Azov campaigns (1695–1696)

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Azov campaigns
Part of
Wallachia, Armenia, Caucasus, and the Dardanelles
Result Russian victory
Territorial
changes		 Russia captures Azov[1][2]
Belligerents Tsardom of Russia Tsardom of Russia Ottoman EmpireCommanders and leaders Tsardom of Russia Peter the Great Mustafa IIStrength 200,000 (both campaigns) 3,760
Janissaries
(Azov garrison)Casualties and losses Heavy Heavy

The Azov campaigns of 1695–1696 (

Don River gaining access to the Sea of Azov and entrance to the Black Sea. Despite stubborn resistance and heavy casualties, the Russians under General Sheremetev after a failed siege in 1695 managed to capture the fort, accompanied by a naval force, in July 1696, marking the first major Russian victory against the Turks.[3]

The first Azov campaign

The first Azov campaign began in the spring of 1695. Peter the Great ordered his

Franz Lefort, Patrick Gordon and Avtonom Golovin. Supplies were shipped down the Don from Voronezh
. In 1693 the Ottoman garrison of the fortress was 3,656, of whom 2,272 were
Janissaries.[4]
Between June 27-July 5 the Russians blocked Azov from land but could not control the river and prevent resupply. After two unsuccessful attacks on August 5 and September 25, the siege was lifted on October 1.[5]

Another Russian army (120,000 men, mostly

Boris Sheremetev set out for the lower reaches of the Dnieper to take the Ottoman forts there. The main fort at Gazi-Kerman was taken when its powder magazine blew up, as well as Islam-Kerman, Tagan and Tavan,[6] but the Russians were not able to hold the area and withdrew most of their forces. By the Treaty of Constantinople (1700)
the remaining Russians were withdrawn and the lower Dnieper was declared a demilitarized zone.

The second Azov campaign

At the end of 1695 the Russians began preparing for the second Azov campaign. By the spring of 1696 they had built a

ships-of-the-line, four fire ships, 23 galleys and miscellaneous vessels, built at Voronezh and nearby locations) under the command of Lefort reached the sea and blocked Azov. On June 14 the Turkish fleet (23 ships with 4,000 men) appeared at the mouth of the Don. However, it left after having lost two ships in combat. After massive bombardment from land and sea and seizure of the external rampart of the fortress by the Ukrainian and Don Cossacks on July 17, the Azov garrison surrendered on July 19.[8]

Aftermath

The Azov campaigns demonstrated the significance of having a fleet and marked the beginning of Russia's becoming a maritime power. Russia's success at Azov strengthened its positions during the Karlowitz Congress of 1698–1699 and favored the signing of the Treaty of Constantinople in 1700. As Azov's harbor was not convenient for the military fleet, the Tsar selected another more appropriate site on July 27, 1696, on the cape Tagan-Rog (Taganrog). On September 12, 1698, Taganrog was founded there, which became the first military base of the Russian Navy.

Although the campaign was a success, it was evident to

Boyar Duma decreed the creation of the regular Imperial Russian Navy; this date is considered to be the birthdate of the Russian Navy
. The first shipbuilding program consisted of 52 vessels.

In 1697, a Russian ambassador present at the

tomans to the Russians, which the report asserted were owed to the Tsar "since the days of shah Safi" (r. 1629–1642).[9]

Notes

  1. ^ Brian Davies, Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500–1700, (Routledge, 2007), 185.
  2. ^ The Crimean Tatars and the Austro-Ottoman Wars, Dan D.Y. Shapira, The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718, ed. Charles W. Ingrao, Nikola Samardžić, Jovan Pesalj, (Purdue University Press, 2011), 135.
  3. ISBN 978-0-313-33537-2
    .
  4. ^ Rhoads Murphey, Ottoman Warfare 1500-1700, (UCL Press Limited,1999), 55.
  5. ^ Brian Davies, Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500–1700, 185.
  6. ^ The Crimean Tatars and the Austro-Ottoman Wars, Dan D.Y. Shapira, The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718, 135.
  7. ^ William Young, International Politics And Warfare In The Age Of Louis XIV and Peter the Great, (iUniverse, 2004), 439.
  8. ^ The Crimean Tatars and the Austro-Ottoman Wars, Dan D.Y. Shapira, The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718, 135.
  9. ^ a b Sicker 2001, p. 16.

References

  • Brian L. Davies: Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe 1500-1700, Oxon 2007. Google-Books-Link
  • Sicker, Martin (2001). The Islamic World in Decline: From the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Greenwood Publishing Group.
    ISBN 978-0275968915
    .
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