In 1853, Russia declared war on Turkey. On November 1 of the same year, Russia supported the initiative and declared war on Turkey.
The outbreak of hostilities was successful for the Russian side. At the Danube Theater, the Russian army successfully repelled the onslaught of the Turks, then forced the Danube and besieged the fortress of Silistra. At the same time, the Turkish army was defeated in Transcaucasia .
Allies of Turkey were France and England. These states were afraid of the strengthening of Russian influence, so on March 1, the allies put forward a demand according to which Russian troops had to be withdrawn from the Danube principalities. Russia refused, after which France and England declared war on her. The great event that the Crimean War led to - the defense of Sevastopol - originates here.
In 1854, sabotage of the English fleet in the Baltic and White Sea and landing in the Crimea were committed. On September 12, thousands of Anglo-French troops arrived in Crimea and headed to Sevastopol.
For the first time, troops clashed on September 8 near the Alma River. Here, the Russian army, losing in number to the enemy, was defeated and was forced to retreat. The enemy marched on Sevastopol and, bypassing the city from the east, occupied convenient harbors. The siege and defense of Sevastopol began.
Defense start
The defense of Sevastopol lasted 349 days. Sevastopol was a city well-fortified from the sea, since the Black Sea Fleet was based here. But from the land side there were practically no fortifications. In 1854, they only began to be erected. The defense of Sevastopol was organized by Admirals P. S. Nakhimov, V. A. Kornilov and V. I. Istomin.
Anglo-French ships blocked the city from the sea. To block the path of enemy ships, it was decided to flood seven large ships. Five more were flooded later.
When the defense of Sevastopol began, the city was a garrison of 17 thousand people. In October, troops of Prince A.S. Menshikov arrived in Sevastopol. To protect the city now stood 35 thousand people.
Defense course
Defenders of the city - thousands of soldiers and sailors, residents, women and children - created 8 km of fortifications that were designed to protect the southern part of the city. Bastions, lunettes, redoubts, lodgements were placed here. The Crimean War, the defense of Sevastopol forced the townspeople to give everything they had: carts, materials, horses. Reinforcement works did not stop even at night. On October 16, the city already had 20 batteries, and heavy weapons doubled. The leadership of the engineering defense lay with Colonel E.I. Totleben. Land lines were protected by naval artillery from the ships of the Black Sea Fleet. The defense of Sevastopol in 1854 continued.
Immediate assault on the city was disadvantageous to the enemy. During the siege, Sevastopol was bombed six times. On June 6, an attempt was made to storm the Ship side, but it was repulsed by the defenders of the city.
In attempts to destroy the defense of Sevastopol, the enemy broke through 1280 meters of underground galleries, where it produced 120 explosions. But the defenders of the city were ahead of the opponents in the mine war: they dug 6889 meters of galleries. The mine war was conducted under the leadership of officer A. V. Melnikov.
A bloody and stubborn struggle was waged for Malakhov Kurgan. On August 27, 1855, the French took this position, and the next day the Russian troops left the southern side of Sevastopol. They blew up all the fortifications, then pulled up the floating bridge over the bay, built during the campaign, to the North side. As a result of these actions, the opponents were divided by the Sevastopol Bay.
In 1856, negotiations were held. According to the peace treaty, the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, as well as military fortifications were liquidated. Over the next twenty years, Sevastopol was in decline.