Russia had used the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca as its legal basis for interfering in the Ottoman Empire's domestic Orthodox affairs.
Nicholas I had always cherished this excuse. The banner of "protecting the faith" had once been the clarion call for intervening in the Greek War of Independence; it could also serve as an opportunity to contend for the Balkans, and naturally, as a hope of reclaiming Constantinople.
He had always taken pride in the belief that he was fulfilling the sacred duty of protecting Orthodox believers, rather than engaging in mere territorial expansion.
Nicholas I had long made up his mind: the moment the Treaty of Constanza expired on June 17, 1855, he would declare war directly on the Ottoman Empire.
By then, the Austrian Empire would surely have come to its senses and accepted his proposal.
"Your Majesty, what you are doing is indeed great, but there are no longer many Orthodox believers in Constantinople—or rather, East Thrace."
In truth, after so many years of conquest and warfare, most Orthodox believers in the Balkans were already within Russian territory. Nor were the Ottomans fools. Before, there had simply been too many Orthodox believers to deal with; now their numbers had greatly dwindled, and the Ottomans had no desire to repeat the same mistake.
The Ottoman government had gone to extraordinary lengths to reduce the number of Orthodox believers within its borders. Afraid of giving the Russians a pretext for intervention, the Ottomans did not dare use force. They could only patiently coax the Orthodox believers, even promising to send troops to escort them and provide each person with fifty Rubles to settle down.
Fifty Rubles amounted to half a year's wages for most Ottomans, making it quite tempting to the local Orthodox believers.
It was only because Empress