Ended the Crimean War and curtailed Russian power in the Black Sea region for fifteen years.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 30 March 1856
- War ended
- Crimean War (1853–1856)
- Parties to treaty
- Russia, Ottoman Empire, UK, France, Sardinia
- Black Sea clause revoked
- 1871 via Treaty of London
- Territory returned to Moldavia
- Southern Bessarabia (annexed by Russia in 1812)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Crimean War (1853–1856) pitted the Russian Empire against an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, the Second French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Russian expansionism in the Black Sea region and its claim to protect Christians within the Ottoman Empire heightened tensions, ultimately triggering the conflict and necessitating a formal diplomatic resolution.
The Treaty of Paris was signed on 30 March 1856 at the Congress of Paris. It formally ended the Crimean War and returned Sevastopol and other Crimean towns to Russia, while neutralising the Black Sea by prohibiting all warships, fortifications, and arsenals on its shores. Russia was also required to restore southern Bessarabia to Moldavia.
Russia lost its right to maintain a naval or military presence on the Black Sea coast and relinquished influence over the Danubian principalities, Serbia, and Ottoman Christians. The neutralisation clause remained in force until the 1871 Treaty of London, and the treaty broadly shifted the regional balance of power away from Russia for the following decades.
Political Outcome
Russia accepted neutralisation of the Black Sea, returned southern Bessarabia to Moldavia, and abandoned claims over Danubian principalities and Ottoman Christians; Sevastopol was restored to Russia.
Russia held significant influence over the Black Sea, the Danubian principalities, and claimed protectorship of Ottoman Christians.
Black Sea neutralised, Russian influence over Danubian principalities and Serbia removed, and Christian protectorship claim abandoned.