Crimean War - Lessons for Today?

As I was reading this Hourly History book on the Crimean War, I was struck by several of the similarities with the Ukraine war. Specifically:

“The war did not produce a great victory or a huge defeat for any of the countries involved.”

 

The Crimean war involved 4 empires: France, Britain, Russia, and the Ottomans. It started off because the Ottoman empire was stagnating, far behind Europe in science and technology, including military technology.

 

When Russia decided to expand, its obvious target was thus the Ottoman empire, whom they called the “sick man of Europe”. While the other empires didn’t have any love for the Ottomans, they were also clear that a Russian incursion into Europe was dangerous for them. Russia, after all, had the largest military force. And so Britain and France, eternal enemies, decided to ally against Russia to protect the Ottomans.

 

An early end to the war might have been possible, but by then, public opinion in both France and Britain was deeply anti-Russia and there was no turning back (Rhyme with today?). It didn’t help that this was the first major war in which “newspaper and photographers were present on the battlefields” – continuous coverage and criticism of tactics, strategies and blunders poured fuel onto the fire in both Britain and France. The press was not a factor in Russia (same as today).

 

The famous “Charge of the Light Brigade” was a minor incident in the war – in terms of military losses, and impact on the war. But the press coverage made it seem important. Tennyson’s poem only added to that feeling. More importantly, the poem captured the increasing British feeling that it was a pointless war.

 

Back then, disease and infection meant even minor injuries could prove fatal. The media uproar over this and the visibly unhygienic conditions in military hospitals led to attempts to improve them and the rise to fame of the Lady with the Lamp – Florence Nightingale. We think of her as a nurse, but she was many other things – a social reformer, a writer, a woman from a rich and well connected family. It wasn’t a “mere” nurse who changed the importance of hygiene in patient care – her social reform zeal, terrific writing skills, and her connections mattered more.

 

Meanwhile, the war dragged on. The numerical strength of the Russian army didn’t matter – they weren’t well trained, their equipment wasn’t as good as that of the British or French. But the Russians could throw more soldiers at the effort than the latter two. A deadlock resulted (Sound familiar with the Ukraine war?).

 

The war finally ended because none of the countries had any desire to fight on. The Ottomans were shown to be weak and incapable of defending themselves without outside effort. Russian numerical strength was shown to be of no consequence. (Russian military capabilities would be shown up again decades later when Japan defeated them). Public opinion in France and Britain asked why their soldiers should be dying for a Muslim empire (Ottomans) without any obvious benefit to the home country. The high death toll raised questions arose in Russia, led to peasant revolts, a preview of the Russian Revolution decades later.

 

While the war didn’t result in a conclusive result, it did matter in other ways:

“The Crimean War helped to change Europe… by influencing public opinion and politics in all the countries involved.”