ABSTRACT
Recent brief histories in French maintain a positivist point of view where factual “battle history” is more important than the link between war and societies. However, the Crimean War was one of the climaxes of the Eastern Question in French public opinion. Military events affected the behaviour of public opinion, elitist as well as popular. On one hand, there was in-depth consideration in newspapers and booklets about the “great Eastern Question” as the question of the century. On the other hand, the Crimean War marks a turning point in the democratization of the Eastern Question, with the emergence of a popular culture expressed in history books, songs and “Epinal prints”. This articulation between elitist and popular public opinion was being realized within a real Sacred Union, of which the Napoleonic government took advantage after the fall of Sebastopol. This importance of the Crimean War in French society impregnated memories, as can be seen with the erection of the first war memorials around the country or in the toponymy of Paris.
