| Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the series ofRusso-Turkish wars | |||||||||
_jpg.jpg) Clockwise, from top left: TheBattle of Kinburn, TheSiege of Ochakov, TheSiege of Izmail, TheBattle of Rymnik | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Catherine IIGrigory Potemkin#[a]Pavel PotemkinAlexander SuvorovIvan SaltykovPyotr RumyantsevMikhail KamenskyNicholas RepninMikhail KutuzovMarko VoinovichIvan GudovichFyodor UshakovNikolay Mordvinov José de Ribas John Paul Jones.svg) Koča Anđelković   Sydir Bily † |  Abdülhamid I(1787–1789) Selim III(1789–1792) Yusuf PashaHasan Pasha#[b]Aydoslu PashaCenaze PashaSüleyman Bey Şahbaz GirayBakht Giray Kara Mahmud Pasha[3] Sheikh Mansur | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
100,000[4] 10,000+ | 280,000[5][c] 25,000[6] Several 35,000s | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 55,000–72,000 killed[7] 3,000–4,000 killed[7] | 116,000–130,000 killed[7] | ||||||||
TheRusso-Turkish War of 1787–1792 involved an unsuccessful attempt by theOttoman Empire toregain lands lost to theRussian Empire in the course of the previousRusso-Turkish War (1768–1774). It took place concomitantly with theAustro-Turkish War (1788–1791), theRusso-Swedish War (1788–1790), and theTheatre War.
During the Russian-Turkish War of 1787–1792, on 25 September 1789, a detachment of theImperial Russian Army underAlexander Suvorov andIvan Gudovich, tookKhadjibey and Yeni Dünya for the Russian Empire. In 1794,Odesa replaced Khadjibey by a decree of the Russian EmpressCatherine the Great.
Russia formally gained possession of the Sanjak of Özi (Ochakiv Oblast) in 1792 and it became a part ofYekaterinoslav Viceroyalty. The Russian Empire retained full control ofCrimea, as well as land between theSouthern Bug and theDniester.
In May and June 1787,Catherine II of Russiamade a triumphal procession throughNovorossiya and the annexedCrimea in company withher ally,Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.[8] These events, the rumors about Catherine'sGreek Plan,[9] and the friction caused by the mutual complaints of infringements of theTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca, which had ended the previous war, stirred up public opinion in the Ottoman capitalConstantinople, while theBritish andFrench ambassadors lent their unconditional support to the Ottoman war party.
In 1787, the Ottomans demanded that the Russians evacuate the Crimea and give up their holdings near theBlack Sea,[10] which Russia saw as acasus belli.[10] Russia declared war on 19 August 1787, and the Ottomans imprisoned the Russian ambassador,Yakov Bulgakov.[11] Ottoman preparations were inadequate and the moment was ill-chosen, as Russia andAustria were now in alliance. The Ottomans mustered forces throughout their domain, andSüleyman Bey fromAnatolia went himself to the front at the head of 4000 soldiers.[12][13][14]
The Ottoman Empire opened their offensive with an attack on two fortresses nearKinburn, in southern Ukraine.[15] Russian General Alexander Suvorov held off these two Ottoman sea-borne attacks in September and October 1787, thus securing the Crimea.[16][10] InMoldavia, Russian troops captured the cities ofChocim andJassy.[15]Ochakov, at the mouth of the Dnieper, fell on 6 December 1788 after asix-month siege by PrinceGrigory Potemkin and Suvorov.[15][10] All civilians in the captured cities were massacred by order of Potemkin.[17]
Although suffering a series of defeats against the Russians, the Ottoman Empire found some success against the Austrians, led by Emperor Joseph II, in Serbia and Transylvania.[17]
By 1789, the Ottoman Empire was being pressed back in Moldavia by Russian and Austrian forces.[18] To make matters worse, on 1 August the Russians under Suvorov attained a victory against the Ottomans led by Osman Pashaat Focsani,[10] followed by a Russian victory atRymnik (orRimnik) on 22 September, and drove them away from near theRâmnicul Sărat river.[18] Suvorov was given the title Count Rymniksky following the battle.[10] The Ottomans suffered more losses when the Austrians, under GeneralErnst Gideon von Laudon repelled anOttoman invasion of Croatia, while an Austrian counterattack tookBelgrade.[19]
AGreek revolt, which further drained the Ottoman war effort, brought about a truce between the Ottoman Empire and Austria.[20] Meanwhile, the Russians continued their advance when Suvorovcaptured the reportedly "impenetrable" Ottoman fortress ofIzmail at the entrance of the Danube, in December 1790;[20] this became possible also due toFyodor Ushakov'svictory atTendra.[21] A final Ottoman defeat atMachin (9 July 1791),[22][10] coupled with Russian concerns aboutPrussia entering the war,[23] led to a truce agreed upon on 31 July 1791.[22] After the capture of the fortress, Suvorov marched uponConstantinople (present-dayIstanbul), where the Russians hoped they could establish a Christian empire.[10] However, the slaughters that were committed in the ensuing period somewhat defiled Suvorov's reputation in many eyes, and there were allegations at the time that he was drunk at the Siege of Ochakov.[10] Persistent rumors about his actions were spread and circulated, and in 1791 he was relocated to Finland.[10]
Accordingly, theTreaty of Jassy was signed on 9 January 1792, recognizing Russia's 1783 annexation of theCrimean Khanate.Yedisan (Odessa and Ochakov) was also ceded to Russia,[20] and theDniester was made the Russian frontier in Europe, while the Russian Asiatic frontier—theKuban River—remained unchanged.[22] The Ottoman war goal to reclaim the Crimea had failed, and if not for theFrench Revolution, the Ottoman Empire's situation could have been much worse.[22]
Media related toRusso-Turkish War (1787–1792) at Wikimedia Commons
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