This dissertation is about the role of the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and the impact of the war on Ottoman state and society. The study is based mainly on archival material from the Ottoman archives in Istanbul. Chapter 1 reviews the existing literature on the subject in various languages with a more detailed coverage of the Ottoman/Turkish and Russian sources. Chapter 2 analyzes the diplomatic, economic and political origins of the war as well as the European and Ottoman public opinion before the war. Chapter 3 is about the battles of the war and diplomatic negotiations during the war, from the point of view of the Ottoman involvement in these battles. This chapter dwells on the Ottoman war effort and military practices. Chapter 4 is on the finances of the war. It attempts to assess the war expenses of the Ottoman Empire and how they were met, including the story of the first two Ottoman foreign loans as well. Chapter 5 is on the social impact of the war on the Ottoman state and society. This chapter includes subsections on the status of women, the Reform Edict of 1856 and the question of Muslim and Non-Muslim equality, slavery and the Black Sea slave trade, municipal affairs in Istanbul, law and order in the provinces, desertions and the ba§ibozuk troops as a source of disorder, Ottoman public opinion and patriotism. Finally this dissertation argues that the Crimean War had an important role in Ottoman modernization
