Tsar Nicholas, shortly after learning of the…

Tsar Nicholas, shortly after learning of the failure of Aleksandr Sergeyevich Menshikov's diplomacy, and using the Sultan's failure to resolve the issue of the Holy Places as a pretext, orders his armies into the Ottoman principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, in which Russia is the acknowledged special guardian of the Orthodox Church.

Nicholas believes that the European powers will not object strongly to the annexation of a few neighboring Ottoman provinces, especially given Russian involvement in suppressing the Revolutions of 1848.