Crimean War, John Arthur Roebuck and Public Opinion in the Great Britain in the Middle of the 19th Century

Abstract

Introduction. The key issue of this work is the relationship between the press, public opinion, and political institutions of Great Britain during the Crimean War (1853–1856). In this context, the political activity of the Sheffield radical John Arthur Roebuck (1802–1879) is considered. The relevance of the work is determined by the research thesis that, during the Crimean War, public opinion was no longer only broadcast by the press but was largely shaped by it. Methods. The broad research context of the article is provided by a critical method of processing sources, some of which (publications from the provincial newspapers Sheffield and Rotterham Independent and Iris), discovered in the Northamptonshire Record Office, are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Analysis. The goal of this article is to clarify the thesis well-established in traditional historiography, according to which the influence of the press on the current political agenda became significant only in the late 1860s. The analysis done in the article shows that if in the mid-30s of the 19th century the press only broadcast the opinion of the political elite, then during the Crimean War it already had the most direct influence on the formation of British public opinion. Results. The result of the study was the thesis that by the end of the Crimean War, the British press was quite able to influence public opinion and, even under certain circumstances, determine it. However, it still had very limited influence when it came to measures affecting the prerogative powers of Parliament and the Cabinet. Authors’ contribution. V.V. Klochkov determined the basic concept of the article and the methodological foundations of the study, as well as identified unpublished sources from the regional archives of Great Britain. V.S. Nazarova prepared the introduction of the article, created its structural composition, and analyzed the historiography of the problem. I.M. Uznarodov conducted an analysis of the publications of periodicals and formulated the main results of the study.