Nicholas I was called the "Gendarmerie of Europe", which is not without reason. Narrow-minded and conservative, he never wanted to ascend to the throne and rule Russia. Since his birth in 1796, he had been trained at the request of a soldier, and Nikolai's mentors often scolded him until he gave in, and as a result he slowly developed a suspicious and slightly paranoid personality, which became more pronounced after ascending the throne. This eventually led to a catastrophe at the Russian court – stubbornly provoking the Crimean War.
Nicholas I
The treaty between Catherine the Great and the Turkish Sultan guaranteed Russian warships access to the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, so Russia invested in the Construction of the Black Sea Fleet. However, in 1841, European powers such as Britain and France, fearing Russian expansion, recognized the Ottoman Turkish Empire's right to restrict naval access to the strait.
In July 1853, after years of fruitless protests, Nikolai embarked on a provocative campaign to invade the Turkish-controlled provinces of Wallagia and Moldavia. Both Britain, France, and Turkey believed that this Russian invasion along the Danube River was a front point, and the next step was to seize Bulgaria and Serbia, with the ultimate goal of crushing the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The Tsar was convinced that neither Britain nor France would take the risk of waging war against him in order to defend the Sultan. Finally, Constantinople made a decision for them, declaring war on Russia on October 8, 1863, and the disastrous Crimean War began.
Siege of Sevastopol
In November, the Russians engaged the Sultan's fleet in Sinop, completely destroying the patchwork fleet. Everyone expected that this victory would thus determine the outcome of the war: sudan had only a dozen ships left, and for the war that would be fought along the Danube and possibly in Crimea, it would be impractical to dispatch Turkish troops by land, and the war would be unsustainable. The Turks made peace, but Nikolai seemed unprepared to budge, and it was at this point that the European powers, fearful of Russian expansion, stepped in. On 27 and 28 March 1854, Britain and France declared war on Russia.
A combined Anglo-French fleet rushed from Europe to Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, but both countries were ill-prepared and incompetent. The British Navy had only one map of Crimea, and the map did not indicate the depth of the water, so they ran aground when they tried to land; the French Navy did not even have a map, and they drew up the battle plan based on two watercolor sketches drawn by a French artist on a tour of Sevastopol a decade ago. The British Commander-in-Chief was field marshal Fitzroy James Henry, the first Baron of Raglan, who served as Secretary to Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo but had been away from the battlefield for 40 years. In his 80s, he knew nothing about naval strategy, and in his old age he called his enemies "Frenchmen" throughout the campaign, and he was furious whenever someone tried to correct him.
A battle during the Crimean War near Elizabeth Pol
The Crimean War became a deadly farce and dragged on until the following year. Sevastopol was just a decoy, and the British fleet effectively imposed a blockade for 11 consecutive months in an attempt to starve to death the Russians who had not yet succumbed to continuous artillery bombardment. The Anglo-French forces engaged the Russians along the Arma River, advancing inland from the port of Balaclava all the way to the Da Valley, where brave light cavalry awaited them.
Nicholas I did not see the devastating consequences of this war in his lifetime. He contracted the flu in early 1855 and was exhausted and depressed; he refused treatment as if he hoped that death would come sooner. The exhausted man died on February 18 at the age of 59.
Nicholas I after his death
He tried to take control of the direction of the empire, hoping to turn it into a bastion of conservatism, but unfortunately failed, and neither repression nor discipline could suppress the rising dissent. The Treaty of Paris, signed on March 30, 1856, ended this disgraceful military adventure, forced Russia to relinquish large tracts of territory, lose control of the Black Sea, and the right of free passage over the Bosphorus, the first defeat of a Russian army in modern history.
(Source: The Rise and Fall of the Russian Empire)