Russian Expansionism and Ottoman Empire

The Russo-Turkish Wars were a series of wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Their conflict during World War I is often counted. It was one of the longest conflicts in European history, spanning 241 years, far longer than the Hundred Years' War between England and France. On average, only 19 years of peace separated two open conflicts between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

17th Century

18th Century

On June 19, the Russian Don army (28,000 men) under the command of General Peter Lacy with the support from the Don Flotilla under the command of Vice Admiral Peter Bredahl seized the fortress of Azov. In July of 1737, the Munnich army took by storm the Turkish fortress of Ochakov. The Lacy army (already 40,000 men strong) marched into the Crimea the same month, inflicting a number of defeats on the army of the Crimean khan and capturing Karasubazar. However, Lacy and his soldiers had to leave the Crimea due to lack of supplies.

In July of 1737, Austria entered the war against Turkey, but was defeated a number of times. In August, Russia, Austria and Turkey began negotiations in Nemirov, which would turn out to be fruitless. There were no significant military operations in 1738. The Russian army had to leave Ochakov and Kinburn due to the plague outbreak.

In 1739, the Munich army crossed the Dnieper, defeated the Ottoman Empire at Stavuchany and occupied the fortress of Khotin (August 19) and Jassy. However, Austria was defeated by the Ottoman Empire once again and signed a separate peace treaty on August 21. This, coupled with the imminent threat of the Sweden|Swedish invasion, forced Russia to sign the Belgrade Peace Treaty with Turkey on September 18, which ended the war.

After the Russians had defeated the Swedes in the Battle of Poltava. With the help from Austrian and France|French diplomats, Charles XII of Sweden managed to persuade the Turkey|Turkish Sultan to declare war on Russia on November 20, 1710. The war followed the internal tensions within Poland where there was the strife between the nobility and the king Stanislaus II of Poland|Stanilaus Augustus Poniatowski, former favorite of the Russian Empress Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II. The king was dependent on the support from the Imperial Russia|Russian troops.

Following this border incident at Balta, Sultan Mustafa III declared war on Russia on September 25 1768. The Turks formed the alliance with the Polish oppositionary forces of Bar Confederation, while Russia was supported by the United Kingdom, who offered naval advisers to the Russian navy.

The Polish opposition was defeated by Aleksandr Vasilievich Suvorov who was then transferred to the Turkish theatre of operations where in 1773 and 1774 he won several minor and major battles following the previous grand successes of the Russian Field-Marshal Count Rumyantsev|Peter Rumiantsev at Larga and Kagula.

The naval operations of the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Mediterranean yielded victories under the command of Aleksey Grigoryevich Orlov. In 1771, Egypt and Syria rebelled against the Ottoman rule while the Russian fleet totally destroyed the Turkish Navy.

On July 21, 1774, the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji according to which the Crimean Khanate formally gained its independence, but in reality became dependent on Russia. Russia received the contribution of 4.5 million rubles and two key seaports allowing the direct access to the Black Sea.

In 1786 Catherine II of Russia made a triumphal progress through the Crimea in company with her ally, Emperor Joseph II. These events and the friction caused by mutual complaints of infringements of the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji, which had closed the previous war, stirred up public opinion in Istanbul, and the British ambassador lent his support to the war party.

In 1788 war was declared, but Turkey's preparations were inadequate and the moment was ill-chosen, now that Russia and Austria were in alliance, a fact of which Turkey became aware only when the horse tails were planted for the campaign. The Turks drove back the Austrians from Mehadia and overran the Banat (1789); but in Moldavia Field-Marshal Rumyantsev was successful and captured Jassy and Khotin.

Turkish generals were incompetent and the army mutinous; expeditions for the relief of Bender and Akerman failed, Belgrade was taken by the Austrians, the impenetrable fortress of Izmail was captured by the brilliant Suvorov, and the fall of Anapa completed the series of Turkey's disasters.

Sultan Selim III was anxious to restore his country's prestige by a victory before making peace, but the condition of his troops rendered this hope unavailing; while Prussia, though on the 31st of January 1790 she had signed an offensive treaty with Turkey, gave her no help during the war. Accordingly a treaty was signed with Russia at Jassy (Jan. 9, 1792) by which the Crimea and Ochakov were left to Russia, the Dniester was made the frontier in Europe, and the Asiatic frontier remained unchanged.

The 19th Century

Main article: Crimean War

When in 1853 Russia destroyed the entire Ottoman fleet at Sinop, Britain and France concluded that armed intervention on the side of the Ottomans was the only way to halt a massive Russian expansion, on the grounds that the Ottoman armies could do nothing to stop a Russian march on Constantinople. The Crimean War illustrated how modern technology and superior weaponry were the most important part of a modern army, and a part that the Ottoman Empire was sorely lacking. While fighting alongside the British, French, and even the Piedmontese, the Ottomans could see how far they had fallen behind. It is not surprising then that at the mid point of the 19th century the Ottoman Empire was at the mercy of the Russians until outside forces intervened. Things began to change after the Crimean war.

Another change was that Serbia was permanently granted its independent status. This pleased both Austria, who feared a Serbian revolt on its borders, and Russia who long supported the Slavic nation's independence. Other changes began to occur as Europeans for the first time saw the trading opportunity of Turkey. The amount of money entering the nation through trade was soon dramatically increased. As well the government received a great deal of extra money from a uniform tax system with little corruption. The Sultan also managed to get a tighter grip on the provincial beys and increased the tribute they had to pay. Regrettably Abd-ul-Aziz, the Sultan at the time, used much of this money on furnishing and creating great palaces to rival the great ones in England and France, which he had visited. The Empire was undergoing a revolution, throughout Anatolia a new Ottoman nationalism was appearing, and for the first time the Empire had a middle class. It seemed as though it might be possible for the Empire to turn its decline around.

The monetary and governmental collapse combined with a new threat from Russia began the final stages of the Empire's collapse. Russia had been forced by the Crimean War to give up its ambitions of owning Istanbul and controlling the Bosphorus. Instead it decided to focus on gaining power in the Balkans. The population of much of the Balkans were Slavs, as were the Russians. They also mainly followed the Eastern Orthodox Church, as did the Russians. When new movements in Russia, such as that of the Slavophiles, started to enter the area, it became agitated and prone to revolution. When the government in Istanbul tried to initiate measures to prevent an economic collapse throughout the empire it touched off a revolt in Herzegovina. The revolt in Herzegovina, quickly spread to Bosnia and then Bulgaria. Soon Serbian armies also entered the war against the Turks. These revolts were the first test of the new Ottoman armies. Even though they were not up to western European standards the army fought effectively and brutally. Soon the Balkan rebellions were beginning to falter. In Europe, however, a new problem was developing. The papers of Russia were filled with reports of Turkish soldiers killing thousands of Slavs. Soon more than Russian propaganda was moving southwards and a new Russo-Turkish war had begun. Despite fighting better than they ever had before the advanced Ottoman armies still were not equal to the Russian forces. This time there was no help from abroad, in truth many European nations supported the Russian war, as long as it did not get too close to Istanbul. Ten and a half months later when the war had ended the age of Ottoman domination over the Balkans was over. The Ottomans had fought well, the new navy of Ironclads had won the battle for the Black Sea, and Russian advances in the Caucasus had been kept minimal. In the Balkans, however, the Russian army, supported by rebels, had pushed the Ottoman army out of Bulgaria, Walachia, Romania, and much of East Rumelia and by the end of the war the artillery firing in Thrace could be heard in Istanbul.

In response to the Russian proximity to the straits the British, against the wishes of the Sultan, intervened in the war. A large task force representing British naval supremacy entered the straits of Marmara and anchored in view of both the royal palace and the Russian army. The British may have saved the Ottoman empire once again, but it ended the rosy relations between the two powers that had endured since the Crimean War. Looking at the prospect of a British entry into the war the Russians decided to settle the dispute. The treaty of San Stephano gave Romania and Montenegro their independence, Serbia and Russia each received extra territory, Austria was given control over Bosnia, and Bulgaria was given almost complete autonomy. The hope of the Sultan was that the other great powers would oppose such a one-sided resolution and a conference would be held to revise it. His desire became reality and in 1878 the Congress of Berlin was held where Germany promised to be an "honest broker" in the treaty's revision. In the new treaty Bulgarian territory was decreased and the war indemnities were cancelled. The conference also again hurt Anglo-Turkish relations by giving the British the island of Cyprus. While annoyed at British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, the Sultan had nothing but praise for Otto von Bismarck who forced many of the major concessions upon Russia. These close Germano-Turkish relations would persist until both empires' very end.

The Russion extension in this century developed with the main theme of supporting independence of Ottomans' former provinces and than bring all of the Slav peoples of the balkans under Bulgaria or using Ermenians in the east sets the stage. At the end of the century From Russion perspective; Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and autonomy of Bulgaria was achieved. That alarmed the Great Powers. After the Congress of Berlin the Russion expension was controlled through stopping the expansion of Bulgaria. The Russian public felt that at the end of Congress of Berlin thousands of Russian soldiers had died for nothing.

One important event durig this period is Crimean War. Even though Ottomans and Russions were on the opposing sides, the roots of the war were due to the rivalry between the British and the Russians. The war ended unfavorably for the Russians, with the Paris peace of 1856. Crimean war brought a decline in Ottoman morale and a feeling of helplessness.

The Balkans

Main article: Greek War of Independence

The resulting Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne) in September 14, 1829 gave Russia most of the eastern shore of the Black Sea and the mouth of the Danube.

The second movement happenned under the ... uprisings

Main article: History of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Main article: Romanian War of Independence

In February 1878 the Russian army had almost reached Istanbul, but scared the city might fall, the British sent a fleet of battle-ships to intimidate Russia from entering the city. Under pressure from the fleet to negotiate and having suffered enormous losses (by some estimates about 200,000 men) Russia agreed a settlement under the Treaty of San Stefano (Ayastefanos Anlaşması in Turkish) on March 3, by which the Ottoman Empire recognized the independence of its former provinces Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and autonomy of Bulgaria.

The Caucasus

The 20th Century

The collapse of the Russian army after the 1917 revolution left only thinly spread Armenian units to resist the inevitable Turkish counter-attack. Before the end of the WWI by 1918 the Turkish army reformed with what was left from the middle-east branch and tried to build a line between whatever seems to be left on their east border. The newly declared Republic of Armenia, capturing Kars in April 1918 and reaching Baku on the Caspian sea. Defeat on other fronts caused Turkey to surrender and withdraw to the pre-war borders.

Results

External link

• - The Romanian Army of the Russo-Turkish War 1877-78