Wednesday 1 June 2022

Origins of the first Crimean War

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"In some sense the Crimean war was predestined and had deep-seated causes. Neither Nicholas I nor Napoleon III nor the British government could retreat in the conflict for prestige once it was launched. Nicholas needed a subservient Turkey for the sake of Russian security; Napoleon needed success for the sake of his domestic position; the British government needed an independent Turkey for the security of the Eastern Mediterranean… Mutual fear, not mutual aggression, caused the Crimean War." 

A.J.P. Taylor's words remind me of Putin, Biden and Boris Johnson in Ukraine now.  This time France wanted a negotiated peace from the start and Ukrainians are dying, not the Light Brigade.

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