Key Facts
- Duration
- ~11 months (October 1854 – September 1855)
- Allied landing force
- 50,000 men at Eupatoria
- Naval bombardments
- 6 allied naval bombardments of the city
- Major battles en route
- Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Tchernaya, Redan, Malakoff
- Strategic asset
- Home port of Russia's Black Sea Fleet
Strategic Narrative Overview
After landing at Eupatoria on 14 September 1854, allied forces fought through a series of engagements: Alma (September 1854), Balaklava (October 1854), and Inkerman (November 1854). The siege proper began in October 1854, with six major naval bombardments of the city. Fighting continued through 1855, including battles at Tchernaya and assaults on the Redan and Malakoff fortifications, the latter falling to French troops in September 1855.
01 / The Origins
Sevastopol was Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea and the headquarters of the tsar's Black Sea Fleet, which posed a threat to Ottoman and Mediterranean waters. Allied powers—France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia—landed in Crimea in September 1854 with roughly 50,000 troops, intending to neutralize Russian naval power by capturing the city and denying Russia strategic access to the Black Sea.
03 / The Outcome
The fall of the Malakoff redoubt in September 1855 rendered Sevastopol untenable, and Russian forces evacuated and scuttled their fleet. The city's capture effectively ended the Crimean War, leading to the Treaty of Paris (1856), which restricted Russian naval presence in the Black Sea and curbed Russian expansion toward the Ottoman Empire and Mediterranean.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
4 belligerents
Aimable Pélissier, FitzRoy Somerset (Lord Raglan).
Side B
1 belligerent
Alexander Menshikov, Eduard Totleben.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.