Causes of the War - When Monks Collide part 2

Clarendon, the new Foreign Secretary, was equally though less spectacularly taken aback when he read Rose's despatches. Since the start of the year, his man in St Petersburg, Sir George Hamilton Seymour, had reported an increase in one-to-one meetings with the Tsar, who sought to reassure him that Russia would only move against the Ottoman Empire with Britain's prior knowledge and support. (Nicholas somehow got the impression from these meetings that Britain would stand aside from any Russian initiatives arising from the Holy Places dispute). Now here were these reports from Rose that Menshikov was threatening imminent war with the Turks. Better leave it till Stratford got back to Constantinople to sort it out. He cancelled Rose's order to the fleet.

On the French side, Benedetti's request fell on more receptive ears, and on 25th March a French battle squadron left Toulon for Turkish waters. This was arguably the most significant act leading to the War. Once committed, the ships could not be withdrawn without either obtaining the desired results, or suffering colossal loss of face. France suddenly gained prestige with the Sultan, who judged that Britain would not risk France gaining predominance in the Near East by leaving her to act on her own, and would therefore get drawn into joint action against any Russian aggression. So Turkey became more stubborn towards Russian demands. Tsar Nicholas was probably genuinely bewildered that Britain had considered sending her ships along with the French, but he now became aware that neither nation would stand by idly if he caused an armed conflict. Pressure was therefore doubled on Menshikov to force the Turks to give in peacefully. Finally British press and public opinion, which saw Russia as a brutal police state, whose army had savagely put down the Hungarian revolution in 1848, was outraged that their government had 'chickened out' from sending British ships to Turkish waters along with the French.

The arrival of Stratford in Constantinople in April further strengthened the Turks resolve, and provided Menshikov with a plausible excuse for his negotiations getting nowhere. In fact Stratford unsurprisingly had no brief to promote war; he didn't even carry authority to call up the British fleet. His advice to the Porte was to give in on the Holy Places, but keep negotiating as long as possible on the issue of rights

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4