Victor Emmanuel had joined the allies with a Sardinian army; and the French, by a tremendous onslaught, had captured Malakof, the key to the situation in the Crimea.

Prince Gortchakof, who had replaced Prince Menschikof, was only able to cover a retreat with a mantle of glory.

The end had come.
A treaty of peace was signed March 30, 1856.

Russia renounced the claim of an exclusive protectorate over the Turkish provinces, yielded the free navigation of the Danube, left Turkey the Roumanian principalities, and, hardest of all, she lost the control of the Black Sea.

Its waters were forbidden to men-of-war of all nations; no arsenals, military or maritime, to exist upon its shores.