The Crimean War - (Modern Wars) by Winfried Baumgart (Hardcover)

About the Book

Originally published: London: Arnold, 1999.

Book Synopsis

Winfried Baumgart's masterful history of the Crimean War has been expanded and fully updated to reflect advances made in the field since the book's first publication. It convincingly argues that if the war had continued after 1856, the First World War would have taken place 60 years earlier, but that fighting ultimately ceased because diplomacy never lost its control over the use of war as an instrument in power politics.

With 19 images, 13 maps and additional tables as well as a brand new chapters on 'the medical services', this expanded and fully-updated 2nd edition explores

* The origins and diplomacy of the Crimean War
* The war aims and general attitudes of the belligerent powers (Russia, France, and Britain), non-belligerent German powers (Austria and Prussia) and a selected number of neutral powers, including the United States
* The characteristics and capabilities of the armies involved
* The nature of the fighting itself

The Crimean War: 1853-1856examines the conflict in both its Europe-wide and global contexts, moving beyond the five great European powers to consider the role and importance of smaller states and theatres of war that have otherwise been under-served. To this end, it looks at fighting on the Danube front, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caucasian battlefield, as well as the White Sea and the Pacific, with final chapters devoted to the Paris peace congress of 1856, the end of the war and its legacy.

This book remains the definitive study of one of the most important wars in modern history.

Review Quotes

Baumgart's expert command of sources in many languages--German, Russian, French, English, Italian to name a few--gives rare depth to one of the most pivotal wars of the modern era and the work integrates the latest research to provide one of the most balanced accounts in the field. A revised classic, The Crimean War will retain its touchstone status for years to come.
Mara Kozelsky, Associate Professor of History, University of South Alabama, USA

This book will be invaluable for courses on 19th century Europe, military history, and Balkan history. Baumgart is to be commended for blending diplomatic, international, military, political, and medical history within a succinct and highly readable text.
Jonathan Grant, Professor of History, Florida State University, USA

About the Author

Winfried Baumgart is Professor Emeritus at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. He is the author of 31 books in German and English, including Imperialism: The Idea and Reality of British and French Colonial Expansion, 1880-1914 (1982) and The Peace of Paris, 1856: Studies in War Diplomacy and Peacemaking (1981).