§ 5. Russian-Turkish war. Chigirinsky campaigns The Right-Bank Cossacks, dissatisfied with the cooperation of Hetman P. Doroshenko with the Turks and Crimeans, exerted strong pressure on him, and he declared himself a supporter of Russia (1676). And next year, a huge Turkish-Tatar

4. 1st Russo-Turkish War The war began, but it was not necessary to fight immediately, because the troops were far away. Then there were no trains or vehicles, the troops had to go on foot, they had to be collected from different parts of a huge country, and the Turks also swayed

2. 2nd Russo-Turkish War Preparing for a war with Turkey, Catherine managed to negotiate a military alliance with Austria. It was a major foreign policy success, because the problems that had to be solved became much simpler. Austria could put up quite

Background to the conflict

Russia's relations with Turkey began with the conquest of the latter Crimea (the Crimean Khanate and the Genoese city of Kafa) in 1475. The reason for the beginning of relations was the harassment that Russian merchants in Azov and Cafe began to be subjected to by the Turks.

Subsequently, in the XVI-XVII centuries, Russian-Turkish relations were rather tense. In addition to the difficulties that Turkey caused Moscow with its constant support of the Crimean Khan, new complications appeared: the Don Cossacks, considered Moscow subjects, attacked the Azov Cossacks, Nogais, whom the Sultan considered his subjects, and harassed them. In 1637, the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks captured Azov and held it until 1643.

The first armed clash between the Russians and the Turks dates back to 1541, when the Crimeans moved to Moscow under the command of Sahib I Giray, and the Turks were with them.

However, the unexpected sortie of the garrison, the actions of the Moscow army of the voivode Prince Peter Semyonovich Serebryany-Obolensky sent to liberate Astrakhan, according to N. A. Markevich’s “History of Little Russia” and information about the founding of the city of Cherkassk, supported by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, headed by the Cherkassy headman M. A. Vishnevetsky, - forced the enemy to lift the siege. Russian reinforcements, consisting of 15 thousand people, dispersed and scattered the builders of the canal and defeated the 50,000-strong army of Crimean Tatars sent to protect the builders. At the same time, the Ottoman fleet was destroyed by a strong storm and the actions of the Cossacks from Ukraine, who joined the Don Cossacks and founded Cherkassk, separated from the army of Vishnevetsky.

1672-1681 years

The reason for the war was the attempt of the Ottoman Empire to intervene in the Russian-Polish confrontation and seize control over the Right-Bank Ukraine. In 1669, the hetman of the Right-Bank Ukraine, Petro Doroshenko, became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.

Relying on a new ally, Sultan Mehmed IV started a war with Poland in 1672, as a result of which he received Podolia under his control. The successes of the Turks created a panic in Moscow, where they were very afraid of the invasion of the Turks into the Left-Bank Ukraine, which is under the control of Moscow. The Russian government declared war on the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. Don Cossacks, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, attacked Turkish possessions at the mouth of the Don and on the coast of Crimea.

In 1673, a Russian detachment under the command of the Duma nobleman I.S. Khitrovo, together with the Don Cossacks, continued military operations in the south against the Turkish city of Azov. Since 1673, without waiting for the invasion of the Turks, Russian troops under the command of Prince Romodanovsky and the left-bank hetman Ivan Samoylovich began to make campaigns against the right-bank Ukraine against the Turkish vassal hetman Doroshenko. As a result, in September 1676, they achieved the surrender of Chigirin and the surrender of Doroshenko.

Instead of Doroshenko, the Turkish sultan, considering the Right-Bank Ukraine to be his vassal, proclaimed Yuri Khmelnitsky hetman and began a campaign against Chyhyryn.

In 1677, Turkish troops unsuccessfully besieged Chigirin and, after the defeat near Buzhin, were forced to retreat.

In 1678, the Turks succeeded in capturing Chyhyryn, while the Russian troops withdrew to the Left-Bank Ukraine.

In 1679-80, there were no active hostilities and the war ended with the signing of the Bakhchisaray peace treaty in January 1681, which consolidated the status quo.

1686-1700 years

During the war in 1687 and 1689, Russian troops under the command of Vasily Golitsyn, together with the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, twice made trips to the Crimea, but both times due to poor water supply in the conditions of the Nogai steppes they were forced to turn back.

After the overthrow of Sophia, at first, the young Tsar Peter I was not going to resume hostilities against the Crimeans. And only in 1694 it was decided to repeat the campaigns to the south. However, this time it was decided to try to capture not Perekop, but the fortress of Azov.

Successes accompanied the actions of the Austrian troops. As a result, in 1699 the Austrians negotiated the successful Peace of Karlowitz with the Turks. Russian-Turkish negotiations continued a little longer and ended in 1700 with the signing of the Treaty of Constantinople, according to which Azov departed Russia.

1710-1713 years

The reasons for the war were the intrigues of the Swedish king Charles XII, who was hiding in the Ottoman Empire after the defeat near Poltava, the French envoy to Turkey Charles de Ferriol and the Crimean Khan, as well as the counter demands of Russia to expel the Swedish king from the Ottoman Empire. On November 20, 1710, Turkey declared war on Russia.

The state of war continued until 1713, as the Sultan made new demands, which Russia did not agree to. The Treaty of Adrianople was concluded on the terms of the Treaty of Prut in 1711.

1735-1739 years

The war of 1735-1739 took place in the alliance of the Russian and Austrian empires against the Ottoman Empire. The war was caused by increased contradictions in connection with the outcome of the War of the Polish Succession, as well as with the incessant raids of the Crimean Tatars on the southern Russian lands. In addition, the war was in line with Russia's long-term strategy to gain access to the Black Sea. Taking advantage of the internal political conflict in Constantinople, Russia began a war with Turkey.

In 1739 Minich's army captured Khotyn and Iasi.

In September 1739, the Treaty of Belgrade was concluded. Under the agreement, Russia acquired Azov, but undertook to tear down all the fortifications located in it. In addition, she was forbidden to have a fleet on the Black Sea, and Turkish ships were to be used for trade on it. Thus, the problem of access to the Black Sea was practically not solved.

1768-1774 years

Taking advantage of the fact that a detachment of those who considered themselves Russian and in the Russian service, kolii, pursuing Polish rebels, entered the city of Balta, thus invading the territory of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Mustafa III declared war on Russia on September 25, 1768.

In 1769, the Turks crossed the Dniester, but were driven back by the army of General Golitsyn. Russian troops, having occupied Khotyn, reached the Danube by the winter of 1770.

After the victory of the Russian army under Suvorov at Kozludzha in 1774, the Turks agreed to peace negotiations and on 21 July the Treaty of Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi was signed.

According to the peace treaty, the Crimean Khanate was declared independent from the Ottoman Empire. Russia received Greater and Lesser Kabarda, Azov, Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn, with the adjacent steppe between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug.

1787-1791 years

1806-1812 years

1828-1829 years

In 1827, the London Convention was signed between Russia, England and France, according to which Greece was granted full autonomy. The Ottoman Empire refused to recognize the convention.

In the same year, 1827, the combined squadron of Russia, Great Britain and France destroyed the Turkish fleet in the Battle of Navarino. In April 1828, Emperor Nicholas I declared war on Turkey, due to the refusal of the Porte to comply with previous bilateral agreements (the Akkerman Convention of 1826).

After the successful operations of the Russian army in the Balkans and Transcaucasia, in September 1829, the Peace of Adrianople was signed between the two parties, according to which:

Crimean War (1853-1856)

At the beginning of the war, the Russian fleet managed to win a major victory over the Turkish in the bay of Sinop. However, after the Allies entered the war, the situation changed. In the course of the ensuing hostilities, the allies managed, using the technological backwardness of the Russian army and navy, to successfully land an airborne corps in the Crimea, inflict a number of defeats on the Russian army and, after a year-long siege, capture Sevastopol, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. At the same time, the Allied landing in Kamchatka failed. On the Caucasian front, Russian troops managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Turkish army and capture Kars. However, diplomatic isolation forced Russia to capitulate. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1856, demanded that Russia cede southern Bessarabia and the mouth of the Danube to the Ottoman Empire. The neutrality and demilitarization of the Black Sea, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles were proclaimed.

1877-1878 years

The war between the Russian Empire and its allied Balkan states on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire on the other. It was caused primarily by the rise of nationalist sentiment in the Balkans. The brutality with which the April Uprising in Bulgaria was crushed created sympathy for the position of Christians in the Ottoman Empire in Europe and especially in Russia. Attempts to improve the position of Christians by peaceful means were frustrated by the stubborn unwillingness of the Turks to make concessions to Europe (see: Constantinople Conference), and in April 1877 Russia declared war on Turkey.

In the course of the ensuing hostilities, the Russian army succeeded, taking advantage of the passivity of the Turks, to successfully cross the Danube, capture the Shipka Pass and, after a five-month siege, force Osman Pasha's best Turkish army to surrender at Plevna. The subsequent raid through the Balkans, during which the Russian army defeated the last Turkish units blocking the road to Constantinople, led to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. At the Berlin Congress held in the summer of 1878, the Treaty of Berlin was signed, which fixed the return of the southern part of Bessarabia to Russia and the annexation of Kars, Ardagan and Batum. The independence of Bulgaria was restored; the territories of Serbia, Montenegro and Romania increased, and the Turkish

Russian-Turkish war 1787-1791- a war between Russia and Austria, on the one hand, and the Ottoman Empire, on the other. The Ottoman Empire planned in this war to regain the lands that had gone to Russia during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, including the Crimea. The war ended with the victory of Russia and the conclusion of the Iasi Peace.

background

The last years of the existence of the Crimean Khanate (1774-1783)

After the conclusion of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace, which granted independence to the Crimean Khanate, Russia began a gradual withdrawal of troops from the peninsula. Petersburg hoped to spread its influence over the khanate through diplomacy due to the loyalty to Russia of Khan Sahib II Giray and the pro-Russian sympathies of his brother, the kalga (heir) Shahin Giray. The Turks, violating the treaty of 1774, tried to interfere by force in the affairs of the khanate.

The treaty itself was very unfavorable for Turkey and by this alone did not secure a more or less lasting peace for Russia. Porta tried in every possible way to evade the exact execution of the contract - either it did not pay indemnities, or it did not let Russian ships from the Archipelago into the Black Sea, or it campaigned in the Crimea, trying to increase the number of its adherents there. Russia agreed that the Crimean Tatars recognized the power of the Sultan as the head of the Mohammedan clergy. This gave the Sultan the opportunity to exert political influence on the Tatars. At the end of July 1775 they landed their troops in the Crimea.

Sahib II Giray, elevated to the rank of khan by Dolgoruky in 1771, did not enjoy the favor of the people, especially for his desire for European reforms. In March 1775, he was overthrown by the party that stood for the dependence of the Crimea on Turkey, and a protege of Turkey, Devlet IV Giray, was erected in his place.

These events aroused the wrath of Catherine II and cost the post to the commander of the Second Russian Army, Dolgorukov, who was replaced by Lieutenant General Shcherbinin. In 1776, Catherine II ordered Rumyantsev to move part of the troops to the Crimea, remove Devlet Giray and proclaim Shahin Giray Khan. In November 1776, Prince Prozorovsky entered the Crimea. The Russians freely occupied the Crimean fortresses, which had passed to Russia under the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhy Treaty. The Turks had to retreat, Devlet Giray fled to Turkey, and the Crimean throne in the spring of 1777 was taken by the brother of Sahib Giray, Shahin Giray, to whom Russia assigned 50 thousand rubles at a time and an annual pension of 1000 rubles a month. The new khan could not enjoy the favor of his subjects. A despot by nature, the wasteful Shahin Giray robbed the people and from the very first days of his reign aroused their indignation. The new khan was kept in power only thanks to the military support of Russia. Shahin Giray conceived, among other things, to start a regular army in the Crimea, but it was this that killed the khan. A mutiny broke out among the newly formed army.

Turkey took advantage of this, and Selim III Girey, expelled by Dolgorukov in 1771, appeared in the Crimea and was proclaimed khan. Turkey sent 8 ships to help him. Catherine then ordered Rumyantsev to restore the power of Shahin Giray and stop the rebellion. The execution of this order was entrusted again to Prince Prozorovsky, who forced the Murz on February 6, 1778 to come with humility to Shahin Giray.

Soon there was a coup in Constantinople. A peace-loving person was appointed Grand Vizier, and on March 10, 1779, a convention was signed with Turkey, which confirmed the Kuchuk-Kaynardzhi agreement and Shahin Giray was recognized as a khan. After that, the Russian troops left the Crimea and stopped in anticipation of further developments on the borders.

The power of Shahin Giray, unloved by the people, was fragile. In July 1782, a rebellion broke out against him, and Shahin Giray was forced to flee to Kerch. The Turks occupied Taman and threatened to cross to the Crimea. Then Potemkin, who commanded the Russian troops in the south, instructed his cousin P.S. Potemkin to push the Turks back beyond the Kuban, Suvorov to pacify the Nogai and Budzhak Tatars, and Count de Balmain to enter the Crimea and restore calm there.

It was restless in the Crimea, riots constantly broke out, conspiracies were woven, the clergy agitated for Turkey. Then, according to the idea of ​​G. A. Potemkin, the empress decided to liquidate the khanate. Shakhin Giray Potemkin persuaded to give up power, passing it into the hands of the Russian Empress. Russian troops were immediately concentrated on the Turkish borders, the navy appeared on the Black Sea, and on April 8, 1783, a manifesto appeared on the annexation of Crimea, Taman and the Kuban Tatars to Russia. Turkey was forced to submit to this, and in December 1783 the Sultan recognized the annexation of the Crimea, Taman and Kuban to Russia as a formal act.

The Ottoman Empire and European countries formally recognized the entry of Crimea into Russia. The newly annexed possessions began to be called Tauris. The favorite of the Empress, G. A. Potemkin, the Most Serene Prince of Tauride, had to take care of their settlement, economic development, construction of cities, ports, fortresses. Sevastopol became the main base of the newly created Black Sea Fleet.

Georgievsky treatise

On July 24 (August 4), 1783, an agreement was concluded on the patronage and supreme power of Russia with the united Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (otherwise the Kartli-Kakheti kingdom, Eastern Georgia), according to which Eastern Georgia came under the protectorate of Russia. The treaty sharply weakened the positions of Iran and Turkey in the Transcaucasus, formally destroying their claims to Eastern Georgia.

The Turkish government was looking for a reason to break with Russia. The Pasha of Akhaltsikhe persuaded the Georgian king Erekle II to surrender himself under the patronage of the Porte; when he refused, the pasha began to organize systematic raids on the lands of the Georgian king. Until the end of 1786, Russia limited itself to only written statements on this subject, which the Porte for the most part left unanswered.

Austro-Russian Union

In 1787, Empress Catherine II made a triumphal tour of the Crimea, accompanied by representatives of foreign courts and her ally, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, who traveled incognito. This event greatly stirred up public opinion in Istanbul, revanchist sentiment arose, fueled by the statement of the British ambassador that Britain would support the Ottoman Empire if it started a war against Russia.

At the end of 1786, Catherine II also decided to act more firmly. Potemkin was entrusted with the main command over the troops and given the right to act at his own discretion. The Russian envoy in Constantinople, Bulgakov, was instructed to demand from the Porte:

1. so that the borders of the Georgian tsar, as a subject of Russia, would never be disturbed by the Turks;
2. that the fugitive Russians should not be left in Ochakovo, but sent across the Danube;
3. so that the Kubans do not attack the Russian borders.

Bulgakov's ideas were not successful, and the Porte, for its part, demanded that the Russian government completely abandon Georgia, cede 39 salt lakes near Kinburn to Turkey and provide the Porte with its consuls in Russian cities, especially in the Crimea, so that Turkish merchants pay duties are not more than 3%, and Russian merchants were forbidden to export Turkish works and have Turkish sailors on their ships. Since the Porte demanded an urgent response before August 20, the hostile situation was obvious.

Without waiting for an answer from Bulgakov, the Port presented a new demand - to abandon the Crimea, return it to Turkey and destroy all agreements on his account. When Bulgakov refused to accept such a demand, he was imprisoned in the Seven-Tower Castle. This act was tantamount to a declaration of war. Both sides began to actively prepare for the second Turkish war.

The beginning of the war

In 1787, Turkey, with the support of Great Britain, France and Prussia, put forward an ultimatum to the Russian Empire demanding the restoration of the vassalage of the Crimean Khanate and Georgia, and also sought permission from Russia to inspect ships passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. On August 13, 1787, the Ottoman Empire, having received a refusal, declared war on Russia, but Turkish preparations for it were unsatisfactory, and the time was chosen inappropriate, since Russia and Austria shortly before entered into a military alliance, which the Turks learned too late. The initial successes of the Turks against the Austrians in the Banat soon gave way to failures in military operations against Russia.

Kinburn battle

A week after the declaration of war, which began on August 13 (24), 1787, the Turkish flotilla attacked two Russian ships stationed near Kinburn and forced them to retreat into the estuary. But the attempts to seize Kinburn that followed in September and October were repulsed by a five thousandth detachment under the leadership of Suvorov. The victory at Kinburn (October 1 (12), 1787) was the first major victory for Russian troops in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1792. She effectively ended the 1787 campaign, as the Turks were no longer active that year. At the end of the year, General Tekeli carried out a successful raid on the Kuban. There were no other military actions, since the Russian troops in Ukraine, although there were enough for the defense of the country, were not yet ready for offensive operations. The Turkish army was also unprepared. The second attempt by the Turkish troops to capture Kinburn, undertaken in the winter of 1787-1788, was also unsuccessful.

In the winter, Russia sealed an alliance with Austria, securing from Emperor Joseph II the obligation to support the declaration of war on Turkey. The Turks, having learned about the danger threatening them from both sides, decided first to strike at the Austrians, whom they hoped to deal with more easily, and against Russia to limit themselves, for the time being, to strengthening the Danube fortresses and sending a fleet to support Ochakov and attack Kherson.

Siege of Khotyn

In Moldova, Field Marshal Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky inflicted a series of heavy defeats on the Turkish army after his predecessor Alexander Golitsyn occupied Iasi and Khotyn.

By the spring of 1788, two armies were formed in the south: the main, or Yekaterinoslav (about 80 thousand people), under the command of Potemkin, was supposed to capture Ochakovo, from where it was convenient for the Turks to stir up unrest in the Crimea; the second, the Ukrainian army of Rumyantsev (up to 37 thousand people), was supposed to stay between the Dniester and the Bug, threaten Bendery and maintain contact with the Austrians; finally, a detachment of General Tekeli (18 thousand) stood in the Kuban to protect the Russian borders on the eastern side of the Black Sea.

Austria, for its part, fielded a very strong army under the command of Lassi, who, however, carried away by the so-called cordon system, scattered his troops excessively, and this caused subsequent major setbacks.

On May 24, part of the Russian main army (40 thousand) moved from Olviopol to Ochakov, the right bank of the Bug, in the estuary of which the newly built Russian flotilla was already standing. On June 7, the Turkish fleet (60 ships) attacked her, but was repulsed, and a new attack, undertaken by him on June 17, ended in his complete defeat and flight to Varna; 30 damaged ships, hiding under the walls of Ochakov, were here on July 1 attacked and destroyed by the squadron of the Prince of Nassau-Siegen.

Meanwhile, Potemkin surrounded the fortress and began siege work. Rumyantsev, having concentrated his army in Podolia in the middle of May, separated the detachment of General Saltykov to communicate with the Austrian troops of the Prince of Coburg and to assist them in capturing Khotyn; the main forces of the Ukrainian army on June 20 crossed the Dniester near Mogilev; however, it did not come to a serious clash with the Turks, who had concentrated at the Ryaba Mogila, and the whole summer was spent in maneuvers.

Assault on Ochakov

After a long siege by the detachments of Prince G. A. Potemkin and A. V. Suvorov, Ochakov fell, his entire Turkish garrison was destroyed. The news of this so shocked Sultan Abdul-Hamid I that he died of a heart attack.

Turkish generals demonstrated their unprofessionalism, and unrest began in the army. The Turkish campaigns against Bendery and Ackerman failed. Belgrade was taken overnight by the Austrians.

Battle of Fidonisi

Despite the significant numerical superiority of the Turkish fleet, the Black Sea Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral M.I. Voinovich defeated him in the battles near Fidonisi (1788).

Then, after the surrender of Khotyn (where the Austrian garrison was left), Saltykov's detachment was assigned to cover the left wing of the Ukrainian army from the Bendery side, located between the Prut and the Dniester. When the Turks left the Ryaba Mogila, our troops occupied winter quarters, partly in Bessarabia, partly in Moldavia. The Prince of Coburg moved west to get closer to the Russian troops in Transylvania. On December 17, Ochakov fell, and after that the main army settled down for the winter between the Bug and the Dniester. The actions of General Tekeli were successful: he repeatedly dispersed the gatherings of Tatars and highlanders, threatening at the same time Anapa and Sudzhuk-kale. and Mahal Karlovich!!!

Austria's entry into the war

As for the allies of Russia, the campaign of 1788 was very unfortunate for them: the Turks invaded the Austrian borders, and after their victories at Megadia and Slatina, Joseph II agreed to a three-month truce, which the vizier offered him, having learned about the fall of Khotyn and fearing that Rumyantsev and Prince of Coburg will move to the rear of the Turkish army.

Campaign of 1789

According to the plan outlined for the 1789 campaign, Rumyantsev was ordered to advance towards the Lower Danube, behind which the main forces of the Turks were concentrated; Lassi was to invade Serbia, Potemkin was to take control of Bendery and Ackerman. But by the spring, the Ukrainian army had been brought up to only 35,000, which Rumyantsev recognized as insufficient for decisive action; The Yekaterinoslav army still remained in winter quarters, while Potemkin himself lived in St. Petersburg; the Austrian troops of Lassi were still scattered along the frontier; the corps of the Prince of Coburg was in northwestern Moldavia.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of March, the vizier sent two detachments to the left bank of the Lower Danube, with a force of 30 thousand, hoping to separate the Prince of Coburg and the advanced Russian troops and seize Iasi, to support the aforementioned detachments, a 10 thousandth reserve was advanced to Galati. The vizier's calculation did not materialize: the Prince of Coburg managed to retreat to Transylvania, and the division of General Derfelden, sent by Rumyantsev to meet the Turks, inflicted a threefold defeat on the Turks: on April 7 - at Byrlad, on the 10th at Maximeni and on the 20th - at Galati. Soon Rumyantsev was replaced by Prince Repnin, and both Russian armies were united into one, the South, under the command of Potemkin. Upon arrival to her, in early May, he divided his troops into 5 divisions; of these, the 1st and 2nd only gathered at Olviopol at the end of June; 3rd, Suvorov, stood at Falcha; 4th, Prince Repnin - at Kazneshti; 5th, Gudovich - at Ochakov and Kinburn.

On July 11, Potemkin, with two divisions, launched an offensive towards Bendery. The vizier moved the 30,000-strong corps of Osman Pasha to Moldavia, hoping to defeat the Russian and Austrian troops stationed there before Potemkin approached; but Suvorov, having united with the Prince of Coburg, on July 21 attacked and defeated the Turks near Focsani.

Meanwhile, Potemkin moved forward extremely slowly and only around August 20 approached Bendery, where he also pulled a significant part of the Russian troops in Moldova.

Then the vizier again went on the offensive, thinking to take advantage of the weakening of the Russian forces in the principality. Having gathered up to 100 thousand troops, at the end of August he crossed the Danube and moved to the Rymnik River, but here on September 11 he suffered a complete defeat from the troops of Suvorov and Prince of Coburg. A few days before that, another Turkish detachment was defeated on the Salcha River by Prince Repnin. The Rymnik victory was so decisive that the allies could easily cross the Danube; but Potemkin, satisfied with her, continued to stand at Bender and only ordered Gudovich to take possession of the fortifications of Haji Bey and Ackerman. When this was done, on November 3, the Benders finally surrendered, which ended the campaign.

On the part of the Austrians, the main army did nothing during the summer, and only on September 1 crossed the Danube and laid siege to Belgrade, which surrendered on September 24; in October, some more fortified points in Serbia were taken, and in early November, the Prince of Coburg occupied Bucharest. Despite, however, a number of heavy blows, the Sultan decided to continue the war, since Prussia and England encouraged him with support. The Prussian king, alarmed by the successes of Russia and Austria, concluded in January 1797 an agreement with the Porte, which guaranteed the inviolability of its possessions; in addition, he posted a large army on the Russian and Austrian borders and at the same time incited the Swedes, Poles and Hungarians to hostile actions.

Campaign of 1790

The campaign of 1790 began with a major setback for the Austrians: the Prince of Coburg was defeated by the Turks near Zhurzha. In February of the same year, Emperor Joseph II died, and his successor, Leopold II, was inclined to open peace negotiations through England and Prussia. A congress was convened at Reichenbach; but Empress Catherine refused to participate in it.

Then the Turkish government, encouraged by the favorable turn of affairs for it, decided to try to recapture the Crimea and the Kuban lands, and limit itself to defense on the Lower Danube. But the actions on the Black Sea were again unsuccessful for the Turks: their fleet experienced a double (in June and August) defeat from Rear Admiral Ushakov. Then, finally, Potemkin decided to go on the offensive. Chilia, Tulcea, Isaccia fell one after another; but Ishmael, defended by a numerous garrison, continued to hold out and only on December 11 was taken by Suvorov after a bloody assault.

In the Caucasus, the Turkish corps of Batal Pasha, who landed at Anapa, moved to Kabarda, but on September 30 was defeated by General Herman; and the Russian detachment of General Rosen suppressed the uprising of the highlanders.

Campaign of 1791

At the end of February 1791, Potemkin left for St. Petersburg, and Repnin took command of the army, who led the matter more energetically. He crossed the Danube at Galati and on June 28 won a decisive victory over the vizier at Machin. Almost simultaneously in the Caucasus, Gudovich captured Anapa by storm.

Then the vizier entered into peace negotiations with Repnin, but the Ottoman representatives dragged them out in every possible way, and only a new defeat of the Ottoman fleet at Kaliakria accelerated the course of affairs, and on December 29, 1791, peace was concluded in Iasi.

War at sea

Despite the numerical superiority of the Turkish fleet, the Black Sea Fleet under the command of Rear Admirals N.S. Mordvinov, M.I. Voinovich, F.F. Kerch Strait (1790), at Tendra (1790) and at Kaliakria (1791).

The results of the war

The new Sultan Selim III wanted to restore the prestige of his state with at least one victory before concluding a peace treaty with Russia, but the state of the Turkish army did not allow him to hope for this. As a result, the Ottoman Empire in 1791 was forced to sign the Iasi Peace Treaty, which secured the Crimea and Ochakov for Russia, and also pushed the border between the two empires to the Dniester. Turkey confirmed the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kaynarji and forever ceded the Crimea, Taman and the Kuban Tatars. Turkey pledged to pay an indemnity of 12 million piastres. (7 million rubles), but Count Bezborodko, after this amount was included in the contract, on behalf of the Empress refused to receive it. The financial affairs of Turkey have already fallen into a terrible disorder after the second war with Russia.

This was met with sharp hostility by Turkey, which for almost three centuries reigned supreme in the Black Sea. After the loss of Crimea, the Turks compared their state to a house whose door had been torn off its hinges. Sultan Selim III began to actively prepare for a new war. His army was reorganized with the help of Western European instructors, the power of the main fortresses was strengthened, and a strong fleet was recreated. Turkey's desire for revenge was supported by the European powers: England, Prussia, Sweden, France. Each of them pursued their own interests in the upcoming Russian-Turkish conflict. England thus tried to get even with Catherine II for her Declaration of Armed Neutrality (1780). Prussia sought to weaken Russian influence in Poland. This was also achieved by the ally of the Sultan - France. Sweden dreamed of taking away the lost lands from Russia weakened by the war. Relying on the support of these powers, Selim III in 1787 began to demand the return of the Crimea, the recognition of Georgia as his vassal, and the inspection of Russian merchant ships passing through the Black Sea straits. Having been refused, on August 13 he declared war on Russia (6th in a row). This time Russia was supported by Austria, hoping to get part of the Turkish possessions in the Balkans. The Allies dreamed of liberating southeastern Europe from the Turks and creating a "Greek Empire" there. Catherine II wanted to see her second grandson, Konstantin, on her throne. In the prewar period in Russia, under the leadership of the head of the Military Collegium, Prince Grigory Potemkin, a military reform was carried out. The specialization of recruits has intensified, a new form that does not restrict movement has been introduced: wide jackets and boots, warm trousers, helmets, wigs and braids have been canceled. The soldiers began to cut their hair. Officers were forbidden to beat recruits. Certain changes have also taken place in the structure of the armed forces - the number of rangers, dragoons, artillery units, etc. has increased.

Campaign of 1787. At the first stage of the war, Turkey intended to recapture the lands between the Dnieper and the Bug from Russia, and then seize the Crimea. In an effort to achieve a strategic initiative and take advantage of the advantageous position of the attacking side, the Turks immediately proceeded to active operations. They directed their first blow at the Kinburn fortress located at the entrance to the Dnieper estuary. On October 1, 5,000 Turkish troops landed here.

Battle of Kinburn (1787). The fortress on the Kinburn Spit was defended by a garrison led by General Alexander Suvorov (4 thousand people). With artillery fire, the Russians forced the Turkish fleet to withdraw, and then swiftly attacked the landing force itself. According to some reports, only 1.6 thousand people participated in the attack, which was led by Suvorov himself. He had too few troops to build a square, so Suvorov attacked in a deployed formation. In this battle, the famous Russian commander, who personally led the soldiers into the attack, was wounded. The Turkish landing was defeated and almost completely destroyed. The losses of the Turks amounted to 4.5 thousand people. The Russians lost about 450 people. This victory was the first major success of the Russian troops in this war. A special medal for distinction at Kinburn was issued for the participants in the battle. After the defeat at Kinburn, the Turks no longer took major active actions in 1787. On this campaign in 1787 actually ended.

Campaign of 1788. By the beginning of 1788, two armies were formed to fight Turkey: Yekaterinoslav under the command of Field Marshal Grigory Potemkin (82 thousand people) and Ukrainian under the command of Field Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev (37 thousand people). Potemkin was supposed to take possession of Ochakov and go to the Danube. Rumyantsev - to assist the main forces from the Podolia region. In January, Austria entered the war against Turkey, sending a corps under the command of the Prince of Coburg (18 thousand people) to northern Moldavia to communicate with the Russians. In the same year, Sweden entered the war against Russia in alliance with Turkey. Russia had to fight on two fronts. The campaign of 1788 began only in the summer and was limited mainly to the capture of the fortresses of Khotyn and Ochakov.

Capture of Khotin and Ochakov (1788). The first to start the campaign were the Austrians, who laid siege to Khotyn in the spring. However, the siege was unsuccessful. In July, Rumyantsev crossed the Dniester with troops and sent General Saltykov's corps to help Prince Coburg. September 4, 1788 Khotyn capitulated. By winter, Rumyantsev occupied the northern part of Moldavia and deployed his army in the Iasi-Kishinev region. The main events of this campaign unfolded around the Ochakov fortress, which in July was besieged by the 80,000-strong army of Potemkin. The fortress was defended by a 15,000-strong Turkish garrison under the command of Gassan Pasha. Before the start of the siege, the Russian rowing flotilla under the command of Rear Admiral Nassau-Siegen (50 ships) fought twice (June 17 and 27) in the Dnieper estuary with the Turkish fleet under the command of Hasan el Gasi (43 ships). During fierce battles, the Turks, despite the support of Ochakov's coastal batteries, suffered a heavy defeat. They lost 15 ships and retreated. This contributed to the beginning of the siege of Ochakov. After the defeat of the Turkish ships in the Dnieper estuary, the fortress was blocked. Despite the significant number of his troops, Potemkin acted passively, and the siege dragged on for 5 months. Only the onset of winter cold prompted the field marshal to take action. Moreover, the soldiers themselves, who lived in dugouts and were afraid of freezing in the bare steppe, asked the commander to start the attack as soon as possible. Finally, at the beginning of winter, Potemkin decided to storm. On December 6, 1788, in a 23-degree frost, a 15,000-strong shock detachment attacked the Ochakov fortifications. Both sides fought with extreme ferocity. Having overcome the ditch and rampart, the Russians broke into the city, where stubborn battles continued. Up to two-thirds of the Turkish garrison perished in the battle. 4.5 thousand people were captured. The Russians lost about 3 thousand people during the attack. During the battle, M.I. Kutuzov received the second severest wound in the head. In honor of this victory, a gold cross "For Service and Bravery" was issued for the officers participating in the battle, and for the lower ranks a special silver medal with the inscription "For the courage shown in the capture of Ochakov".

Battle of Fedonisi (1788). The campaign of 1788 was also marked by the first major victory of the Black Sea Fleet on the high seas. On July 3, 1788, near the island of Fidonisi (now Snake), the Russian squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Voinovich (2 ships of the line, 10 frigates) fought the Turkish fleet under the command of Hasan Pasha (17 ships of the line, 8 frigates), which was going to Ochakov . The decisive role in the battle was played by the vanguard of the Russian squadron, led by the commander of the St. Paul battleship Fyodor Ushakov. He went to approach the leading Turkish ships, but instead of the boarding they expected, he opened fire at close range. The Turks lost 2 frigates, other ships (including the flagship) were damaged. Hassan Pasha had to retreat to the Bosporus, refusing to help the besieged garrison of Ochakov. It is noteworthy that the Russians did not have a single one killed in this battle.

Campaign of 1789. According to the plan drawn up by Potemkin, his main army (80 thousand people) in 1789 was intended to capture the Bendery fortress. Rumyantsev, with a 35,000-strong army, was tasked with advancing to the Danube, where the main forces of the Turks were located, together with the corps of the Prince of Coburg. In April, Rumyantsev repulsed the attack on Moldova by three Turkish detachments (from 10 to 20 thousand people each). On this, the activity of the illustrious commander ended. Due to the intrigues of Potemkin, who was in St. Petersburg, Rumyantsev was removed from the leadership of the army. And soon both armies were merged into one Southern army under the command of Potemkin himself. He took up his duties only in July, when he returned from St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, the Turkish command, taking advantage of the inactivity of the Russian army, decided to carry out a new offensive in Moldova and defeat the Allied forces piece by piece.

Battle of Focsani (1789). The Turks intended to strike the first blow at the Austrian corps of the Prince of Coburg (12 thousand people) stationed near Ajud in Romania. Almost three times the strongest army of Osman Pasha (30 thousand people) opposed him. The prince turned for help to General Suvorov, who, with his division (over 5 thousand people), was in the town of Byrlad (60 km from the Austrians). There were no other Allied troops in the area. Suvorov's division made a quick transition to Ajud (60 km in 28 hours). Having united, the allies went on the offensive and moved to the village of Fokshany, where Osman Pasha's camp was located. On July 20, the Russian-Austrian detachment threw back the Turkish vanguard across the Putna River, then crossed it and on July 21 attacked Osman Pasha's camp. Having repelled the attacks of the Turkish cavalry, the Russian-Austrian troops, after a short artillery preparation, broke into the Turkish camp from two sides. After a stubborn battle, the Turks fled. Some of them took refuge in the monastery, which was taken by storm two hours later. Osman's army was defeated. Its losses amounted to 1.6 thousand people. The Allies lost 400 men.

Battle of Rymnik (1789). However, after the victory at Fokshan, Potemkin did not take active steps and pulled all the main Russian forces to the Bendery fortress, which he besieged in August. In September, only the division of General Suvorov (7 thousand people) and the corps of Prince Coburg (18 thousand people) continued to be west of the Prut. Taking advantage of the passivity of the Russian commander in chief, the Turks decided to carry out a general offensive against Moldova. For this, a 100,000-strong army under the command of Yusuf Pasha was concentrated at Brailov. She was to destroy the Allied forces west of the Prut, and then build on her success. In order to disorient the Russians, one of the Turkish detachments was sent east of the Prut, to the Ryaba Mogila. On September 7, he was defeated on the Salchi River by the division of General Nikolai Repnin. He pursued the Turks to Ishmael, and then turned back. Meanwhile, the main army of Yusuf Pasha moved against the corps of the Prince of Coburg, who was near Fokshan, who again sent a request for help to Byrlad, to Suvorov. For 2.5 days, Suvorov walked about 100 km along roads washed out by autumn rains and joined the Austrians. Koburgsky proposed a defensive plan of action, but the Russian commander insisted on an immediate offensive. Taking command of the allied forces, Suvorov moved them forward. On the evening of September 10, they launched an offensive and, having traveled 14 km, imperceptibly for the Turks, crossed the Rymna River. Turkish troops were located in three camps between the rivers Rymna and Rymnik. They did not expect allies to appear so quickly. Suvorov's plan was to defeat these forces piecemeal. At the beginning of the battle on September 11, the Russians, advancing on the right flank, attacked the Turkish camp of Targo-Kukli. Capturing it after a fierce battle, they moved around the Kayat forest to the main camp of Yusuf Pasha. To the left, the Austrian units advanced. They repelled an attack by a 15,000-strong cavalry detachment of the Turks, who were trying to cut off the Russians and Austrians from each other. Having repulsed a number of attacks by Turkish detachments, the allies united by 3 o'clock to storm the main fortified camp of the Turks near the Kryngu-Meylor forest. Suvorov, assessing the Turkish positions as insufficiently fortified, decided to attack them with cavalry, followed by infantry. After the cavalry broke through the Turkish positions, a fierce slaughter began. Here the infantry arrived in time, the bayonet strike of which put the Janissaries to flight. Without slowing down the pace of the onslaught, the allied troops began pursuing the retreating troops and broke after them into the third camp near Martinesti. The Turkish army turned into unorganized crowds that no longer resisted and only fled. The battle at Rymnik lasted 12 hours and ended with the complete defeat of the Turkish army. The Turks lost up to 20 thousand people. killed, drowned, wounded and captured. Most just fled. After gathering at Machin (beyond the Danube), Yusuf Pasha counted only 15 thousand people in the ranks of his army. The damage of the allies in the battle of Rymnik amounted to at least 1 thousand people. This battle was the largest victory of the allied forces in the campaign of 1789. For it, Suvorov received the title of Count of Rymnik. After the Rymnik defeat, the Turkish command did not make any more serious attempts to advance on the left bank of the Danube until the end of the war. The corps of the Prince of Coburg fortified itself in Wallachia and occupied Bucharest. However, Potemkin did not take advantage of this victory and did not send additional forces to Suvorov to build on his success. The field marshal continued to besiege Bendery with an 80,000-strong army. The garrison of this fortress capitulated on 3 November. In fact, the fate of the entire campaign of 1789 between the Dniester and the Danube was decided by only one fourth of all allied forces, while two thirds were passively sitting under the walls of Bendery.

Campaign of 1790. In 1790, Potemkin was ordered to actively persuade Selim III to peace. However, the Russian commander-in-chief continued to act slowly and sluggishly. A skilled politician, courtier and administrator, Potemkin turned out to be a mediocre commander. Moreover, he was torn between the theater of operations and the court in St. Petersburg, where by that time he had begun to lose his former influence. Calm reigned in the Danube theater of operations in spring and summer. After the defeat near Rymnik, the Turks did not take active steps here. The Turkish command tried to succeed on other fronts, and above all in the Caucasus. But the 40,000-strong army of Batal Pasha, who had landed at Anapa, had the goal of going to Kabarda, was defeated in September in the Kuban by the corps of General Gudovich. Attempts by the Turks to land troops in the Crimea and achieve dominance at sea were thwarted by the Black Sea Fleet. The famous naval commander Fyodor Ushakov distinguished himself here, defeating the Turkish fleet in the Kerch Strait and near the island of Tendra.

Battle of Kerch (1790). On July 8, 1790, a naval battle took place in the Kerch Strait between the Russian fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Ushakov (10 battleships, 6 frigates and 18 auxiliary vessels) and the Turkish squadron under the command of Kapudan Pasha Hussein (10 battleships, 8 frigates and 36 auxiliary ships). The Turkish squadron entered the strait for landing in the Crimea. Here she was met by the Russian fleet. The Turks, using a fair wind and superiority in artillery, decisively attacked the Russian squadron. However, Ushakov, skillfully maneuvering, managed to take an advantageous position and inflicted damage on the Turkish squadron with well-aimed fire from short distances. With the onset of darkness, Hussein's ships left the strait without completing their task.

Tendra (1790). A new battle between Rear Admiral Ushakov (10 battleships, 6 frigates and 21 auxiliary vessels) with Kapudan Pasha Hussein (14 battleships, 8 frigates and 23 auxiliary vessels) took place in the north-west of the Black Sea near Tendra Island (now Tendrovskaya Spit) August 28-29, 1790 In August, Ushakov received an order to free the mouth of the Danube for Russian ships, which was controlled by the Turkish fleet. Ushakov discovered the Turkish ships near the island of Tendra and attacked them on the move, without changing the march formation to the linear one. During the two-day battle, the Russians captured 1 battleship and sank the other two. The Turkish fleet left the area and hastily retreated to the Bosphorus. Now the Danube mouth was controlled by the Russian fleet, which significantly complicated the supply of Turkish fortresses on the Danube.

Capture of Ishmael (1790). Meanwhile, important events were taking place on land. In September 1790, Austria, which was experiencing serious foreign policy difficulties (she was threatened by the aggression of Prussia and the separation of her rebellious Belgian provinces), withdrew from the war. At the same time, Russia ended the war with Sweden. This allowed the Russian leadership to focus all attention on the Danube. At the end of October, Potemkin's southern army finally opened the Danube campaign. The Russians captured Chilia, Isakcha, Tulcha, but could not take Izmail, the siege of which dragged on. Ishmael represented the most powerful fortress on the left bank of the Danube. After 1774, it was rebuilt by French and German engineers according to the latest requirements of serfdom. The main rampart, 6 km long, encircled the city from three sides. The south side was protected by the river. The height of the shaft with earthen and stone bastions reached 6-8 m. In front of them stretched a ditch 12 m wide and up to 10 m deep. In some places there was water up to 2 m deep. The fortress was defended by a 35,000-strong garrison led by Mehmet Pasha. The Russian army near Izmail numbered 31 thousand people. Unable to take Izmail, Potemkin entrusted the siege to Suvorov, ordering him to decide for himself whether to take the fortress or retreat. On December 2, Suvorov arrived under the walls of the fortress. He spoke in favor of the assault and began to intensively prepare for it. First of all, the new commander ordered to make 30 ladders and a thousand fascines for filling the ditch (40 ladders and 2 thousand fascines were made). The main attention was paid to the training of troops. Next to his camp, Suvorov ordered to dig a ditch and pour a rampart like the Izmail one. The scarecrows on the rampart depicted the Turks. Every night the troops were trained in the actions necessary for the assault. Having overcome the ditch and rampart, the soldiers stabbed the effigies with bayonets. On December 7, Suvorov sent an offer to surrender to the commandant of the fortress: "24 hours for reflection - freedom. My first shot - captivity. Storming - death." Mehmet Pasha, confident in the impregnability of his fortifications, arrogantly replied that the sky would soon fall to the ground and the Danube would flow back, than Ishmael would fall. Then on December 11, 1790, after two days of artillery preparation, the Russians stormed this powerful fortress in nine columns. Before the assault, Suvorov addressed the troops with the words: “Brave warriors! Remember all our victories this day and prove that nothing can resist the power of Russian weapons ... The Russian army besieged Izmail twice and retreated twice; the third time, either win or die with glory." Suvorov decided to storm the fortress in all places, including from the side of the river. The attack began before dawn, so that the troops could cross the ditch unnoticed in the dark and attack the rampart. The first to climb the shaft at 6 o'clock in the morning were huntsmen from the 2nd column of General Lassi. Following the grenadiers of the 1st column of General Lvov, they captured the Khotyn Gates and flung open the doors of the fortress for the cavalry. The greatest difficulties fell on the share of the 3rd column of General Meknob. She stormed a part of the northern bastion, where the depth of the moat and the height of the shaft were so great that the stairs of 11 meters were short. They had to be tied together under fire. A heavy battle had to be fought by the 6th column of General Mikhail Kutuzov. She could not break through the dense fire and lay down. This was taken advantage of by the Turks, who launched a counterattack. Then Suvorov sent an order to Kutuzov appointing him commandant of Ishmael. Inspired by confidence, the general personally led the infantry into the attack and captured the Izmail fortifications. While the troops stormed the rampart, landing units under the command of General de Ribas landed in the city from the south side. At sunrise, the Russians were already on the walls and began to push the Turks into the inner part of the city. The fiercest battles unfolded there. Inside Izmail there were many stone buildings, each of which was a mini-fortress. The Turks defended themselves desperately, constantly counterattacking. There were battles for almost every house. Several thousand horses, rushing out of the burning stables, raced through the streets and added to the chaos. To support the attackers, Suvorov threw all his reserves into the battle outside the city, as well as 20 light guns in order to clear the streets of the defenders with grapeshot. By two o'clock in the afternoon, the Russians, having beaten off several fierce counterattacks of large Turkish detachments, finally made their way to the city center. By 4 o'clock the battle was over. Ishmael fell. It was the most brutal battle of the Russian-Turkish wars. Russian losses amounted to 4 thousand killed and 6 thousand wounded. Of the 650 officers who went on the assault, more than half were wounded or killed. The Turks lost 26 thousand killed. The remaining 9 thousand people, including the wounded, were taken prisoner. Only one person managed to escape. Slightly wounded, he fell into the water and swam across the Danube on a log. Russians were buried outside the city according to the church rite. There were too many Turkish corpses. An order was given to throw them into the Danube in order to quickly clear the city, in which epidemics could begin. Teams of prisoners were engaged in this for 6 days. In honor of the victory, a special gold cross "For excellent courage" was issued for the officers participating in the assault, and the lower ranks received a special silver medal with the inscription "For excellent courage in the capture of Ishmael."

Campaign of 1791. The fall of Ishmael did not incline the Sultan to peace, so Catherine demanded that Potemkin continue active actions. However, the famous favorite was more concerned about the problems of losing his influence at court. In February 1791, Potemkin went to St. Petersburg to clarify the palace situation, and handed over the army to General Nikolai Repnin. The new commander was active. Already in April, with the forces of the detachments of Generals Kutuzov and Golitsyn, he made a successful search on the right bank of the Danube, in the Dobruja region. In early June, General Kutuzov again crossed the Danube in the Izmail region and on the 4th defeated a large Turkish detachment near Babadag.

Battle of Machin (1791). Meanwhile, the main forces of General Repnin (30 thousand people) crossed the river near Galati. The Turkish army under the command of Yusuf Pasha (80 thousand people) was moving towards them, which intended to throw the Russians into the Danube. Soon Kutuzov's detachment joined Repnin. On June 26, near the city of Machina, a battle took place between Repnin's army and Yusuf Pasha's army. Repnin acted actively and offensively, immediately attacking the Turkish army. The success of the battle was decided by a bold attack on the left flank of the detachment under the command of General Kutuzov. Having lost 4 thousand people, Yusuf Pasha's army retreated in confusion. The damage of the Russians amounted to about 1 thousand people. The defeat near Machin forced Turkey to start peace negotiations. However, the Turkish side delayed them in the hope of the success of their fleet. These hopes were dispelled by Admiral Ushakov, who had the honor of putting a victorious end to this war.

Battle of Kaliakria (1791). On July 31, 1791, near Cape Kaliakria (the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria), a naval battle took place between the Russian squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Ushakov (16 ships of the line, 2 frigates) and the Turkish fleet under the command of Kapudan Pasha Hussein (18 ships of the line, 17 frigates) . The Turkish fleet stood at Kaliakria under the protection of coastal batteries. Nevertheless, Ushakov decided to attack the Turks in a bold and unconventional way. He directed his ships between the coast and the Turkish squadron, and then with well-aimed fire upset its battle formation. Hussein's fleet was driven back to the open sea. Unable to withstand the accurate fire of Russian artillerymen, the Turkish ships evaded the battle and began a disorderly retreat towards the Bosphorus. The ensuing darkness and the storm that broke out prevented Ushakov from finally defeating the Turkish fleet. Fearing an attack by the Russian fleet on Constantinople, Sultan Selim III hastened to conclude peace.

Peace of Jassy (1791). The European powers did not come to the aid of Turkey, nor did their ally Sweden. At that time, the French Revolution broke out (1789), which shifted the attention of world diplomacy from the Bosphorus to the banks of the Seine. Peace with Turkey was concluded on December 29, 1791 in the city of Iasi. Turkey recognized the annexation of Crimea to Russia, and also ceded to it its possessions between the Bug and the Dniester, where the construction of the port of Odessa soon began. As you can see, nothing came of the "Greek project", but Russia's natural goals were fulfilled. Its borders reached the southern limits of the East European Plain. The steppe expanses - the centers of raids - soon became areas of trade and agriculture. The losses of the Russian army in this war amounted to 55 thousand people. (killed and wounded). More died from disease.

Shefov N.A. The most famous wars and battles of Russia M. "Veche", 2000.
"From Ancient Russia to the Russian Empire". Shishkin Sergey Petrovich, Ufa.

Moved with the Russian army to the Crimea. With a frontal attack, he captured the fortifications of Perekop, went deep into the peninsula, took Khazleiv (Evpatoria), destroyed the Khan's capital Bakhchisaray and Akmechet (Simferopol). However, the Crimean Khan, constantly avoiding decisive battles with the Russians, managed to save his army from extermination. At the end of the summer, Munnich returned from Crimea to Ukraine. In the same year, General Leontyev, who was acting against the Turks from the other side, took Kinburn (a fortress near the mouth of the Dnieper), and Lassi - Azov.

Russian-Turkish war 1735-1739. Map

In the spring of 1737, Minikh moved to Ochakov, a fortress that covered the exits to the Black Sea from the Southern Bug and the Dnieper. Due to his inept actions, the capture of Ochakov cost the Russian troops rather heavy losses (although they were still many times less than the Turkish ones). Even more soldiers and Cossacks (up to 16 thousand) died due to unsanitary conditions: the German Minich cared little about the health and nutrition of Russian soldiers. Due to the huge loss of soldiers, Minich stopped the campaign of 1737 immediately after the capture of Ochakov. General Lassi, acting in 1737 to the east of Minikh, broke into the Crimea and dispersed detachments across the peninsula, ruining up to 1000 Tatar villages.

Through the fault of Minich, the military campaign of 1738 ended in vain: the Russian army, aiming at Moldavia, did not dare to cross the Dniester, since a large Turkish army was stationed on the other side of the river.

In March 1739 Minich crossed the Dniester at the head of the Russian army. Due to his mediocrity, he immediately fell into an almost hopeless environment near the village of Stavuchany. But thanks to the heroism of the soldiers who unexpectedly attacked the enemy in a semi-impassable place, Stavucani battle(the first clash between the Russians and the Turks in the open field) ended in a brilliant victory. The huge troops of the Sultan and the Crimean Khan fled in panic, and Minich, taking advantage of this, took the nearby strong fortress of Khotyn.

In September 1739 the Russian army entered the Principality of Moldavia. Minich forced his boyars to sign an agreement on the transfer of Moldova to Russian citizenship. But at the very crest of success came the news that the Russian allies, the Austrians, were ending the war against the Turks. Upon learning of this, Empress Anna Ioannovna also decided to graduate from it. The Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739 ended with the Peace of Belgrade (1739).

Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 - briefly

This Russian-Turkish war began in the winter of 1768-69. The Russian army of Golitsyn crossed the Dniester, took the Khotyn fortress and entered Iasi. Almost all of Moldova swore allegiance to Catherine II.

The young empress and her favorites, the Orlov brothers, made bold plans, intending to expel the Muslims from the Balkan Peninsula already during this Russian-Turkish war. The Orlovs proposed sending out agents to raise the Balkan Christians to a general uprising against the Turks and send Russian squadrons to the Aegean to support it.

In the summer of 1769, the flotillas of Spiridov and Elphinstone set sail from Kronstadt in the Mediterranean. Arriving on the shores of Greece, they initiated a revolt against the Turks in the Morea (Peloponnese), but it did not reach the strength that Catherine II was counting on, and was soon suppressed. However, the Russian admirals soon won a dizzying naval victory. Having attacked the Turkish fleet, they drove it into the Chesme Bay (Asia Minor) and completely destroyed it, sending incendiary fire-ships to the crowded enemy ships (Chesme battle, June 1770). By the end of 1770, the Russian squadron had captured up to 20 islands of the Aegean archipelago.

Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774. Map

In the land theater of the war, the Russian army of Rumyantsev, operating in Moldavia, in the summer of 1770 utterly defeated the forces of the Turks in the battles of Larga and Cahul. These victories gave into the hands of the Russians all of Wallachia with powerful Ottoman strongholds on the left bank of the Danube (Ismail, Chilia, Akkerman, Brailov, Bucharest). There were no Turkish troops north of the Danube.

In 1771, the army of V. Dolgoruky, having defeated the horde of Khan Selim-Girey at Perekop, occupied the entire Crimea, set up garrisons in its main fortresses and placed Sahib-Girey, who swore allegiance to the Russian Empress, on the Khan's throne. The squadron of Orlov and Spiridov in 1771 made distant raids from the Aegean Sea to the shores of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, then subject to the Turks. The successes of the Russian armies were so brilliant that Catherine II hoped, as a result of this war, to finally annex the Crimea and ensure independence from the Turks of Moldavia and Wallachia, who were supposed to come under the influence of Russia.

But the Western European Franco-Austrian bloc, hostile to the Russians, began to counteract this, and the formal ally of Russia, the Prussian king Frederick II the Great, behaved treacherously. Taking advantage of the brilliant victories in the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, Catherine II was also prevented by the simultaneous involvement of Russia in the Polish unrest. Frightening Austria with Russia, and Russia with Austria, Frederick II put forward a project according to which Catherine II was asked to give up extensive seizures in the south in exchange for compensation from the Polish lands. In the face of strong Western pressure, the Russian Empress had to accept this plan. It was realized in the form of the First Partition of Poland (1772).

Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky

The Ottoman sultan, however, wanted to get out of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768 without any losses at all and did not agree to recognize not only the annexation of Crimea to Russia, but even its independence. Peace negotiations between Turkey and Russia in Focsani (July-August 1772) and Bucharest (late 1772 - early 1773) ended in vain, and Catherine II ordered Rumyantsev to invade the Danube with an army. In 1773, Rumyantsev made two campaigns across this river, and in the spring of 1774, the third. Due to the small size of his army (part of the Russian forces had to be withdrawn from the Turkish front at that time to fight against Pugachev), Rumyantsev did not achieve anything outstanding in 1773. But in 1774, A. V. Suvorov, with a corps of 8,000, utterly defeated 40,000 Turks at Kozludzha. By this, he brought such horror to the enemy that when the Russians headed for the strong fortress of Shumla, the Turks in a panic rushed to flee from there.

The Sultan then hurried to resume peace negotiations and signed the Kuchuk-Kaynardzhy peace that ended the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774.

Russian-Turkish war 1787-1791 - briefly

Russian-Turkish war 1806-1812 - briefly

Details about it - see the article

The brutal suppression by the Turks of the Greek uprising of the 1820s provoked a response from a number of European powers. Russia, which was of the same faith to the Orthodox Greeks, acted most energetically; England and France joined it, not without hesitation. In October 1827, the combined Anglo-Russian-French fleet utterly defeated the Egyptian squadron of Ibrahim, which helped the Turkish sultan to suppress the rebellious Greece, at the battle of Navarino (near the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese).