abstract

XXXIX ICMH CONGRESS, TORINO, 2013
“JOINT AND COMBINED OPERATIONS IN THE HISTORY OF WARFARE”
ABSTRACT
Col. Levent ÜNAL e Col. F. Rezzan ÜNALP (Turkey)
War of the Firsts: The Crimean War (1853-1856)
Dr.Staff Col. Levent ÜNAL*
Dr.Ins.Col. F.Rezzan ÜNALP (TUAF)**
The Crimean War (1853-1856), which can be qualified as the first modern world war, is also
the first “combined operation” in which the Turkish army took part in modern terms. Furthermore,
this war is the first one that introduced the Ottoman State to the migration problem. The Crimean
War, in which the alliance of Ottoman Empire, France, Britain and Piedmont-Sardinian Kingdom
fought against Russia, is an incomparable war wherein many techniques and methods were used for
the first time. The Ottomans allied themselves with the Western European states for the first time,
and in addition, the first trench warfare, the first wire communication, and the first war photographs
appeared on the history scene during this war.
The relations between the Ottoman State and Russia, the principal belligerent parties, had
started centuries before this war and important battles had been waged between the two. Having
adopted the policy of becoming a global state as from the rule of Tsarina Catherine II (the Great),
Russia left no stone unturned including war in order to take control of the (Istanbul and Canakkale)
Straits, the Caucasus and the Balkans; and it fairly approached its objectives through 1774 Treaty of
Kuchuk Kainarji. After taking the Ottoman Orthodox subjects under its protection, Russia took
advantage of every opportunity and played its trump card on the minorities in 1853 particularly for
attaining its goals on the Straits. Furthermore, Russia stirred up a new trouble under the pretext of
controlling the holy places in Jerusalem. Thereafter, as the guarantor state, it occupied Wallachia
and Moldavia for the settlement of these problems.
*
**
Chief of Planning and Coordination Branch, Turkish General Staff Military History and Strategic Studies Division.
Chief of Military History Branch, Turkish General Staff Military History and Strategic Studies Division.
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The Russian demands on the Balkans and the Straits turned the situation into an international
problem. Although Britain, who was extremely sensitive about the probability of Russian influence
on the Eastern Mediterranean, had pursued a policy of confining Russia to the Black Sea until then,
it thenceforth resorted to a policy of totally annihilating Russian presence in the seas. At this stage
started the Crimean War, in which the Ottoman State fought against Russia for the first time
together with Britain, France and Piedmont and which was one of the most important wars of the
19th century.
This article deals with the alliances between the belligerent parties of the Crimean War, which
is one of the most important pages in the 19th century European history; as well as the activities of
the Russian army and navy in Wallachia-Moldavia, the Black Sea, Crimea and the Caucasus; the
measures taken by the allies against these Russian activities, their operations and the results of those
operations. Moreover, the gains and losses of the combatant parties due to this war will be assessed.
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