Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)
Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) | |
---|---|
Part of the series of Mediterranean | |
Result | Russian victory |
Territorial changes | Ottoman Empire cedes . |
Kingdom of Imereti
Beylik of Egypt
Emirate of Palestine
Greek insurgents
Bar Confederation
The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a major armed conflict that saw
Nonetheless, Russia was able to take advantage of the weakened Ottoman Empire, the end of the
Background
Russian war with Poland
The war followed internal tensions within
Ottoman situation
In the Ottoman Empire, revolts were widespread. Many noble factions had risen against the power of Sultan Mustafa III and would proceed to break away from the Ottoman Empire. In addition to this decentralization of the Empire the Ottomans were also faced with the revival of a unified Persia, which rose to oppose the Turks in Iraq.[6]
Upon the outbreak of the war the Ottomans seemed to have the upper hand as Russia was suffering from financial strain as a consequence of involvement in the
Russian invasion
Not content to let the Polish enemy flee over the border, Cossacks followed them into the Ottoman Empire. In the summer of 1768, Mustafa III received reports that the town of Balta had been massacred by Russian paid Zaporozhian Cossacks.[13] Russia denied the accusations, but it was reported that the Cossacks "certainly razed Balta and killed whomever they found".[14] With the confederates of Poland and the French embassy pushing the sultan along, with many pro-war advisors, the sultan on October 6 imprisoned Aleksei Mikhailovich Obreskov and the entire Russian embassy's staff, marking the Ottoman's declaration of war on Russia.[15]
After her victories in the war, Catherine II was depicted in portraits dressed in the military uniforms of
In January 1769, Crimean Khan
On September 17, 1769, the Russians began their initial campaign over the
Caucasian front
By now, Russia had some troops spread out north of the Caucasus. In 1769, as a diversion, the Russians sent
Russian Mediterranean expedition
During the war, a Russian fleet, under Count
Just outside the city of
In 1771,
In 1773, Yusuf Shihab entrusted the strengthening of Beirut's defences to
Mediation and ceasefire
A ceasefire between Russia and the Ottoman Empire commenced on May 30, 1772, but real negotiations did not begin until August 8. The peace talks broke down almost immediately over the Crimea, but the truce was extended until March 20, 1773.
Both parties had reasons to expand the negotiations, primarily to do with both sides wanting to keep fighting on a single front. The Ottomans were now quelling rebellions from Egypt and Syria and also faced incursions from
Final Russian offensive
On June 20, 1774, the Russian army, under the command of Alexander Suvorov, managed to rout the Ottoman army near Kozludzha. Russia used the victory to force the Ottoman Empire to acquiesce to Russia's preferences in the treaty.[24]
Peace treaty
On July 21, 1774, the Ottoman Empire had to sign perforce the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca.[25] The treaty did not overtly take away vast territories from the Ottomans – Poland had already paid the price of alienated territory. According to the treaty:[26]
- The Crimean Khanate formally gained its independence from both powers (but in reality became dependent on Russia and in 1782 was directly annexed after bloody clashes between the Christian and Tatar populations).
- Russia received war reparations of 4.5 million rubles[27]
- The Ottoman Empire ceded to Russia two key seaports, Azov and Kerch, allowing the Russian Navy and merchant fleet direct access to the Black Sea
- Russia gained the territory between the rivers Dnieper and Southern Bug
- The Porte renounced Ottoman claims to Kabardia in the North Caucasus
- Russia gained official status as protector of the Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire, which opened the door for future Russian expansion
As a consequence of the treaty, the Ottomans ceded the northwestern part of Moldavia (later known as Bukovina) to the Habsburg Empire.[28]
Russia quickly exploited Küçük Kaynarca for an easy excuse to go to war and take more territory from the Ottoman Empire.[29]
This war comprised but a small part of the continuous process of expansion of the Russian Empire southwards and eastwards during the 18th and 19th centuries.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-47250801-0.
- ISBN 0-19822119-3.
- ^ a b Herbert H. Kaplan, The First Partition of Poland, New York and London: Columbia University Press, pg 101.
- ^ Jan Stanislaw Kopczewski, Kosckiuszko and Pulaski, Warsaw: Interpress Publishers, pg 85
- ^ Jan Stanislaw Kopczewski, Kosckiuszko and Pulaski, Warsaw: Interpress Publishers, pg 87
- ^ Jay Shaw Stanford, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press, pg 253–255.
- ^ Russian Overseas Commerce with Great Britain pg 3
- ^ Carolly Erickson, Great Catherine, New York: Crown Publishers, pg 277
- ^ Sicker, Martin, The Islamic World in Decline, Westport, Connecticut London: Praeger, pg 70
- ^ a b c d Jay Shaw Stanford, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press, pg 2
- ^ a b Carolly Erickson, Great Catherine, New York: Crown Publishers, pg 2
- ^ a b Sicker, Martin, The Islamic World in Decline, Westport, Connecticut London: Praeger, pg 57
- ^ Sicker, Martin, The Islamic World in Decline, Westport, Connecticut London: Praeger, pp. 69–70
- ^ Sicker, Martin, The Islamic World in Decline, Westport, Connecticut London: Praeger, p. 100.
- ^ Herbert H. Kaplan, The First Partition of Poland, New York and London: Columbia University Press, p. 105.
- ^ Russian Overseas Commerce With Great Britain During the Reign of Catherine II
- ^ Lord Kinross, 'The Ottoman Centuries', page 397
- ^ a b c Michael F. Davie and Mitia Frumin, "Late 18th-century Russian Navy Maps and the First 3D Visualization of the Walled City of Beirut", e-Perimetron, 2, 2 (2007): 52–65.
- ^ Yuzo Nagata, “Greek Rebellion of 1770 in the Morea Peninsula: Some Remarks through the Turkish Historical Sources”, in Studies on the Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire (Izmir: Akademi Kitabevi, 1995), 111 – 116
- ^ For general accounts of the Russian occupations of Beirut, see William Persen, "The Russian occupations of Beirut, 1772–74", Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, 42, 3–4 (1955): 275–86, and Paul du Quenoy, "Arabs under Tsarist Rule: The Russian Occupation of Beirut, 1773–1774", Russian History, 41, 2 (2014): 128–41.
- ^ Herbert H. Kaplan, The First Partition of Poland, New York and London: Columbia University Press, pp. 119–20.
- ^ Jay Shaw Stanford, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press, pp. 283. Jay Shaw Stanford, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press, p. 89
- ISBN 978-0-275-96891-5.
- ^ Sicker, Martin, The Islamic World in Decline, Westport, Connecticut London: Praeger, p. 73-
- ISBN 978-1-4008-7261-9.
- ^ "Treaty of Peace (Küçük Kaynarca), 1774". Empire in Asia: A New Global History. National University of Singapore. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Mikaberidze 2011, p. 492.
- ^ The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 and the Treaty of Kuciuk-Kainargi at historia.ro (in Romanian)
- ISBN 0198221193.
Sources
- Aksan, Virginia. "The One-Eyed Fighting the Blind: Mobilization, Supply, and Command in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774." International History Review 15#2 (1993): 221–238.
- Aksan, Virginia. "Breaking the spell of the Baron de Tott: reframing the question of military reform in the Ottoman empire, 1760–1830." International History Review 24.2 (2002): 253–277.
- De Madariaga, Isabel. Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great (1981) pp 205–14.
- Mikaberidze, Alexander (2011). "Treaty of Kuchuk Kainardji (1774)". In Mikaberidze, Alexander (ed.). Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO.