The major parties to the conflict are Turkey(Ottoman), France, British and Russia.
Start: Before the war, Russia had long been expanding south, and Turks, slowly gaining ground. The Russians were the guardians of the Christian shrines with Ottoman Empire, and when a dispute broke out between Orthodox and Catholic Christians in Jerusalem, France decided to intervene as protector of the Catholics, gaining special status from te Turks in 1852. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia decided to use the tension in an attempt to gain control of Constantinople and with it direct access to the Mediterranean. "This alarmed France, long term allies of Turkey, and enemies of Russia, and Britain, who objected to any change in the balance of power, and also had rivalries with Russia further east. Russia issued demands in May 1853, which were soon refused, and Russian troops began to occupy Turkish Moldavia and parts of Rumania in July." The Turks declared war on Russia in October. The Turks crossed the Danube, defeating the Russians at the battle of Oltenitza(4th Nov, 1853). On 28 March 1854, Britain and France declared war on Russia, and moved to help the Turks.
Catastrophe:
1. Prince Alexander Menshikov(Russian commander), failed to take the opportunity to attack the vulnerable allies. The allies now started to move towards the port. Because the allies outnumber his, did prince Menshikov attempt to stop them(battle of the Alma. 20 Sep, 1854). In River Alma, Menshikov lost 5,700 of his 36,400 men; and the allies lost 3.000 of their 52,000.
2, When the allies were free to concentrate on the siege of Sevastopol(17 October 1854-8 September 1855), they missed the chance to simply walk into the city before it's defences had been completed. The siege was slowly put into place because the allies tried to protected their flank against Russian field army. While Russian chief engineer built up new fortifications which almost toally negated the allied bombardment.
3. The first attempt, the battle of Balaklava (25 October 1854) , is most famous for the Charge of the Light Brigade , in which 247 of the 673 Light Cavalry Brigade were killed attacking a battery of Russian guns by charging them along a valley lined by yet more Russian guns. However, the main result of the battle was to leave Menshikov's army dominating the only proper road between Balaklava and Sevastopol.
4. A second Russian attempt led to the battle of Inkerman (5 November 1854) , which degenerated into a formless melee after both the British and Russians lost effective control of their armies. The battle was won by the late arrival of a French division, which drove off the Russians, who suffered by far the heavier casualties.
5. Neither the French or British were fully prepared for a winter siege, while the Russians still commanded the road between Balaklava and Sevastopol. A storm sank thirty transport ships containing most of the British supplies, and Cholera raged through the camp, reducing the British army to only 12,000 effective soldiers.
"Charge of the Light Brigade": Tennyson's simple and insistent rhythms etch the event indelibly in the British consciousness: 'Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley'd and thunder'd ... Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die, Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred.'
