Sinop turns Russian naval success into a balance-of-power crisis

Between wars, Russia invested in infrastructure, seamanship, navigation, and long-distance experience, including roughly forty circumnavigations. Its Black Sea Fleet then defeated the Ottoman squadron at Sinop. That success alarmed Britain and France because Russian control of the Dardanelles would open the Mediterranean to Russian power while securing the Black Sea, upsetting the regional balance on which their trade and strategic interests depended. Greater Russian naval effectiveness could therefore provoke a coalition far stronger than the opponent the fleet had been built to defeat. British and French intervention followed their national interests in preserving a balance that protected trade, communications, and strategic position.