Origins Of The Crimean War

Examines the "war guilt" question, and shows how economic factors and the breakdown of the Concert of Europe after 1848 provided a setting for the war. It argues that responsibility for the Crimean War lies with the individual leaders who could have prevented it. The Crimean War (1853-56) between Russia, Turkey, Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia was a diplomatically preventable conflict for influence over an unstable Near and Middle East. It could have broken out in any decade between Napoleon and Wilhelm II; equally, it need never have occurred. In this masterly study, based on massive archival research, David Goldfrank argues that the European diplomatic roots of the war stretch far beyond the `Eastern Question' itself, and shows how the domestic concerns of the participants contributed to the outbreak of hostilities.