The Importance of Technology and Other Factors in the Allied Victory in the Crimean War

This essay will look at all the factors

and then ascertain the effect each had on the outcome of the

Crimean war. To make this easier I have categorised the factors in to

leadership and organisation, battlefield tactics, strategy and

technology.

The allied leadership in the Crimean war was weak and held

surprisingly little commanding power over many aspects of the war.

Lord Raglan, an old, inexperienced and cautious man, was the commander

of the British troops. He had only acquired the position on grounds of

seniority and was not the strongest of commanders. Added to the fact

that Raglan was a fairly weak commander was the astonishingly low

level of control he had over the war effort as a whole: the artillery,

transport and naval aspects of the war all being under the control of

other commanders. Raglan's weak and over cautious leadership did cause

problems in the war, as often Raglan took too long to make decisions,

giving the Russians time to fortify positions and regroup troops. A

prime example of this cautiousness is the situation after the battle

of Alma, where the allied troops waited too long to follow on the

attack to Sebastopol, giving the Russians time to prepare for an

assault. However, the appalling organisation of the structure of

leadership seemed to have had far more detrimental effect on the war

effort than Raglans weak leadership. Indeed, the ill co-ordination

generated by the split command of the navy and army meant that the war

effort was constantly short of supplies, soldiers took to knitting

their own clothing in the winter of 1854 because they were so ill

equipped for the harsh weather. This problem of s...

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... technological improvements such as the telegraph were being used,

which meant that communication was much quicker, allowing better

organisation and positioning of troops. However the Enfield rifle was

the most significant technological advancement and had the biggest

effect on the outcome of the Crimean war.

In conclusion it seems that the advance in weaponry was the most

significant factor in the allied victory of the Crimean war. However

we need to acknowledge that battlefield tactics were almost equally

important: without the high quality of troops and the tactics to use

these weapons effectively the British may not have had such an

advantage over the enemy on the field of battle. With such

sophisticated weaponry being put to such skilled use it was very

difficult for the Russians to get the upper hand in battle.