First Crimean War: The Indian connection & parallels with current Crimea conflict ByVikram Doctor, ET Bureau For the Russians India was a rich, warm target far more tempting than the bleak and chilly interiors of Asia that lay between them.In late 1856 the British introduced a new rifle to their soldiers in India. It was called the Pattern 1853 Enfield and used a new kind of paper wrapped cartridge, pre-greased to make it waterproof and to lubricate the bullet. The Calcutta firm of Gangadarh Banerji & Co landed the contract to supply the grease and rumours soon spread that, as usual with military procurement, corners were being cut. In particular, it was alleged the grease was being mixed with pig and cow fat... We know what came from this, but why were the British so quick to introduce the Enfield rifle? And why did no officers, many with decades of service in India and familiar with the feelings of sepoys, not catch on to what a problem the cartridges might be? Some answers might lie in the Crimea, the Black Seapeninsula which Vladimir Putinhas just grabbed for Russia, but where in 1850s a British-led coalition scored a rather battered win over Russia, partly due to the new rifles. That may now be called the First Crimean War and today it is mainly remembered for the nursing of Florence Nightingaleand the suicidal charge of the Light Brigade. Yet despite the 160-year gap, there are interesting parallels between the two Crimean conflicts. Just as Putin claims he only stepped in to protect Russians in the Crimeafrom fascist Ukrainians, the tsar of Russiathen claimed to be acting only to protect Orthodox Christians from the Muslim Ottomans who controlled the Black Sea coast. Russian Bear Hug In both cases the ostensible reasons covered something more basic: Russias determination to extend its influence and the determination of European (now Western) powers to resist this. Caught between them was a hapless local state, Ukrainenow, Ottoman then. And where the earlier crisis brought together a curious British-French-Turkish-Sardinian (yes, really) coalition, we may yet see a curious coalition come together against Russia now. India, like most of the world, will be an anxious observer, but it was deeply linked to the earlier war, and may even have been partly its cause. Through the 19th century Russia and Britain fought over Asia. This has been called the Great Game, since it was mostly covert and done through spies, with Crimea being the rare time it actually came to battle. The Games big prize was India, where after decades of battling both Indian and other European powers, the British were now in control and extracting considerable riches. For the Russians India was a rich, warm target far more tempting than the bleak and chilly interiors of Asia that lay between them. And geography suggested a short-cut, sidestepping the barrier of the Himalayas. If they could control the Black Sea, then the Bosphorus gave them a sea road which was only guarded by the tottering Ottoman regime. And if they could gain that, then the whole eastern Mediterranean was in their grasp and so the approach to Arabia and India. The British knew this and worried about Russia much as we do about China today. When the Bombay Timesand Journal of Commerce, which would become The Timesof India, launched in November 1838, among the first long articles it published was a multi-part series by a Dr McNeil describing Russia in detail, with particular emphasis on its persecution of religious minorities: When the power of Russia was consolidated, the Christians naturally became the favoured people...The Musselman saw a mosque converted into a stable and another into a tavern...
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 03:14:12 +0000
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