Initial and intermediate phases (1568–1739) Russia before Peter the Great in about 1600. Note that the areas marked
Poland and
Muscovy were claimed rather than administered. The first
Russo-Turkish War (1568–1570) occurred after the
conquest of Kazan and
Astrakhan by the Russian
tsar Ivan the Terrible. The Ottoman Sultan
Selim II tried to squeeze the Russians out of the lower
Volga by sending a military expedition to Astrakhan in 1569. The Turkish expedition ended in disaster for the
Ottoman army, which could not take Astrakhan and almost completely perished in the steppes, while the
Ottoman fleet was wrecked by a storm in the
Sea of Azov. The peace treaty between the two sides cemented Russia's rule on the Volga, but allowed the Ottoman Empire to obtain a number of commercial benefits. The
Crimean Khanate, an Ottoman
vassal, continued its expansion against the
Tsardom of Russia, burning down
Moscow in 1571, but was defeated at the
Battle of Molodi in 1572. The next conflict between Russia and Turkey began 100 years later as part of the struggle for the territory of Ukraine. While Russia conquered
Left-bank Ukraine after the
Russo-Polish War (1654–1667), the Ottoman Empire, in the course of the
Polish–Ottoman War (1672–1676), spread its rule over all of
right-bank Ukraine with the support of its
vassal,
Petro Doroshenko (1665–1672). The latter's pro-Ottoman policy caused disapproval among many
Ukrainian Cossacks, who would elect
Ivan Samoilovich as sole
Hetman of all Ukraine in 1674. In 1676, Russian troops captured
Chigirin and overthrew Doroshenko, who was exiled to Russia. In 1677, the Ottoman army tried to retake Chigirin, but was defeated. In 1678, the Ottoman army was finally able to take Chigirin after a bloody assault, but here the Ottoman expansion to the northeast was stopped. In 1679–80, the Russians repelled the attacks of the
Crimean Tatars and signed the
Treaty of Bakhchisarai in 1681, which established the Russo-Turkish border on the
Dnieper River.
Russia during and after Peter the Great Russia joined the European
Holy League (
Austria,
Poland,
Venice) in 1686. During the war, the Russian army organized the
Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689 and the
Azov campaigns (1695–96). In the light of Russia's preparations for the war with
Sweden and other countries' signing the
Treaty of Karlowitz with Turkey in 1699, the Russian government signed the
Treaty of Constantinople with the Ottoman Empire in 1700. Following the results of peace, Russia managed to annex
Azov and get access to the Sea of Azov. by the troops of
Peter the Great in 1696 After the Russians had defeated the Swedes and the pro-
Swedish Empire Ukrainian Cossacks led by
Ivan Mazepa in the
Battle of Poltava in 1709,
Charles XII of Sweden managed to persuade the Ottoman Sultan
Ahmed III to declare war on Russia on November 20, 1710. The
Prut campaign of Peter the Great ended very unsuccessfully for Russia. The Russian army, led by the tsar, was surrounded by a superior Turkish-Tatar army and was forced to agree to unfavorable peace conditions, according to which it returned the previously captured Azov to the Ottoman Empire. By the late 17th century,
Safavid Iran, which neighbored both empires and had been one of the greatest rivals for Turkey
for centuries (16th–19th centuries), had been heavily declining. Taking advantage of the situation, Russia and the Ottoman Empire conquered swaths of its territory comprising contemporary
Dagestan,
Azerbaijan, and
Northern Iran, which was taken by
Peter I in the
Russo-Persian War (1722–1723); the Ottomans took the territory to the west, comprising modern day
Armenia, parts of Eastern
Anatolia, as well as western Iran. The gains by both were confirmed in the
Treaty of Constantinople (1724). For a few years, they bordered each other along a large territory in the Caucasus, which caused further frictions. Russia managed to secure a favourable international situation by signing treaties with Persia in
1732 and
1735. These returned all Iranian territories gained since 1722 in the
North and
South Caucasus and Northern Iran, and avoided war with the emerging leader of Persia,
Nader Shah. The treaties had other diplomatically favourable aspects as they established a Russo-Iranian alliance against Turkey, as Persia was
at war with the Ottoman Empire. In the meantime Russia was also supporting the accession to the Polish throne of
Augustus III in the
War of the Polish Succession (1733–35), over the
French-nominated
Stanisław Leszczyński. Austria had been Russia's ally since 1726. of 1768–1774 Russia entered into
another war with the Ottoman Empire in 1736, prompted by raids on
Ukraine by Crimean Tatars and the military campaign of the
Crimean khan in the
Caucasus. In May 1736, the Russian army launched an invasion of the Crimean peninsula and burned the capital of the Crimean Khanate,
Bakhchysarai. On June 19, the Russian Don army under the command of General
Peter Lacy captured Azov. In July 1737, the
Münnich army took by storm the Ottoman fortress of
Ochakov. The Lacy army (now 40,000 strong) marched into the Crimea the same month, inflicting some defeats on the army of the Crimean Khan and capturing
Karasubazar. Lacy and his soldiers had to leave the Crimea, however, due to lack of supplies. There were no significant military operations in 1738. The Russian army had to leave Ochakov and
Kinburn due to a plague outbreak. In 1739, the
Münnich army crossed the
Dnieper, defeated the Ottoman Empire at
Stavuchany, and occupied the fortress of
Khotin and
Iaşi. 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
Swedish invasion, forced Russia to sign the
Treaty of Niš with Turkey on September 18, ending the war. The Polish opposition was defeated by
Alexander Suvorov, who was then transferred to the Ottoman 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
Pyotr Rumyantsev at
Larga and
Kagul. Naval operations of the
Russian Baltic Fleet in the Mediterranean yielded victories under the command of
Aleksei Orlov. In 1771,
Egypt and
Syria rebelled against Ottoman rule, while the Russian fleet totally destroyed the
Ottoman Navy at the
Battle of Chesma. On July 21, 1774, the Ottoman Empire signed the
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, which formally granted independence to the
Crimean Khanate, but in reality it became dependent on Russia. Russia received 4.5 million rubles and two key seaports allowing direct access to the
Black Sea. It also marked the first time that a foreign power directly interfered in the affairs of the
Sublime Porte, as the treaty gave Russia protector status over Turkey's Orthodox Christian subjects. In 1783, Russia
annexed the Crimean Khanate. In the same year, Russia established its protectorate over the
Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti according to the
Treaty of Georgievsk. In 1787, Empress
Catherine II made a triumphant
trip across the Crimea, accompanied by representatives of foreign courts and her ally,
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. These events and the friction caused by mutual complaints of infringements of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, which had closed the previous war, stirred up public opinion in
Constantinople, and the British ambassador lent his support to the war party. , 1788 In 1787 the Ottomans demanded that Russia vacate the Crimea. Russia declared war, but Ottoman preparations were inadequate and the moment was ill-chosen, now that Russia and Austria were in alliance, a fact that came to light only after events were already in motion. The Turks
drove back the Austrians from
Mehadia and overran the
Banat (1789); but in Moldavia Field-Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev was successful and captured
Iaşi and
Khotyn. Ottoman generals were incompetent, and the army mutinous; expeditions for the relief of
Bender and
Akkerman failed,
Belgrade was taken by the Austrians, The Russian army under the command of
Alexander Suvorov defeated the Turks in the
Battle of Rymnik and
captured Izmail. The fall of
Anapa completed the series of Ottoman disasters. Accordingly, the
Treaty of Jassy was signed with Russia on 9 January 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.
Engagements in the 19th century in
Ottoman-ruled Bulgaria, July–September 1828 Gábor Ágoston attributes the decline of Ottoman power relative to Russia to the reactionary
Janissaries: :Despite all these treatises and efforts at modernization, the Janissaries and their allies managed to derail Sultan Selim III's Western-style military, bureaucratic, and financial reforms through a
coup, even killing the sultan himself. It was not until the 1830s that
fundamental reforms could be started under
Mahmud II, who
destroyed the Janissaries in 1826, a century and a quarter after Peter the Great's liquidation of the ''
strel'tsy.'' In 1806, the Ottoman Empire incited by
Napoleonic France started a
new war. The long six-year war for Russia took place in parallel with the
Russo-Persian War, the
Russo-Swedish War and the
War of the Fourth Coalition. Despite this, in the decisive campaign of 1811, the Russian army of
Kutuzov defeated the Ottoman army on the
Danube, which made it possible to conclude a peace treaty beneficial for Russia, according to which Russia gained
Bessarabia. The Ottoman Empire had maintained military parity with Russia until the second half of the eighteenth century, but by the 1820s the Ottoman armies were unable to put down the
Greek War of Independence in
southern Greece. The great powers of Europe intervened, and assisted
Greece with its independence. After the
Battle of Navarino and the
Russo-Turkish War (1828–29), in which the Russian army first crossed the
Balkan Mountains and took
Adrianople, Turkey recognized the independence of Greece and the transition of the
Black Sea coast of the Caucasus to Russia. Thus Greece became the first independent country created out of a section of the Ottoman Empire. Russian Empire aspirations for a section of the empire and bases on Russia's southern flank provoked
British fears over naval domination of the Mediterranean and control of the land route to the
Indian subcontinent. 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. Even though the Ottomans and Russians were on opposing sides, the roots of the ensuing
Crimean War lay in the rivalry between the British and the Russians. The war ended unfavorably for the Russians, with the Paris
peace of 1856. The wars declined Ottoman morale and turned it helpless, illustrating that 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
Sardinians, the Ottomans could see how far they had fallen behind. Things began to change after the Crimean War. One of these changes arose as Europeans began to see commercial opportunity in the empire and the money entering via trade dramatically increased. The government also received a great deal of extra money from a uniform tax system with little corruption. The Sultan got a tighter grip on the provincial
beys and increased the tribute they had to pay. However, Sultan
Abdülaziz, used much of this money on furnishing and creating great palaces to rival the ones in England and France, which he had visited. The empire was undergoing a revolution, and throughout Anatolia a new
Ottoman nationalism was appearing. 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 conquering the Ottoman capital of
Constantinople and taking control of 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 region, it became agitated and prone to revolution. When the government in Constantinople tried to initiate measures to prevent an economic collapse throughout the empire, it touched off a
revolt in Herzegovina in 1875. The revolt in
Herzegovina quickly spread to
Bosnia and then
Bulgaria. Soon
Serbia also entered the war against the Turks. These revolts were the first test of the new
Modern Ottoman Army. Even though they were not up to Western European standards, the army fought effectively and brutally; during the war, the Ottomans carried out the
Batak massacre in 1876.
Januarius MacGahan, a journalist of the
New York Herald and the London
The Daily News wrote of the terrible happenings after his visit to Batak with
Eugene Schuyler. According to most sources, around 5,000 people were massacred in Batak alone. The total number of victims in the April uprising according to most estimates around 15,000, which is supported by
Eugene Schuyler's report, published in
The Daily News, according to which at least 15,000 persons were killed during the April Uprising in addition to 36 villages in three districts being buried. According to
Donald Quataert around 1,000 Muslims were killed by Christian Bulgarians and consequently 3,700 Christians were killed by Muslims. against Turkish troops was crucial for the
independence of Bulgaria. Soon the Balkan rebellions were beginning to falter. In Europe, papers were filled with reports of Ottoman soldiers killing thousands of Slavs. Even in Great Britain
William Ewart Gladstone published his account of Ottoman atrocities in his
Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. The uprisings raised a chance for Russia, and (
Prince Gorchakov) and
Austria-Hungary (
Count Andrássy), who made the secret
Reichstadt Agreement on July 8, 1876, on partitioning the Balkan peninsula depending on the outcome. The following year a
new Russo-Turkish war had begun. Despite fighting better than they ever had before, the modernised Ottoman armies still were not equal to the
Imperial Russian Army. 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 Constantinople. Ten and a half months later when the war had ended, the age of Ottoman domination over the Balkans was over. In the Balkans, the Russian army, having crossed the Danube, captured the
Shipka Pass. The Turkish army of
Osman Nuri Pasha, after a stubborn struggle,
surrendered to Plevna. After that, the Russian army crossed the Balkan Mountains, defeated the remaining Turkish troops and reached the approaches to Constantinople. In the Caucasus, the Turkish army held back the Russian offensive, but after a defeat at the
Battle of Aladzha, retreated to
Erzurum, after which the Russians took
Kars. On the Black Sea, the Ottoman fleet had a colossal advantage, since the Russian
Black Sea Fleet had not recovered from the Crimean War. Despite this, the hostilities on the Black Sea in this war were not important. In response to the Russian proximity to the straits, the British, against the wishes of the new Sultan
Abdul Hamid II, intervened in the war. A large task force representing British naval supremacy entered the straits of
Marmara and anchored in view of both the
Dolmabahçe Palace and the Russian army. Looking at the prospect of a British entry into the war, the Russians decided to settle the dispute. The
Treaty of San Stefano gave
Romania and
Montenegro their independence, Serbia and Russia each received extra territory,
Austria-Hungary 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 hope 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-Ottoman 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-Ottoman relations would persist until both empires' very end. The Russian extension in this century developed with the main theme of supporting independence of Ottomans' former provinces and then bringing all of the Slav peoples of the Balkans under Bulgaria or using Armenians in the east sets the stage. At the end of the century from Russian perspective;
Romania,
Serbia and Montenegro and the autonomy of Bulgaria was achieved. That alarmed the
Great Powers. After the
Congress of Berlin the Russian expansion 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.
Sovereignty of Caucasian territories During the Greek uprising, the Russian Empire reached the Ottoman borders in the
Caucasus, which were located in the southwest of the region, as well as northeastern
Anatolia. Under the terms of the
Treaty of Adrianople, the Ottoman Empire recognized Russian sovereignty over western
Georgia, which was formerly under Ottoman suzerainty, and recognized Russian domination of present-day
Armenia, which had been conquered a year earlier (1828) by the Russians from
Qajar Iran through the
Treaty of Turkmenchay. After the war of 1877–78, Russia also received
Kars and
Ardahan.
Collapse of Russian and Ottoman empires (1914–1923) of northeast Turkey and the Caucasus (
Western Armenia). During the early months of
World War I,
Kars was a key military objective for the Ottoman army.
Enver Pasha who pushed the Ottoman Empire into World War I, needed a victory against the Russians to defend his position. He collected an army on the eastern border. The army was badly defeated under Enver's command at the
Battle of Sarikamish January 2, 1915, against
Nikolai Yudenich. This defeat was more due to the winter weather and bad planning, given the fact that Russians were actually preparing to evacuate Kars. With the loss of the eastern army, Ottoman defenses crumbled with further small battles and the Russian army succeeded in advancing as far west as
Erzincan. The Ottoman army suffered the next heavy defeat in the
Battle of Erzurum in 1916, after which the Russian army captured the whole of
Western Armenia. After the 1916 campaign, the front remained stable until the
Russian Revolution. The collapse of the Russian army after the 1917 revolution left only thinly spread Armenian units to resist the inevitable Ottoman counter-attack. The newly declared
First Republic of Armenia took over Kars in April 1918. That same year in March, the
Baku Commune was established in the
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The commune later became the
Centrocaspian Dictatorship, in turn conquered by the Ottoman
Islamic Army of the Caucasus, then shortly by the
Triple Entente and finally the
Bolsheviks. Defeat on other fronts caused the Ottoman Empire to
surrender and withdraw forces. Both the
Armenian and
Azerbaijani Republics ended up being part of the
Soviet Union in 1920. The Soviet-Turkish border was established under the
Treaty of Moscow (1921). == List of conflicts ==