84 International Relations Theory of War
world. It was the most important and devastating conflict of the 100 years
from the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815) to the outbreak of the First
World War (1914).^42
The dispute that started the diplomatic snowball to the Crimean War
occurred more than six years before Britain and France declared war against
Russia in late March 1854. The dispute involved the Orthodox, Armenian,
and Catholic churches, concerning control over a number of sites holy to
Christianity in the Holy Land. In late 1847, there was a dispute among the
many Christian churches concerning the Church of the Nativity in Bethle-
hem. The Catholics did not possess the keys to the church’s main entrance;
only the Orthodox and Armenians had that privilege. Therefore, Catholics
were limited to using a nearby chapel and had to enter the church through
a side door. The dispute intensified when a silver star with a Latin inscrip-
tion disappeared. The Catholics, who argued that the star had been sto-
len by Orthodox priests, attempted to use the “theft” to ask the broader
question of their rights and privileges. To that end, they sought support
from the French government. The argument culminated in a severe dis-
pute between the various Christian churches in the Holy Land. Once the
intra-Christian conflict intensified, the Ottoman government had to move
forces in order to separate the antagonists who were fighting around the
holy site.^43 Only two years later, in 1849, did the French take practical
steps. France’s support was accompanied by the support of other Catholic
powers: Portugal, Spain, Sardinia, Naples, and Belgium, but not Austria.
Russia, in contrast, stood by the Orthodox. Now the dispute involved two
major European powers, France and Russia, and each of them supported
the church associated with it: France supported the Catholics and Russia
the Orthodox. The Ottoman administration, contrastingly, preferred not
to intervene in the dispute. It abstained from associating itself with either
party as long as the crisis did not endanger its status.^44
By 1852, the dispute concerning the holy sites had been waged for five
years. It seemed that there was no reason for it not to continue to unfold
for a few years longer. Nonetheless, within six months, Russia invaded
Ottoman Empire territory and less than a year later Russia and the Otto-
man Empire were at war. In March 1854, France and Britain joined the war.
The dispute among the various churches helped the outbreak of the first
war involving the key European countries for 40 years.^45
The Crimean War—Common Explanations for Its Outbreak. Researchers
tend to explain “major” events in terms of comparative causality. In con-
trast, for years, the predominant perception concerning the causes of the
Crimean War was that of an unintended war. Researchers usually explained
the outbreak of the Crimean War in terms of misunderstanding, miscon-
ceptions, overreactions, silly mistakes, and mismanagement of the crisis by
the political leaders who preferred peace over war, rather than as a conflict