Treaty of Paris (1856): The Peace That Ended the Crimean War

The Treaty of Paris was signed on 30 March 1856 and ended the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia. Negotiated at the Congress of Paris, it neutralised the Black Sea, pushed Russia back from the Danube and placed the Ottoman Empire under the collective protection of the European powers. A separate declaration a few weeks later rewrote the rules of war at sea.

Background: the road to peace

The Crimean War began in 1853 as a quarrel between Russia and the Ottoman Empire and widened in 1854 when Britain and France joined the Ottomans. After a long and costly siege of Sevastopol, the Russian naval base fell in September 1855. Russia captured the Ottoman fortress of Kars in November, but its finances were strained and the new tsar, Alexander II, wanted peace to pursue reform.

Austria, officially neutral, delivered an ultimatum in December 1855 threatening to join the allies. Russia accepted preliminary terms in January 1856, and a congress opened in Paris on 25 February. The choice of city reflected the prestige of Napoleon III, whose France had supplied the largest allied army.

The Congress of Paris

The congress was chaired by the French foreign minister, Count Alexandre Walewski. Britain was represented by Lord Clarendon and Lord Cowley, Russia by Count Alexei Orlov and Baron Philipp von Brunnow, Austria by Count Buol and the Ottoman Empire by Âli Pasha. Sardinia, which had sent troops to the Crimea, was represented by its prime minister, Count Cavour. Prussia joined the sessions in March.

The congress was also a social and symbolic occasion. It met at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d’Orsay, and during the talks the Empress Eugénie gave birth to the Prince Imperial, an event Napoleon III celebrated as a sign of his dynasty’s success. Both he and his guests saw the gathering as proof that France had regained its place at the centre of European diplomacy after the defeat of 1815.

Negotiations lasted about five weeks. Orlov proved a skilful diplomat, and Napoleon III, keen to improve relations with Russia, did not push for the harsher terms some British politicians wanted.

Main terms of the treaty

• The Black Sea was neutralised. Russia and the Ottoman Empire could keep no warships there beyond a few light vessels for coastal duties, and no naval arsenals on its shores. The sea was open to merchant ships of all nations.
• Russia lost southern Bessarabia to Moldavia, cutting it off from the mouths of the Danube.
• The Danube was declared free for navigation, under a European Commission of the Danube.
• Moldavia and Wallachia stayed under Ottoman suzerainty but under the collective guarantee of the powers, ending Russia’s claimed protectorate.
• Conquests were returned: Russia gave back Kars, and the allies evacuated Sevastopol and other occupied places.
• The Ottoman Empire was admitted to the “public law and system of Europe”, and the powers promised to respect its independence and territory. They noted the Sultan’s reform edict of February 1856 but renounced any right to interfere in his internal affairs.

A separate convention demilitarised the Åland Islands in the Baltic.

The Paris Declaration on maritime law

On 16 April 1856 the participating powers signed the Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law. It abolished privateering, protected enemy goods carried under a neutral flag and neutral goods under an enemy flag (except contraband of war), and stated that a blockade had to be effective to be binding. It was the first multilateral treaty of its kind, and dozens of states later acceded. The United States declined, partly because it did not want to give up privateering without wider protection for private property at sea.

Consequences

For Russia the peace was a humiliation, though not a ruinous one, since it lost little territory. The defeat helped convince Alexander II to undertake major reforms, including the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.

The Black Sea clauses did not last. In October 1870, while France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War, Russia announced that it would no longer observe them. The London Conference of 1871 accepted this. Meanwhile Moldavia and Wallachia elected the same prince, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, in 1859, a step towards the creation of Romania.

The congress also gave Cavour a platform: at a session in April 1856 the situation in Italy was discussed, a small but symbolic step for the Italian national cause.

Timeline

• 1855, September: Sevastopol falls to British and French forces.
• 1855, December: Austria sends Russia an ultimatum demanding peace talks.
• 1856, January: Russia accepts preliminary peace terms.
• 1856, 25 February: The Congress of Paris opens.
• 1856, 30 March: The Treaty of Paris is signed.
• 1856, 16 April: The Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law is signed.
• 1856, 27 April: Ratifications are exchanged.
• 1870, October: Russia repudiates the Black Sea clauses.

Why it matters

The Treaty of Paris closed the first major war between great powers since 1815 and showed the Concert of Europe still working through conferences. It shifted the balance of power against Russia for a time, raised France’s standing, and through its maritime declaration laid an early foundation of modern international law.