Modern Russian History, Being an Authoritative and Detailed History of Russia From the Age of Catherine the Great to the Present, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Modern Russian History, Being an Authoritative and Detailed History of Russia From the Age of Catherine the Great to the Present, Vol. 2<br><br>The military failures experienced by Russia in the Crimean Campaign, which revealed to all the inadequacy of Nicolas' policy, had been foretold by Nicolas Turgeniev back in 1847, a prediction that required considerable perspicacity and a profound understanding of the general course of affairs in Russia and in Europe. Until the Crimean Campaign the might of the Russian Government appeared colossal, and the strength of Nicolas' system seemed undisputable not only in his own eyes, but in the eyes of all his entourage, including the Heir. After the quick suppression of the Hungarian uprising by Paskevich's superior forces, the military power of Russia was deemed enormous even in Western Europe, and it is astonishing how rapidly that power vanished at the first collision with regular troops of civilised countries, though those forces were not very considerable. Moreover, Russia's unpreparedness had begun to appear even in her war with Turkey, and that unpreparedness was made still more apparent when Turkey was joined by England, France, and later by Sardinia.<br><br>Properly speaking, despite the apparent formidableness of the Coalition, the Allies did not disembark a very big army; in view of the sea-transport facilities of that time they were not able to bring ashore more than seventy thousand men.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.