I. V. Ruzhitskaya. “Catastrophe” or not: the latest historiography of the Crimean War // Petersburg
historical journal, no. 2, 2024, pp. 23–33.
Abstract:
The researchers discussed in the report evaluate the results of the war and the reasons for its defeat, contrary to the tradition that has developed in Russian historiography over a century and a half. They believe that the degree of Russia’s military backwardness from England and France in the field of weapons is greatly exaggerated, and its readiness to repel a military threat is understated. Some of these historians believe that Russia’s loss in the war was due to the initial hopelessness of its strategic position, and was not a consequence of military defeat. The technical backwardness and weakness of the military administration, in their opinion, had no fundamental significance against this background: the outcome of the struggle was predetermined by the strong political isolation of Russia and the geographical dispersion of potential theaters of military operations.
Key words: Russian Empire, union of European states and Turkey, Crimean War: causes and results, Emperor Nicholas I, Russian army.
Author:
Ruzhitskaya, Irina Vladimirovna — Dr. sci. hum., Leading Researcher of the Institute of Russian history of the Academy of Sciences of Russia.
E-mail: iraruz@gmail.com
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