Part 6 Crimean War the Impact of Technology

French Head Quarters in Varna

Varna was crucial to the Crimean War because of its strategic location and function as a supply conduit for the British and French armies fighting Russia. Varna, on the Black Sea, was essential to Allied supplies and medical treatment. It was a crucial place for preparing soldiers and supplies for the Crimea.

British and French soldiers developed telegraph links across their domains because of its strategic value. London and Paris can communicate by submarine cable to Varna and Sevastopol.
The wartime usage of wired communications technology, notably the electric telegraph, is an exciting topic that combines military history with technological innovation. Military communications were revolutionised by the electric telegraph in the Crimean War (1853-1856).

The electric telegraph transformed communications, and the construction of a 547-kilometer undersea cable between Balaklava and Varna in April 1855 . For the generals, who were increasingly beset by political meddling, this was a mixed benefit, with General Sir James Simpson saying that ‘the confounded telegraph has ruined everything’.

Unfortunately, Marshal Saint Arnaud’s Head Quarters at 23 Primorski Blvd., where the Varna telegraph station was possibly located, (albeit this is rather contested by some historians as very little documenatry proof excists), has not been preserved. Adolf Tedeschi, the Austrian and French consuls in Varna from 1841 to 1882 and 1848 to 1878, owned this home.

Part 7 Crimean War

• The Deployment of the Electric Telegraph
• Undersea Telegraph cable Varna to Sevastpol
• Marshal Saint Arnaud’s Head Quarters at 23 Primorski Blvd
• Prof. D. Sc. Ivan Rousse

•  Prof. D. Sc. Ivan Rousse