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Crimean War broke out in 1854 when Ottoman Empire declared war on
Russia. The war ended when Russia accepted the ultimatum issued by Austria
and was concluded in the Treaty of Paris. The Crimean War was a turning
point in 19th century as it changed the diplomatic situation in Europe.

Firstly, the War worsened the relationship of Russia and Austria. Before the
war, Russia and Austria were traditional guarantors of status quo. They
formed the Holy Alliance and cooperated to suppress revolution. For example,
Russia supported Austria in the Hungarian Revolution. However, during the
Crimean War, Austria sent ultimatum threatening war with Russia if she did
not accept the agreement on the basis on Vienna Four Points. The Vienna
Four Point noted that the guarantee of the independence of Moldavia and
Wallachia and the abandonment of the Russian claim to protect the Christian
subjects of Turkey. In this case, their relationship was affected as Russia
thought that Austria would support her in the Crimean War as she supported
Austria in 1848 revolution but in the end Austria supported Ottoman Empire.
So, the Crimean war was a turning point in 19th century as the traditional
entente was undermined by the war and they no longer work closely to
maintain status quo.

Secondly, the war was a turning point as it shifted the balance of power from
Austria to France. Before the war, Austria dominated matters in Europe. For
example, Congress for concluding the Napoleonic War was held in Vienna and
during Metternich Era and 1848 Revolution, Austria was able to take initiative
to maintain balance of power and suppress revolution. However, in the
Crimean War, Austria failed to take initiative to stop Russia aggression as only
Britain and France declared war on Russia after Russia turned down the
proposal of settling the dispute by diplomatic methods. Also, France used
religious disputes over the Holy Places to provoke war that signified France
participated actively in foreign affairs. Besides, after the war, Paris was made
the venue for holding conference and this made France the Center of
international affairs and increased her international status and influence. The
Crimean war was a turning point in 19 th century European history as it
marked the rise of France influence and the decline of Austria power.
Moreover, the war was a turning point as it marked the demise of the Concert
of Europe and pave way for realism that complicated the European diplomatic
affairs. Before the Crimean War, though powers had different interest, they
were able to settle their disputes by the Concert of Europe. For example,
Congress of Troppau was hold to discuss the revolution in Naples and Spain.
After the Crimean War, there were no stable alignments between great powers
and they looked for their own interest rather than interest of Europe as a
whole. As individual interest was strong, it led to the rise of realism. Powers
started to see warfare as a device to ensure diplomatic success and focused on
military and industrial bases that caused further caused rivalry in Europe.

In addition, the war was a turning point as it extended the power of Prussia
and Piedmont and fostered unification movement. Prussia and Piedmont both
faced the obstacles of foreign intervention in their unification movement.
They made use of the Crimean War to get foreign support or foreign neutrality.
For Prussia, she used the war to get Russia¶s friendship by promising to end
the Black Sea clause. This helped Prussia in her unification movement as in
Franco Prussian War, she gained Russia neutrality. For Piedmont, she joined
the war because she wanted to get territorial compensation for Piedmont¶s
effort and to publicize the national cause of the Italian unification that could
gain foreign support. Crimean War helped to foster the success of unification
movement and the war was a turning point since it marked the rise of new
countries.

Also, the war fostered the feudal state to move towards modernization. Before
the war, Russia practiced feudalism and that hindered her development. The
war made Czar Alexander II to realized the military and economic weaknesses
of Russia and he started to introduce a series of reforms.

To conclude, the Crimean War was a turning point in 19th century European
Countries by creating hostility between Russia and Austria, upsetting the
balance of power in Europe, giving rise to realism and new countries.