ABSTRACT
A possible allied Ottoman-British, Ottoman-French or Ottoman-British-French conflict with Russia was real by the 1830s. Key issues included the large Ottoman Orthodox population and Russian protection pretensions, rival Orthodox (hence Russian) and Catholic (hence French) claims over Christian Holy Places in Judaea, ubiquitous British commercial penetration, and the implications of Ottoman control over the Dardanelles and Bosporus combined with mutual Anglo-French and Russian fears regarding the other's ambitions. French naval diplomacy at Istanbul over the Holy Places and a seeming unfavourable Ottoman decision prompted Russian activation of two army corps and Black Sea fleet in early 1853. While the British helped moderate the French and shepherd a compromise favourable to the Orthodox, Russia's demands also included a revision of the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca to specify the Emperor's protection rights over these “subjects of the Porte”. Ottoman insistence that such rested ab antiquo with the Sultan prompted Russian occupation of Ottoman Moldavia and Wallachia, which Austria, as well as the Anglo-French, opposed. Russia's refusal to evacuate on Ottoman terms prompted in turn an Ottoman invasion of Wallachia, Russian destruction of an Ottoman Black Sea fleet, an unacceptable Anglo-French demand that Russian ships return to port, and general war.
