- Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)
The Russo–Turkish War of 1828–1829 was sparked by the
Greek War of Independence . The war broke out after the Sultan, incensed by the Russian participation in theBattle of Navarino , closed theDardanelles for Russian ships and revoked theAkkerman Convention .When the hostilities erupted, the Russian army consisted of 92,000 men,Fact|date=August 2008 as opposed to the Ottoman forces of some 150,000,Fact|date=August 2008 commanded by
Hussein Pasha . In June 1828, the main Russian forces, led byEmperor Nicholas I , crossed theDanube and advanced intoDobruja . Prior to that, the Russian commander-in-chief, PrincePeter Wittgenstein , had moved intoWallachia and tookBrăila andBucharest without difficulty.Then the Russians laid prolonged sieges to three key citadels of
Bulgaria —Shumla ,Varna , andSilistria . Owing to the help of theBlack Sea Fleet underAleksey Greig , Varna was the first to be taken (September 29). The siege of Shumla proved much more problematic, as the 40,000-strong Ottoman garrison outnumbered the Russian forces. Furthermore, the Ottomans succeeded in cutting the Russians from supplies of provisions. The resultant famine and proliferation of diseases claimed more lives than all the hostilities undertaken during the war.As winter approached, the Russian army was constrained to leave Shumla and retreat back to
Bessarabia . In February 1829 old Wittgenstein, whose cautiousness bordered on timidity, was replaced by more energeticHans Karl von Diebitsch , while the tsar left the army forSt Petersburg . On May 7 Dibich with 60,000 soldiers crossed the Danube and resumed the siege of Silistria. The Sultan sent a 40,000-strong contingent to the relief ofVarna , but the latter was annihilated by Dibich in theBattle of Kulevicha (May 30). Within several weeks, Silistria fell to the Russians (June 19).Simultaneously,
Ivan Paskevich , operating on the Caucasian front, took Akhalzic,Erivan , andKars and, accompanied by the poetAlexander Pushkin , seizedErzerum in north-easternAnatolia , thus marking the 120th anniversary of the Poltava (June 27).On July 2 Dibich startled the Turks by launching a Transbalkan offensive, the first in the Russian history since the 10th-century campaigns of
Svyatoslav I . The contingent of 35,000 Russians moved across the mountains, circumventing the besieged Shumla on their way straight toIstanbul .Burgas fell ten days later, and the Turkish reinforcement was routed nearSliven on July, 31. By August, 28 Dibich advanced within 68 kilometers from Constantinople, causing panic on the streets of the capital.The Sultan had no other choice but to sue for peace, which was concluded in
Edirne onSeptember 14 ,1829 . TheTreaty of Adrianople gave Russia most of the eastern shore of theBlack Sea and the mouth of theDanube . Turkey recognized Russian sovereignty over Georgia and parts of present-dayArmenia .Serbia achieved autonomy and Russia was allowed to occupyMoldavia andWalachia (guaranteeing their prosperity, and full "liberty of trade" for them) until Turkey had paid a large indemnity. The Straits Question was settled four years later, when both powers signed theTreaty of Unkiar Skelessi .References
* Османская империя: проблемы внешней политики и отношений с Россией. М., 1996.
* Шишов А.В. Русские генерал-фельдмаршалы Дибич-Забалканский, Паскевич-Эриванский. М., 2001.
* Шеремет В. И. У врат Царьграда. Кампания 1829 года и Адрианопольский мирный договор. Русско-турецкая война 1828–1829 гг.: военные действия и геополитические последствия. – Военно-исторический журнал. 2002, № 2.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.