Importance of Crimean War

Importance of Crimean War:

The importance of the Crimean War lay in the fact that it shattered the peace of Europe and ushered in a succession of wars. It removed the shadow of Russian power from Central European affairs. The war was a personal triumph of Napoleon III and he had covered France with glory. By participating in the war Sardinia got the opportunity to champion the cause of Italian liberation. A Piedmontese soldier had remarked: ‘Out of this mud of Sebastopol Italy will be made’. At the Peace Conference of Paris Cavour voiced the grievances of Italy. He was supported by Clarendon, the English Foreign Minister.

The Crimean War was an important chapter in the Eastern Question and the prelude to the most important political development of the nineteenth century. The Peace of Paris reaffirmed the principle of collective responsibility by the Great Powers which believed that the European Concert would be effective in the years that followed. The Peace Treaty gave to the powers acting in concert a general right of intervention in international disputes. Thus, the Crimean War was ‘a fumbling war, probably unnecessary, largely futile, yet rich in unintended consequences’.