by Simon Black
Sovereign Man
When Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia in the summer of 1854, he assumed it would be an easy victory that would restore his crumbling empire back to its former glory.
But Abdulmejid’s dream never came true.
The Ottoman Empire was already in dire economic condition by the mid-1800s; Abdulmejid’s predecessor (and father) Mahmud II had presided over a major budget deficit, plus a devastating loss of territory. The Empire was shrinking and growing weaker.
So when Russia tried to capitalize on this weakness by invading Ottoman territory in 1853, Abdulmejid refused to back down. He allied himself with Britain and France, both of whom wanted to check Russian power, and they all went to war.