Their's not to reason why - Their's but to do and die

The Franco-Russian dispute over the holy places in Palestine was the immediate cause of the Crimean War in 1854. At the time Turkey controlled Palestine, Egypt, and most of the Middle East. Turkey had given privileges to protect the Christians and their churches in the Holy Land to many nations. This explains why so many different churches and nationals control various holy shrines in Israel/Palestine to this very day. The French wanted the keys to the Church of the Nativity in the old city of Jerusalem and the right to place a silver star on Christ's birthplace in Bethlehem. The French threatened military action and so did the Russians. Then the British decided it was worth a war to keep and expand their interest in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The war could have been prevented. There were eleven different projects for pacification that all failed. Once the war commenced no nation could win let alone achieve a quick victory. The war ground on for three murderous years. Over 500,000 men died in the Crimean War. Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of nursing and a reformer of hospital sanitation methods plus a champion of women's rights, started her career in the Crimean War. The famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" recounted only the most blatant example of military blundering in the war.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

Was there a man dismay'd?

Not tho' the soldier knew

Someone had blunder'd

Their's not to make reply,

Their's not to reason why,

Their's but to do and die:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

This entire killing for the keys to the church built on the site of the birthplace of the Prince of Peace. Of course the war wasn't really about the keys but rather each nation's imperial ambitions. The keys were the "just cause" the conservative men in control exploited to justify the war. Just like the Bush administration's cause was Weapons of Mass Destruction. The French never got the keys and the USA never got the WMD yet the killing goes on till this day ...