WAR IN THE CRIMEA AND ON THE DANUBE FRONT: WITH WHOM AND FOR WHAT DID THE RUSSIAN ARMY FIGHT IN 1853-1856?
The paper analyzes some relatively understudied aspects of the Crimean War (1853-1856), such as the involvement of Egyptian expeditionary corps of 50,000 soldiers in the battles in the Crimea and on the Danube Front, the significant role of financial and economic factors among the causes of the war, etc. The study of Egypt's involvement in the Crimean War is based mostly on the archival documents, which were made public by Omar Tusun in his work The Egyptian Army in the Russian War Known as the Crimean War 18S3-18SS (in Arabic). The paper looks into the historical events that made Egypt enter this war and consequently become a 'prisoner' of the Ottoman Empire's geopolitical ambitions. Being formally a part of the Empire, Egypt had its own national interests and needed to strengthen its army, which became an oblique reason to join the Crimean War. The personality of Abbas Hilmi I Pasha, ruler of Egypt, who played an important role in Egypt's decision to enter the war in order to deal with interstate problems, is also analyzed by the author. The paper also covers the events related to Royal Navy storeship HMS Prince, which had 200,000 pounds sterling in gold on board. As a conclusion, the author argues that the Crimean War has the characteristics typical of a world war, at least if we look at the number of countries involved. Like any other war of such scale, it does not have one generally accepted reason and the participants are united not by a common interest or aim, but against a common adversary. Finally, the paper examines the concept of chronoculture and its application to the analysis of large-scale historical events, such as the Crimean War.