TheSerbian–Ottoman Wars (Serbian:Српско-османски ратови,romanized: Srpsko-osmanski ratovi), also known as theSerbian–Turkish Wars orSerbian Wars for Independence (Српски ратови за независност, Srpski ratovi za nezavisnost), were two consequent wars (1876–1877 and 1877–1878), fought between thePrincipality of Serbia and theOttoman Empire. In conjunction with thePrincipality of Montenegro, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 30 June 1876. By the intervention of major European powers, ceasefire was concluded in autumn, and theConstantinople Conference was organized. Peace was signed on 28 February 1877 on the basis ofstatus quo ante bellum. After a brief period of formal peace, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 13 December 1877. Renewed hostilities lasted until February 1878.
At the beginning of the conflict, the Serbian army was poorly trained and ill-equipped, unlike the troops of the Ottoman Empire. The offensive objectives the Serbian army sought to accomplish were overly ambitious for such a force, and they suffered a number of defeats that resulted from poor planning and chronically being spread too thin. This allowed Ottoman forces to repel the initial attacks of the Serbian army and drive them back. During the autumn of 1876, the Ottoman Empire continued their successful offensive which culminated in a victory on the heights aboveĐunis. During the second conflict, between 13 December 1877 and 5 February 1878, Serbian troops regrouped with help fromImperial Russia, who fought their ownRusso-Turkish War. The Serbs formed five corps and attacked Ottoman troops to the south, taking the cities ofNiš,Pirot,Leskovac andVranje one after another. The war coincided with theBulgarian uprising, theMontenegrin–Ottoman War and theRusso-Turkish War, which together are known as theGreat Eastern Crisis of the Ottoman Empire.[7]
In 1875, arevolt of Serbs broke out inHerzegovina, a province of theOttoman Empire, which soon spread to other regions of theVilayet of Bosnia, and in the spring of 1876 an uprising of Christian population also broke out inBulgaria. Although the Ottoman Empire quickly suppressed the revolt in Bulgaria, the fighting in Herzegovina and Bosnia continued to drag on. In the same time, political instability in Turkish capital culminated on 30 May (1876) when sultanAbdülaziz was deposed and replaced withMurad V. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the two semi-independent principalities of Serbia and Montenegro opted for independence and declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 18 June 1876.[8]
The main Serbian army under Commander-in-ChiefMikhail Chernyayev, a Russian general, concentrated at the Southern fortress ofAleksinac.[9] It consisted of three Serbian divisions and a variety of volunteer formations totaling about 45,000 men.[10] In the northeast,Milojko Lešjanin based atZaječar commanded an infantry division (6,000) with cavalry support and theBulgarian Legion (2,000). In the west there were two weak divisions (3,500 each), one in the southwest atUžice commanded byFrantišek Zach and one in the northwest atŠabac commanded byRanko Alimpić.
The main rifle was thePeabody M.1870 which had a performance similar to theM1867 Russian Krnka. Whilst the Peabody was the best weapon available to Serbian troops many had to make do with the erraticM.1867 Serbian Green conversion and otherbreechloaders, and evenmuzzleloaders (about 39,000Russian musket model 1845/63 and 7,000Belgian rifle model 1849/56). Officers were armed withFrancotteRevolver m/1871. Artillery batteries contained a variety of mostly bronze guns almost all inferior to the OttomanKrupps. There were very few cavalry squadrons reflecting the nature of the terrain and those which existed were poorly equipped. At that time Serbia was accepting all volunteers; there were many volunteers from different countries, including Russians, Bulgarians, Italian followers ofGiuseppe Garibaldi and Prussian officers, and also Englishmen, Frenchmen, Greeks, Romanians and Poles. The biggest detachments were those of the Russians and Bulgarians. During the war of 1876–1877 a detachment was created consisting of several hundreds of Italian volunteers. Russian volunteer detachments formally independent of the Russian state stood up in defense of Serbia. The biggest number of Russian volunteers fought in the Timok-Morava Army, their number reaching around 2,200, out of which there were 650 officers and 300 medical personnel.[citation needed]
The main Ottoman army was based atSofia under Abdul Kerim with 50,000 men plus irregulars (bashi-bazouk) andCircassians. There was a garrison at the border fortress ofNiš commanded byMehmed Ali with 8,000 men. AtVidin,Osman Nuri had 23,000 men.[11] In the west, in theSanjak of Bosnia, there were small garrisons atBijeljina andZvornik with a larger force (12,000 mostly Egyptians) organized in three infantry regiments under the command of Hosni Rashid Pasha (Egyptian Army) and Dervish Pasha and Mehmed Ali. Substantial numbers of Redif troops were called up for this war mostly armed with former BritishSniders. The superiorPeabody–Martini was becoming more widely available and was certainly used by the Egyptian troops.
Chief of General Staff of the Ottoman army Abdul KerimSerbian ambulance in 1876.
The first phase, known as theFirst Serbian–Ottoman War (Први српско-турски рат/Prvi srpsko-turski rat), took place between 30 June 1876 and 28 February 1877.[12] The Serbian government declared war on the Ottoman Empire on the symbolicVidovdan (15 June 1876 Julian = 27 June 1876 Gregorian), the anniversary of theBattle of Kosovo (15 June 1389 Julian).[13] The initial Serbian military plan was to defendNiš and attack towardsSofia,Pirot andBela Palanka with the main army under Chernyayev.[14] Other armies would simultaneously launch diversionary attacks, but these were repulsed in the west. In the north-east, generalMilojko Lešjanin was defeated near Kior after failing to hold the Ottoman advance over theTimok river. Although he withdrew to the fortress at Saicar, the Ottoman army captured it on 7 August 1876.[15] The Serbian army's main advance in the south appeared to initially meet with success when it moved quickly down theNišava valley and captured the important heights at Babina Glava, north of Pirot. They were forced to withdraw, however, when the Ottomans responded by sending two columns under Suleiman and Hafiz to flank the Serbian position.[16] GeneralRanko Alimpić crossed theDrina in July 1876 but was unsuccessful in capturingBijeljina.[16]
The Ottoman commanderAbdul Kerim decided against marching over the difficult mountain terrain between the Timok and Morava rivers and instead concentrated 40,000 troops at Niš and advanced up the easier country of the Morava valley towardsAleksinac.[11] Chernyayev had less than 30,000 men, and unlike the Ottoman commander he stretched them thinly across both sides of the Morava river and into the mountains. Consequently, when contact was made between the two forces, the Serbian troops were overwhelmed by massed Ottoman firepower. A bayonet charge shortly followed and routed the Serbian troops from the field. Thanks to Abdul Kerim's indecisiveness and the arrival ofHorvatović's fresh forces, a new Serbian defensive line was created at Djunis.
The Ottomans invaded eastern Serbia in late July and captured the towns ofKnjaževac andZaječar, pursuing ascorched earth policy. Serbian civilians, women, men, old people and children were brutally massacred and their corpses mutilated; women were raped. A Serbian government later described how people were cut into pieces by sabres.[14] In August, at theBattle of Šumatovac, Serbian forces underKosta Protić succeeded in holding Ottoman advances. An unsuccessful attack by the Ottomans onBobovište followed and a general advance was undertaken by the Serbian army on 20 August. In mid-September, they were forced back across the Drina.[14]
Following this string of setbacks and defeats, Serbia petitioned the European powers to mediate a diplomatic solution to the war. A joint ultimatum from the European powers forced the Ottoman Empire into accepting a one-month truce with Serbia, during which peace negotiations were held.[14]
When the truce expired, the war continued and the new Serbian commander, Horvatović, attacked the Ottoman positions along a broad front from Djunis to Aleksinac on 28 September 1876, but the Ottoman troops repulsed the attacks.[17] The Ottoman forces reorganized and regrouped, and on 19 October 1876 the army of Adyl Pasha launched a surprise attack on the Serbian right which forced the Serbians back to Deligrad.[11]
On 31 October 1876, with the situation becoming dire and Serbian forces about to collapse, Russia mobilized its army and threatened to declare war on the Ottoman Empire if they did not sign a truce with Serbia and renew the peace negotiations within forty-eight hours.[18] These negotiations lasted until 15 January 1877.[19] On 28 February 1877, a peace treaty wassigned in Constantinopole that restoredstatus quo ante bellum.[20] Having gained financial backing from Russia, Serbia again declared war against the Ottoman Empire on 14 December.[19][21]
Battle of Vranje took place between 26 and 31 January 1878 and it represented final stage of the Second war.
The second phase, known as theSecond Serbian–Ottoman War (Други српско-турски рат/Drugi srpsko-turski rat), took place between 13 December 1877 and 5 February 1878. It ended with a Serbian victory. By early 1878, the Royal Serbian Army had captured most of the South Morava basin, reaching as far asPreševo andVitina.[22] On 31 January theytook Vranje.[23]
Some 200,000 people were left homeless as a result of the conflict.[14] Many children were orphaned as a result of the Serbo-Turkish Wars. The situation in Serbia was very serious, described by some as "children in huge groups reaching towns". At that time Serbia had underdeveloped social care system. Being aware of all that, 50 most prominent citizens of Belgrade decided to establish the "Society for the bringing up and protection of children", in the Kasina Hotel onTerazije Square, in 1879. In this facility the first vocational school in Serbia was established.[27]
At the close ofTolstoy's 1877 novelAnna Karenina, the character of Count Aleksey Vronsky enlists in a Russian volunteer regiment traveling to the aid of the Serbians.[40]
In 1882,Laza K. Lazarević (1851–91), wrote the short storyThe People Will Reward All of This. The author describes the difficult position of disabled war veterans after returning from the battlefield and inhuman attitude of the state towards them. Serbian writerDobrilo Nenadić published a trilogy of novels set during the wars:Sabre of Count Vronski (2002),Victors (2004) andGrumpiness of Prince Bizmark (2005).
^Italy, Yugoslavia, and the Controversy Over the Adriatic Region, 1915-1920Strategic Expectations and Geopolitical Realities in the Aftermath of the Great War p.136
^abcНикола Гажевић, Војна енциклопедија 9, Војноиздавачки завод, Београд (1975), стр. 116-122
^Nevill Forbes, et al.The Balkans: a history of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey (1915) summary histories by scholarsonline free
^Ainsztein, Reuben (1974).Jewish Resistance in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe: With a Historical Survey of the Jew as Fighter and Soldier in the Diaspora. Elek. p. 154.ISBN9780236154906.
^Duncan, Andrew; Opatowski, Michel (2000).Trouble Spots: The World Atlas of Strategic Information. Sutton. p. 126.ISBN9780750921718.
^abcAllen, William Edward David (1925).Béled-es-siba: Sketches and Essays of Travel and History. Macmillan and Company, Limited. pp. 169–176, 181.
^Sarkees, Meredith Reid; Wayman, Frank (2010). "The Serbian-Turkish War of 1876-1877".Resort to War: 1816 - 2007. SAGE Publications. p. 248.ISBN9780872894341.
^Goldstein, Erik (2005).Wars and Peace Treaties: 1816 to 1991. Routledge.ISBN9781134899111.Meanwhile, an Ottoman-Serbian peace protocol signed at Constantinople (28 Feb. 1877) had restored the prewar status quo on that front.
^Parker Freeman-Grenville, Greville Stewart (1975).Chronology of World History: A Calendar of Principal Events from 3000 BC to AD 1973. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 538.ISBN9780874717655.14 Dec., Serbia again declares war on Turkey..
^Pllana, Emin (1985). "Les raisons de la manière de l'exode des refugies albanais du territoire du sandjak de Nish a Kosove (1878–1878) [The reasons for the manner of the exodus of Albanian refugees from the territory of the Sanjak of Niš to Vilayet of Kosovo (1878–1878)] ".Studia Albanica.1: 189–190.
^Rizaj, Skënder (1981). "Nënte Dokumente angleze mbi Lidhjen Shqiptare të Prizrenit (1878–1880) [Nine English documents about the League of Prizren (1878–1880)]".Gjurmine Albanologjike (Seria e Shkencave Historike).10: 198.
^Şimşir, Bilal N, (1968).Rumeli'den Türk göçleri. Emigrations turques des Balkans [Turkish emigrations from the Balkans]. Vol I. Belgeler-Documents. p. 737.
^Elsie, Robert (2010).Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Scarecrow Press. p. XXXII.ISBN9780333666128.
^Stefanović, Djordje (2005). "Seeing the Albanians through Serbian eyes: The Inventors of the Tradition of Intolerance and their Critics, 1804–1939."European History Quarterly.35. (3): 470.
^Daskalovski 2003, p. 19. "The Serbian-Ottoman wars 1877/1878, followed mass and forceful movements of Albanians from their native territories. By the end of 1878 there were 60,000 Albanian refugees in Macedonia and 60,000-70,000 in the villayet of Kosova. At the 1878 Congress of Berlin, the Albanian territories of Niš, Prokuple, Kuršumlia, Vranje and Leskovac were given to Serbia."
^Malcolm, Noel (1998).Kosovo: A short history. Macmillan. pp. 228–229.ISBN9780810874831.Precise figures are lacking, but one modern study concludes that the whole region contained more than 110,000 Albanians. By the end of 1878 Western officials were reporting that there were 60,000 families of Muslim refugees in Macedonia, 'in a state of extreme destitution', and 60-70,000 Albanian refugees from Serbia 'scattered' over the vilayet of Kosovo..
^Alpion, Gëzim (2021).Mother Teresa: The Saint and Her Nation. Bloomsbury. p. 18.ISBN978-9389812466.During the 1877-1878 period, Montenegrin and Serbian forces expelled over 100,000 indigenous Albanians from their homes across a number of regions that are currently part of Montenegro and Serbia.
^Frantz, Eva Anne (2009). "Violence and its Impact on Loyalty and Identity Formation in Late Ottoman Kosovo: Muslims and Christians in a Period of Reform and Transformation".Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs.29 (4):460–461.doi:10.1080/13602000903411366.S2CID143499467. "In consequence of the Russian-Ottoman war, a violent expulsion of nearly the entire Muslim, predominantly Albanian-speaking, population was carried out in the sanjak of Niš and Toplica during the winter of 1877-1878 by the Serbian troops... The Austro-Hungarian consul Jelinek reported in April of 1878.... The account shows that these displaced persons (muhaxhirë) were highly hostile to the local Slav population.... Violent acts of Muslims against Christians, in the first place against Orthodox but also against Catholics, accelerated. This can he explained by the fears of the Muslim population in Kosovo that were stimulated by expulsions of large Muslim population groups in other parts of the Balkans in consequence of the wars in the nineteenth century in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated and new Balkan states were founded. The latter pursued a policy of ethnic homogenisation expelling large Muslim population groups."; p. 467. "Clewing (as well as Müller) sees the expulsions of 1877 – 1878 as a crucial reason for the culmination of the interethnic relations in Kosovo and 1878 as the epoch year in the Albanian-Serbian conflict history."
^Müller, Dietmar (2009). "Orientalism and Nation: Jews and Muslims as Alterity in Southeastern Europe in the Age of Nation-States, 1878–1941".East Central Europe.36 (1):63–99.doi:10.1163/187633009x411485. "For Serbia the war of 1878, where the Serbians fought side by side with Russian and Romanian troops against the Ottoman Empire, and the Berlin Congress were of central importance, as in the Romanian case. The beginning of a new quality of the Serbian-Albanian history of conflict was marked by the expulsion of Albanian Muslims from Niš Sandžak which was part and parcel of the fighting (Clewing 2000 : 45ff.; Jagodić 1998 ; Pllana 1985). Driving out the Albanians from the annexed territory, now called "New Serbia," was a result of collaboration between regular troops and guerrilla forces, and it was done in a manner which can be characterized as ethnic cleansing, since the victims were not only the combatants, but also virtually any civilian regardless of their attitude towards the Serbians (Müller 2005b). The majority of the refugees settled in neighboring Kosovo where they shed their bitter feelings on the local Serbs and ousted some of them from merchant positions, thereby enlarging the area of Serbian-Albanian conflict and intensifying it."
^Stefanović, Djordje (2005). "Seeing the Albanians through Serbian eyes: The Inventors of the Tradition of Intolerance and their Critics, 1804–1939".European History Quarterly.35 (3): 469.doi:10.1177/0265691405054219.hdl:2440/124622.S2CID144497487. "In 1878, following a series of Christian uprisings against the Ottoman Empire, the Russo-Turkish War, and the Berlin Congress, Serbia gained complete independence, as well as new territories in the Toplica and Kosanica regions adjacent to Kosovo. These two regions had a sizable Albanian population which the Serbian government decided to deport."; p.470. "The 'cleansing' of Toplica and Kosanica would have long-term negative effects on Serbian-Albanian relations. The Albanians expelled from these regions moved over the new border to Kosovo, where the Ottoman authorities forced the Serb population out of the border region and settled the refugees there. Janjićije Popović, a Kosovo Serb community leader in the period prior to the Balkan Wars, noted that after the 1876–8 wars, the hatred of the Turks and Albanians towards the Serbs 'tripled'. A number of Albanian refugees from Toplica region, radicalized by their experience, engaged in retaliatory violence against the Serbian minority in Kosovo... The 1878 cleansing was a turning point because it was the first gross and large-scale injustice committed by Serbian forces against the Albanians. From that point onward, both ethnic groups had recent experiences of massive victimization that could be used to justify 'revenge' attacks. Furthermore, Muslim Albanians had every reason to resist the incorporation into the Serbian state."
^Kuhn, Laura Diane (1999).Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music: H-Q. Schirmer Books. p. 1033.ISBN9780028654164.MARCHE SLAVE.. Ilyich Tchaikovsky.. 1876, to celebrate the liberation of Serbia from the Ottoman..
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