What Tom Holland has said about Crimean War

Holland contends that the reasons for Britain's war with Russia were never clearly settled, making the war itself a kind of blunder.

“the reasons for it are never entirely nailed down. And you could say that this is kind of the ultimate blunder”

The Rest Is History: 721. The Charge of the Light Brigade: Outbreak of The Crimean War (Part 1) (Nov 9, 2026) · Listen from 8:45

Holland compares the outbreak of the Crimean War to 1914, arguing the great powers sleepwalked into conflict.

“The great powers in late 1853 and early 1854, as in 1914, kind of find themselves sleepwalking into conflict”

The Rest Is History: 721. The Charge of the Light Brigade: Outbreak of The Crimean War (Part 1) (Nov 9, 2026) · Listen from 42:37

Holland argues that Nicholas I fatally misjudged British politics by assuming agreements with the Queen and ministers were binding.

“But it's a fateful miscalculation because Britain doesn't work like that. There are too many different centers of power”

The Rest Is History: 721. The Charge of the Light Brigade: Outbreak of The Crimean War (Part 1) (Nov 9, 2026) · Listen from 49:02

Holland says the phrase 'sick man of Europe' originates in Nicholas I's remarks to the British ambassador about the Ottoman Empire.

“This is where the phrase, the sick man of Europe, originates it”

The Rest Is History: 721. The Charge of the Light Brigade: Outbreak of The Crimean War (Part 1) (Nov 9, 2026) · Listen from 55:20