred English cavalry, following ambiguous instructions misdelivered, courageously charged a heavily-defended Russian outpost and suffered massive casualties. Tennyson wrote a poem about it. On the other side of frontlines, we have the long and heroic defense of Sevastopol, which became a major point of pride for both Russian military and culture (Tolstoy wrote his "Sevastopol Sketches" about it), and sucsessful defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where small Russian garrison and volunteers sucsessfully routed much stronger Franco-British landing force.

* The ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series is set in an AlternateHistory where the Crimean War continued into the 21st century.

* ''The Great Train Robbery'' (1979) directed by Creator/MichaelCrichton based on his novel starring Creator/SeanConnery and Donald Sutherland. It was based on a real robbery in 1855 Britain of £12,000 worth of gold being shipped by train to finance the Crimean War.

* ''The Great Train Robbery''(1979) directed by Creator/MichaelCrichton based on his novel starring Creator/SeanConnery and Donald Sutherland. It was based on a real robbery in 1855 Britain of £12,000 worth of gold being shipped by train to finance the Crimean War.

In more recent times, the conflict has received renewed interest thanks to another [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War war]] concerning Crimea, this time between UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}.

In more recent times, the conflict has received renewed interest thanks to a ''second'' kind of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine conflict in Crimea and its environs]].

Recent historians (Trevor Royle, Orlando Figes) argue that the Crimean War had farther-reaching impact than is generally thought, even beyond medical and military reforms. The unification of Italy was an indirect result of the Piedmontese Kingdom's participation in the war (see below). The blocking of Russian expansion into Eastern Europe, and waning of Austrian power, left a power vacuum which was ultimately filled by a soon-to-be-unified Germany. Turkish nationalism was also stirred by their role in the conflict. All of these had drastic consequences [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI a few decades later]]. It was also the first time in the "modern" era that France and Britain cooperated heavily in a military conflict, which was particularly notable as a few decades prior, [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars the two had been at each other's throats as primary belligerents in the greatest war the world had yet known]]. The earliest seeds of what would eventually become the Allies of the World Wars and later NATO were probably planted in this conflict.

The Crimean War was a war fought from 1853 to 1856 between the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russian Empire]] on one side and an alliance consisting of the [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain British Empire]], [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchColonialEmpire the French Empire]] (no not [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte that empire]] -- his nephews), [[UsefulNotes/TheCityStateEra the Kingdom of Sardinia]], and the Ottoman Empire (today's Turkey). It also counts as the 13th of Russia's 16 wars with Turkey (the first stemming back to the mid 16th Century)

A major cultural touchstone is the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava (25 October 1854). Over six hundred English cavalry, following ambiguous instructions misdelivered, courageously charged a heavily-defended Russian outpost and suffered massive casualties. Tennyson wrote a poem about it. On the other side of frontlines, we have the long and heroic defense of Sevastopol, which became a major point of pride for both Russian military and culture (Tolstoy wrote his "Sevastopol tales" about it), and sucsessful defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where small Russian garrison and volunteers sucsessfully routed much stronger Franco-British landing force.

A major cultural touchstone is the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava (25 October 1854). Over six hundred English cavalry, following ambiguous instructions misdelivered, courageously charged a heavily-defended Russian outpost and suffered massive casualties. Tennyson wrote a poem about it. On the other side of frontlines, we have the long and heroic defense of Sevastopol, which became a major point of pride for both Russian military and culture (Tolstoy wrote his "Sevastopol tales" about it),

Other fronts were the Caucasus Campaign (fought mainly in Armenia and Northwestern Turkey), with its major battle being a 5-month siege in Kars, and the Naval Campaign (fought in the Baltic and White Seas as well as the Pacific Ocean) which saw the defeat of the Russian Baltic fleet.

A major cultural touchstone is the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava (25 October 1854). Over six hundred English cavalry, following ambiguous instructions misdelivered, courageously charged a heavily-defended Russian outpost and suffered massive casualties. Tennyson wrote a poem about it.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gztGzNljqW4 Kauan on kärsitty]]" (Long have we suffered) is a Finnish march that tells about events of this war.

* ''Manga/ABridesStory'' depicts traditional life in Central Asia around this time. The protagonists Amir and Karluk live east of the Aral sea where the increasing expansion and meddling of Russia is being felt. Mr. Henry Smith, an English ethnographer visiting their village, undertakes a journey to Ankara, Turkey so that he can return with a camera and document a way of life which may soon die out. At least once along the way he gets detained as a suspected Russian spy. When he arrives in Ankara his friend Mr. Hawking is writing about skirmishing between the Russians and the Ottomans. and although war hasn't officially been declared yet everyone can see that it's going to happen. Hawking tries to discourage his friend from going back during such a dangerous time, only to relent in the face of Henry's determination to risk his life for his work.

* ''Manga/ABridesStory'' depicts traditional life in Central Asia during this time. The protagonists Amir and Karluk live east of the Aral sea where people are only dimly aware of the Crimean War itself, but the increasing expansion and meddling of Russia is definitely being felt. The war has a more immediate impact on Mr. Smith, an English ethnographer visiting their village who undertakes a dangerous journey to Ankara, Turkey so that he can return with a camera and document a way of life which may soon die out. At least once along the way he gets detained as a suspected spy. His friend Mr. Hawking writes back to Mr. Smith's parents in England about fighting on the Crimean Peninsula and Russiasn expansion into Turkestan. Hawking tries to discourage his friend from going back during such a dangerous time, only to relent in the end at Smith's determination to risk his life for his work.

* ''Manga/ABridesStory'' depicts traditional life in Central Asia during this time. The protagonists Amir and Karluk live east of the Aral sea where people are only dimly aware of the Crimean War itself, but the increasing expansion and meddling of Russia is definitely being felt. The war has a more immediate impact on Mr. Smith, an English ethnographer visiting their village who undertakes a dangerous journey to Ankara, Turkey so that he can return with a camera and document a way of life which may soon die out. At least once along the way he gets detained as a suspected spy. His friend Mr. Hawking writes back to Mr. Smith's parents in England about recent events in the war, and tries to discourage his friend from going back during such a dangerous time, only to relent in the end at Smith's determination to risk his life for his work.

* ''Manga/ABridesStory'' is set against this backdrop in Central Asia.

The Crimean War was a war fought from 1853 to 1856 between the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russian Empire]] on one side and an alliance consisting of the [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain British Empire]], [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchColonialEmpire the French Empire]] (no not [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte that empire]] -- his nephew), [[UsefulNotes/TheCityStateEra the Kingdom of Sardinia]], and the Ottoman Empire (today's Turkey). It also counts as the 13th of Russia's 16 wars with Turkey (the first stemming back to the mid 16th Century)

!!Tropes involved in this war and its period :

* BalanceOfPower: For centuries, Ottoman Turkey and Romanov Russia had been fighting for influence over the Balkans and Ukraine to the West (with Austria and until the late 18th century, Poland) and the Caucasus to the east (with Persia/Iran until the early 19th Century).
* BeamMeUpScotty: Journalist William Howard Russell never used the phrase "thin red line" to describe the Highlanders at Balaclava. His actual words described "a thin red streak tipped with a line of steel."
* DemotedToExtra: The British and French contingents to the Allied army were roughly equal at the war's onset, and in the early battles like the Alma and Balaclava, the British did most of the fighting. But the French were better able (or more willing) to replace losses due to battle and illness, so by the war's final battles the British played an ancillary role, at best. Christopher Hibbert claims that by spring of 1855, the French outnumbered British troops by ten to one.
* DiabolusExNihilo: For the Russians, the British attacks on Solovetsky Monastery and Petroplavsk. A full scale world map is the best illustration as to how unconnected and unexpected these strikes seemed. But that's a risk you take when you fight an enemy with absolutely uncontested control of the world's seas and naval bases in every major sea and ocean.
* EagleSquadron: the Army of the Piedmontese Kingdom as a whole on this one. They were only fighting the war so they could have a chance to discuss with Britain and France a way to unify the Italian Peninsula. On the Russian side, we had the Bulgarian Legion and the Greek Battalion of Balaklava.
* TheEngineer: Eduard Totleben.
* AFatherToHisMen: Admiral Pavel Nakhimov and Sir Colin Campbell.
* HoldTheLine: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Red_Line_%281854_battle%29 The Thin Red Line.]]
** And from Russia's point of view, the defence of Sevastopol.
*** To make this even more complicated, the siege of Stevastopol tended to be one as well. The Allies had dug in siege lines all around Stevastopol, and the Russians tried to use their superior manpower to try and break through several times [[ForWantOfANail only to be defeated every time]]. So in a way, the entire campaign consisted of both sides Holding The Line against each other, and the campaign ended when the Russian one collapsed.
* IntrepidReporter: William Howard Russell is notable in being the first reporter to ever be attached to an army; his reporting revolutionized the practice. Notably, his condemnation of the British logistical system's utter failure in comparison to the French system led to widespread reforms.
* LordErrorProne: Both Lucan and Cardigan were and are criticized for ordering the Charge of the Light Brigade; after the event was over both of them vigorously tried to smear the other. On a larger scale, the incompetence of so many military officers in the British force eventually led to a reform leading to phasing out the practice of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney purchasing commissions.]] Not that the British had a monopoly on bad generals, however: Canrobert of the French army was nicknamed "Robert Can't" for his indecisiveness, and Prince Menshikov was downright incompetent, losing the Battle of Alma before being KickedUpstairs.
** If there was one commander who bore the ultimate responsibility for the Charge of the Light Brigade, it was the British commander Lord Raglan, who first of all appointed two Lucan and Cardigan in the first place, then issued ambiguously-worded orders, and finally ordered his notoriously hot-tempered ADC Captain Nolan to insist that they be carried out straight away. The combination of Raglan's vagueness, Lucan and Cardigan's mutual antipathy and Nolan's hot temper led to PoorCommunicationKills: see below.[[note]]The entire episode has been analysed by the psychologist Norman F. Dixon as a classic example of military incompetence.[[/note]]
* TheMedic: Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole on the British side, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Ivanovich_Pirogov Nikolai Pirogov]] and Dasha Sevastopolskaya on the Russian side.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Lords Cardigan and Lucan, Britain's two primary cavalry commanders, were brothers-in-law nursing a long-held grudge against each other. This had dreadful consequences when Lord Raglan appointed Cardigan to serve under Lucan.
* ThePlague: The British and French were scourged by cholera at their initial base in Varna.
* PoorCommunicationKills: This is what led to the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. To summarize:
** During a lull in the battle, Lord Raglan wanted the British cavalry to recover artillery captured by the Russians earlier in the day. Raglan didn't realize that due to the undulating landscape, the South Valley where he was to direct the advance wasn't visible across the entire battlefield.
** Raglan sent several vague orders to Lord Lucan, his cavalry commander, directing him to recover the guns. Lucan couldn't see the South Valley from his vantage point and declined to act. He was further baffled by Raglan's comment that he would "be supported by infantry, which has been ordered to advance on two fronts;" he assumed this meant he shouldn't attack until British infantry arrived.[[note]] It's also unclear what infantry Raglan meant. The only infantry on the field was Colin Campbell's 93rd Highlanders, deployed defensively to Raglan's extreme right, and various Turkish units routed in the morning's fighting. The closest substantial infantry force was George Cathcart's division, still several miles away.[[/note]] However, Lucan made no effort to clarify Raglan's instructions.
** Not understanding Lucan's inaction, Raglan wrote the fateful fourth order, which read: "Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy, and try to prevent the enemy from carrying away the guns. Troop of horse artillery may accompany. French cavalry on your left. Immediate." Note the absence of specific reference points for Lucan to follow.
** Raglan sent his aide, Captain Louis Nolan, to deliver the message, verbally emphasizing that Lucan must attack immediately. Still confused by Raglan's orders, Lucan lost his temper and angrily demanded that Nolan clarify. Nolan responded by gesturing towards the ''North'' Valley, where the Russians had positioned several artillery batteries, supported by riflemen and several cavalry squadrons.
** Lucan passed the order to Lord Cardigan, commanding the Light Brigade. Cardigan initially disbelieved the order, sending aides to Lucan asking for different instructions. Eventually Lucan joined Cardigan and explained that he was to advance down the North Valley. Cardigan protested, but Lucan [[JustFollowingOrders insisted it was Raglan's order]], and the Charge began.
** As a tragic postscript, Captain Nolan rode with Cardigan and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone appeared to recognize his mistake]] as the advance began. However, he was killed by Russian artillery fire before he could alert Cardigan.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The Duke of Cambridge, Queen Victoria's cousin, commanded a British infantry division in the war's early stages. Napoleon III reportedly wanted to take personal command of French forces in the Crimea, but was talked out of it by his generals.
* SillyReasonForWar: The complex background of tensions over Ottoman decline and Russian expansion aside, the war's immediate cause was a dispute over access to the Church of Nativity in the Holy Land between Orthodox and Catholic clergymen. Even at the time, many expressed bafflement that such a trivial issue could trigger an international crisis, let alone a war.
* SmallReferencePools: Thanks to popular media, pretty much the only things most Westerners recognize from this war are Florence Nightingale and the Charge of the Light Brigade. Never mind that the Charge was only one part of the Battle of Balaclava. Or that Balaclava was a minor skirmish compared to the larger, bloodier and more important battles at the Alma and Inkerman, let alone the protracted Siege of Sevastopol. Or, for that matter, that Russia and Turkey fought major campaigns in the Balkans and the Caucasus without British or French participation.
* TheSiege: Used in Sevastopol and Kars.
* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Sir George Cathcart at Balaclava. Ordered to organize his infantry division as the Russians advanced, Cathcart instead told Lord Raglan's aide to sit down and have breakfast with him. The incredulous aide refused and argued with Cathcart for half an hour until he finally mobilized his troops.
* SuicideNotAccident: Widely rumored to happen to Nicolas I when he saw he couldn't win the war. Officially, he died from catching cold, but if this was the case, he made every effort to succumb to it. He also might have poisoned himself.
* WeAREStrugglingTogether: Frictions between the British, the French, the Turks, and eventually the Austrians accounted for much of the blundering. This was largely because there was no unified Allied command: Raglan, St. Arnaud and Omar Pasha operated independently, and more or less had to agree to cooperate.
* WeatherOfWar: The Battle of Inkerman, fought mostly in a compounded fog and rainstorm. More generally, both sides, but especially the Allies, suffered during an extremely harsh winter.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Had the war dragged on slightly longer, there was a good chance of Austria, Spain, Sweden and even the United States intervening. After Sevastopol's surrender, the main belligerents agreed to negotiate before things spun completely out of control.
* XanatosGambit: Piedmont's participation in the war. The Piedmontese Prime Minister Count Cavour came into the war recognizing that no matter how large or small the commitment, no matter whether they won or lost, the other powers, particularly France, would owe the Kingdom a solid. A few years later, Cavour called in the favour: France must ally with the Kingdom of Piedmont against the Habsburgs and help them take Northern Italy. The [[HonorBeforeReason ever-honorable]] Napoleon III couldn't refuse, though considering his relations with Russia this wasn't a terrible burden.
** He later called in the favour from Britain too: two Royal Navy ships covered Garibaldi's landing in the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, allowing Cavour's plan for conquering the place to start.
* ZergRush: The Russian and, to a lesser extent, Turkish militaries were ''infamous'' for this, since unlike the Western parts of the Allies they didn't need to worry about PR or running out of people. It also caused them to suffer more casualties than anyone else. Many works cover the Charge of the Light Brigade,[[note]]which isn't an example, inasmuch as a) the attack was made in error and b) the British were heavily outnumbered[[/note]] but the most even more catastrophic Russian attempts to "Bounce" the Western Allies out are left with Creator/LeoTolstoy.
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* LordErrorProne[=/=]GeneralFailure: Both Lucan and Cardigan were and are criticized for ordering the Charge of the Light Brigade; after the event was over both of them vigorously tried to smear the other. On a larger scale, the incompetence of so many military officers in the British force eventually led to a reform leading to phasing out the practice of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney purchasing commissions.]] Not that the British had a monopoly on bad generals, however: Canrobert of the French army was nicknamed "Robert Can't" for his indecisiveness, and Prince Menshikov was downright incompetent, losing the Battle of Alma before being KickedUpstairs.

* VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate is set in Victorian London in 1868 and has many references to the Crimean War. It features Lord Cardigan as one of the Assassination targets. Lord Cardigan describes himself many times as "[[BlatantLies the Hero of Balaclava]]". Shaun Hastings who writes the in-game Enclyopedia offers a hilarious, and cruelly accurate, summary of the conflict: