The article considers the drastic consequences of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 for the Russian Empire. It is noted that in the first place some terms of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856 attacked the defense capability of the Russian Empire on its southern borders. The author, based on a wide range of source material, provides examples of demonstrative actions conducted on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus by England and Turkey with the only purpose to prevent the final approval of Russia in the Western Caucasus.