A rare photograph of British and French ships anchored in Cossack Bay – a temporary location that served as a supply depot for the allies
During the 19th century, the Black Sea Fleet’s mere existence became a sticking point for Europe’s great powers, as Russia’s Imperial ambitions clashed with those of its western and southern counterpar ts. For Russia, it was paramount to reach the world’s oceans and this required a presence in the Mediterranean, a goal hindered by the Ottoman Empire. It is not surprising how Russia’s empire never shied from wars with the Ottoman Empire, and another one was looming by the 1850s.
The Crimean War was fought over three dreadful years from late 1853 until 1856. It saw a concerted alliance between the British and the French as they fought to deny Russia further influence in the eastern Mediterranean, whose flows of maritime trade were vital for Europe’s colonial empires. The French, then ruled by Napoleon III, sparred with St Petersburg over religious shrines in Jerusalem that were under the protection of the Ottomans. When this diplomatic nonsense proved inadequate, the road to war was smoothed by an alliance with London and the minor kingdom of Sardinia in a far-fetched scheme to protect the once-dreaded Ottoman Empire, whose influence over Romania was being eroded by Russia. A serious attempt at subduing the Ottoman capital Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) was thought to be a Russian objective.