ABSTRACT
The Baltic theatre was the primary seat of the war. Britain's largest fleet took control of the region in both campaigns, posing a significant threat to St Petersburg, the Russian capital, while imposing a devastating economic blockade that prevented Russia from exporting, leading to state bankruptcy. These fleets were dominated by steam powered warships, of all sizes, with the new massed produced steam gunboats as the ideal weapon system for coastal warfare, combining mobility with heavy artillery. The seizure of the Aland Islands in 1854 weakened Russian influence over Sweden, while the destruction of Sweaborg in 1855 demonstrated the strategic impact of modern weapons and steam powered warships. Plans to destroy Cronstadt in 1856 played a key role in securing peace. These campaigns weakened Russian influence in the central and western Baltic, enhanced British experience of this key region, and laid the foundations for future uses of naval power to deter Russian aggression against the Ottoman Empire and Afghanistan in 1878 and 1885. After the war Russia abandoned its costly battlefleet and built a fore of coast defence ironclads to support the updated and re-armed fortresses that guarded its coast.
