The Crimean - war reporting

Biggest chance between war coverage between the 18th and 19th century

\-photographs

causes of the increased literacy rate in the 19th century

\-Sunday schools

\-charity schools

\-law changes

\-public libraries act

law changes that led to increased literacy rates

\-factory owners were required to offer workers a basic education

public libraries act 1850

\-free access to reading material for all

main limitation of war photographs

\-couldn’t take action shots due to exposure times

ways communication was improved

\-railways: newspapers could be transported around the country immediately after print

\-telegraphs: information transmitted in hours

evidence of improved communication

\-Salamanca took 26 days to be reported, Alma was reported after a week

Roger Fenton

\-commercial photographer

\-arrived in the Crimea in March 1855

implications of when Fenton arrived in the Crimea

\-he missed the winter of 1854-55 and most of the major battles

Reason for Fenton being sent to the Cimea

\-Prince Albert hoped his photos would counter negative publicity about the war

Fenton’s aims and how these affected his photos

\-aimed to take photos he could sell, since the officer class was most likely to buy them he primarily photographed them

evidence that Fenton’s photos were not always an accurate representation of war

\-he took photos of soldiers in winter clothes to calm worries about the harsh winter, the photos were taken in April

impact of Fenton’s photos

\-stirred empathy for the soldiers and made people question not just how the war was being managed but what was being fought for

shown by Fenton’s photos

\-realism that contrasted the dramatic and idealised war paintings

\-photos of men in front of tents and ramshackle shacks couldn’t hide the squalid living conditions

William Howard Russel

\-war correspondent for the Times

Evidence for why Russel’s reports were reliable

\-he spent most of his time at the front and was present for several major battles

Battles Russel was present for

\-Alma

\-Balaklava

\-Inkerman

\-the beginning of the siege of Sevastopol

\-charge of the light brigade

reasons that Russel reporting was potentially controversial

\-He was heavily critical of Raglan

\-sided with common soldiers over officers

reasons Russel was critical of Raglan

\-Raglan didn’t pursue the defeated Russians and drive them away from Sevastopol

How Russel’s reporting impacted his relationship with the army

\-Raglan forbade his officers from speaking to him

\-ordinary soldiers very willing to speak to him as they felt he was on their side

What Russel wrote about

\-the appalling conditions ordinary soldiers coped with

Impact of Russel’s writings in Britain

\-People donated thousands to the Sick and Wounded Fund

How the Times stirred controversy

\-published heavily critical editorial after their employee (William Stowe) contracted and died of cholera in the Crimea and was refused treatment due to not being a soldier

political change and the power of the press

\-press attacks on generals led to public demanding scapegoats

\-committee of enquiry into the conduct of the war

\-politicians began to pay more attention to the press in following wars