Map of the Ottoman Empire The Black Sea and the Frontiers of Russia and Persia

Presenting the ‘Sick Map of Europe’ as a bulwark against Russian expansionism.

This informative and finely detailed map of the Ottoman Empire in Europe and Western Asia was designed and published in London in November 1853 by James Wyld, the official geographer of Queen Victoria. Vibrant hand color distinguishes territorial claims, with Russia’s many late 18th and early 19th century annexations prominently labeled. Also of interest are the (theoretically) independent enclaves of Circassia, Svaneti, and Chechnya; all fighting a desperate battle against the Russian Empire in the ongoing Caucasian War. Insets along the bottom of the page show the strategically important Port of Odesa, Harbor of Sevastopol, port of Batoum, Dardanelles, and Bosporus.

Though the Crimean War had not yet erupted at the stated date of publication (the cover title indicates a possible later date), tensions were certainly high between Russia and a coalition of the United Kingdom, France, and the Ottoman Empire. Russian imperialism was becoming too great a threat to the balance of power on the continent and in the eastern Mediterannean, prompting British support for Sultan Abdulmejid I in his territorial disputes with Czar Nicholas I. The latter had first coined the term ‘Sick Man of Europe’ when referring to the easy pickings the Ottoman Empire represented upon entering the conflict, which began on November 30, 1853, with the Battle of Sinop.