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That time the British and French were forced to cooperate at Crimea
placed by vforvoice 1 month ago
Reference link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War
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Ah, the Crimean War, that peculiar little squabble that ran from October 1853 to February 1856. Picture it as a 19th-century geopolitical drama starring Russia playing the neighborhood bully, with the Ottoman Empire, France, the UK, and Sardinia-Piedmont forming a rather eclectic team of playground defenders. The fuss all began over a tiff concerning who got the better chapel parking spot in Palestine—France championing the Roman Catholics, and Russia waving the flag for the Eastern Orthodox Church. As wars tend to do, this one left Russia rather red-faced and weary, giving its army a good old-fashioned thrashing, emptying the treasury like a burgled piggy bank, and seriously denting its street cred in Europe. But every cloud has a silver lining, or so they say. This humbling debacle prodded Russia's brainy bunch into kickstarting some much-needed reforms, including giving serfdom the boot and sprucing up everything from the justice system to military service. Just imagine it as Russia's very own extreme makeover: empire edition!