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Home Great Britain and Europe, 1815-78 The Crimean War, 1854-6 The Crimean War, 1854-6; Part 3 |
The Crimean War, 1854-6; Part 3The allies now, however, had to fight a Crimean winter, and in the middle of November it began. A fearful hurricane, accompanied by rain and snow, destroyed many of the tents, made the cart track from the trenches to Balaclava - the only means of communication the British had - impassable for wheeled traffic, and destroyed twenty-one ships which were conveying clothing, forage, and ammunition for the British forces. For the next four months the condition of the army was terrible. The cold was intense; food and clothing were alike scanty; the transport animals all perished, and the soldiers had to convert themselves into commissariat- mules to bring in supplies; and the camp hospitals were miserably provided with necessities for the sick and wounded. As a consequence, the troops were attacked by cholera and scurvy, by dysentery and fever, and at one time the men in hospital were more numerous than those outside it.Newspaper correspondents made the condition of the army known at home. The 'nation was furious, and felt that Lord Palmerston was the only statesman fitted to cope with the situation, Lord Aberdeen accordingly resigned in January, 1855, and Palmerston became prime minister. But even before this preparations had been made to improve matters. Men and supplies were sent to the Crimea, whilst Miss Florence Nightingale was allowed to organize the nursing in the hospitals; and with Lord Palmerston's accession to office fresh energy was infused into every department. The Russian army had fared little better than the British during the winter, and was in no condition to take the offensive. Moreover, in February, 1855, the Czar Nicholas died (The czar had said, referring to the Crimean winter, that he had two generals on whom lie could always rely, Janvier et Fevrier. On the czar's death, in the latter month, a. faiiious cartoon was published in Punch, called " General Fevrier turned traitor"), and was succeeded by Alexander II. Negotiations for peace were begun, but they came to nothing. The allies then prosecuted the war with vigour. The French had a hundred thousand men, the British forty thousand, and the King of Sardinia some fifteen thousand. With these forces attempts were made to storm Sebastopol; they were at first unsuccessful, but finally, in September, determined attacks were made by the French and British upon two forts which were the keys of the Russian position, the Malakoff and the Redan. The British attack on the latter failed, but the French took the Malakoff, and the same night Sebastopol was abandoned by the Russians (September 8, 1855). The fall of Sebastopol really ended the war. A congress of European powers was held at Paris at the beginning of 1856, and at the end of March peace was signed. By the terms of peace, the integrity of the Ottoman Empire was guaranteed by the powers, though the sultan promised reforms for his Christian subjects, and the Danubian principalities, Wallachia and Moldavia, where made self-governing, eventually forming the kingdom of Roumania. The Black Sea was declared neutral, and no ship of war was allowed upon it; nor were arsenals to be built upon its shores. |
Chronology |
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