istoryworld
Events relating to russia
Delegates of the German states offer the imperial crown of a united Germany to Frederick William IV, the king of Prussia, who rejects it
Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky undergoes a mock execution, after being sentenced to death for revolutionary activities against tsar Nicholas I
Fyodor Dostoevsky begins four years of hard labour in Siberia for revolutionary activities
France demands that Turkey should end Russia's exclusive control of the Christian Holy Places in the Ottoman empire
Russia insists that her exclusive rights over the Holy Places are enshrined in the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji
In a worsening diplomatic crisis, Russia puts her Black Sea fleet in a state of alert at Sebastopol
Russia occupies two Ottoman principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, on the west coast of the Black Sea
In the expectation of British and French support, the Ottoman sultan declares war on Russia - launching the Crimean War
The Russian revolutionary and exile Alexander Herzen spends much of this year in St Helena Terrace before moving to Twickenham
Britain and France enter the war between Turkey and Russia, on the Turkish side
British and French troops land at Sebastopol, to besiege the port, and win a limited victory over the Russians at the river Alma
An inconclusive battle at Balaklava includes the Charge of the Light Brigade, with British cavalry recklessly led towards Russian guns
An inconclusive engagement at Inkerman means that the allies in the Crimea have to dig in for the winter besieging Sebastopol
After a siege of nearly a year the Russians abandon Sebastopol, but the Turkish alliance is too exhausted to pursue the conflict
The treaty of Paris ends the Crimean War, limiting Russia's special powers in relation to Turkey
Russian exile Alexander Herzen, publishes in London a radical newspaper called Kolokol (The Bell)
Acts of exceptional valour in the Crimean War are rewarded with a new medal, the Victoria Cross, made from the metal of captured Russian guns
Under the Treaty of Aigun, Russia wins from China the valuable Pacific coastline down to Vladivostok
After four years of consultation, Alexander II issues a decree freeing Russia's millions of serfs
Otto von Bismarck declares Blut und Eisen (blood and iron) to be the only policy by which Prussia can become strong
Dostoevsky publishes Notes from the House of the Dead, a semi-autobiographical novel about life in a Siberian labour camp
Prussia and Austria combine forces to seize Schleswig-Holstein, but soon fall out
Dostoevsky publishes Notes from Underground, the bitter memories of a retired civil servant that is often described as the first existentialist novel
Leo Tolstoy publishes the first volume of his epic novel War and Peace, following the lives of several aristocratic families during the Napoleonic wars
Prussia invades its neighbouring German states and launches the Seven Weeks' War
