Widening of the Question--The Fleets in Besika Bay--Lord Clarendon's Despatch--The Czar and Lord Stratford de Redcliffe--Nesselrode's "Last Effort"--Military Preparations--Blindness of the British Cabinet--Nesselrode's Ultimatum rejected--Occupation of the Principalities--Projects of Settlement--The Vienna Note--Its Rejection by the Porte--Division of the Powers--Text of the Note--Divisions in the British Cabinet--The Fleets in the Bosphorus--The Conference at Olmütz--The Sultan's Grand Council--Lord Stratford de Redcliffe's Last Effort--Patriotism of the Turks--Omar Pasha's Victories--The Russian Fleet puts forth--Lord Stratford de Redcliffe refuses Support to the Turks--The Turkish Fleet Destroyed at Sinope--Indignation in England--The French Suggestion--It is accepted by Lord Clarendon--Russia demands Explanations--Diplomatic Relations suspended--The Letter of Napoleon III.--The Western Powers arm--An Ultimatum to Russia--It is unanswered--The Baltic Fleet--Publication of the Correspondence--Declarations of War. When Prince Menschikoff presented his ultimatum the Eastern Question underwent a complete change. Up to that moment the quarrel had been confined, first to Russia and France, next to Russia and the Porte; and the struggle, although supported on one side by the advance of armies, was still a diplomatic struggle. Prince Menschikoff's formal demand for a protectorate, the violence of his language, and his imperious request for an answer in a limited time, converted the question at once into a European question of the first magnitude. The earliest news that the Prince had presented an ultimatum to the Porte created a profound impression in the Courts of Paris and London, and even in the Courts of Berlin and Vienna, where Russia had so many friends. The British Government heard of it with "extreme surprise and regret." They had been wronged by the conduct of the Czar, and a strong revulsion followed from confidence to mistrust. The Emperor had broken his word.