Editing Sevastopol (section)

===Crimean War===
{{Main|Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)}}
From 1853 to 1856, the Crimean peninsula's strategic position in controlling the Black Sea caused it to be the site of the principal engagements of the [[Crimean War]], where Russia lost to a French-led alliance.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Crimean War (1853–1856)|journal=Gale Encyclopedia of World History: War|year=2008|volume=2|url=http://www.omnilogos.com/2015/01/crimean-war-1853-1856.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416183025/http://www.omnilogos.com/2015/01/crimean-war-1853-1856.html|archive-date=16 April 2015}}</ref>

After a minor skirmish at Köstence (now [[Constanța]]), the allied commanders decided to attack Sevastopol as Russia's main naval base in the Black Sea. After extended preparations, allied forces landed on the peninsula in September 1854 and marched to a point south of Sevastopol after winning the [[Battle of the Alma]] on 20 September. The Russians counterattacked on 25 October in what became the [[Battle of Balaclava]] and were repulsed, but the [[British Army during the Victorian Era|British Army]]'s forces were seriously depleted as a result. A second Russian counterattack, [[Battle of Inkerman|at Inkerman]] in November, ended in a stalemate as well. The front settled into the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|siege of Sevastopol]], involving brutal conditions for troops on both sides.

Sevastopol finally fell after eleven months, after the French [[Battle of Malakoff|had assaulted Fort Malakoff]]. Isolated and facing a bleak prospect of invasion by the West if the war continued, Russia [[suing for peace|sued for peace]] in March 1856. France and Britain welcomed the development, owing to the conflict's domestic unpopularity. The [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Treaty of Paris]], signed on 30 March 1856, ended the war and forbade Russia from basing warships in the Black Sea.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Figes|first=Orlando|author-link=Orlando Figes|title=Crimea: The Last Crusade|publisher=Allen Lane|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7139-9704-0|location=London |page=415}}</ref> This hampered the Russians during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78]] and in the aftermath of that conflict, Russia moved to reconstitute its naval strength and fortifications in the Black Sea.{{cn|date=February 2023}}