102 Crimean War The fifth Dragoon Guards of the British army make camp during the Crimean War Britain and its allies landed forces in the Crimea and laid siege to Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea Question was one of the major diplomatic issues of the mid- to late 19th century The events that led to the Crimean War started in Palestine, where the Russians had placed themselves as the protectors of Eastern Orthodox Christians and the French served as the protectors of the Catholic Christians In 1847 the golden star that rested in the church in Bethlehem built over the spot where Jesus had allegedly been born disappeared The Orthodox and Catholics both blamed one another for the theft; seeking to bolster French prestige, Napoleon III had another star made that was transported amid great pomp and ceremony to the church When the Eastern Orthodox refused entry to the church, the dispute was referred all the way to Sultan Abdul Majid I Both the French and Russians professed to be insulted by the rather tepid responses of the Ottoman government, and the Russians demanded that the Ottomans formally accept their protection over all Orthodox subjects in the empire During negotiations, the Russian czar, Nicholas I, remarked that the Ottoman Empire was a “sick man” and the empire subsequently became known as “The Sick Man of Europe.” When no resolution was forthcoming, the Russians declared war against the Ottoman Empire and destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the Bay of Sinope in 1853 In defense of the Ottomans, Britain declared war against Russia in 1854 and was joined by France and Piedmont-Sardinia Britain and its allies landed forces in the Crimea and lay siege to Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea Russia lost the city in 1855 In a secondary front, the British and French also established a blockade of the Baltic Sea to prevent goods entering or leaving Russia