245 years ago, Russia and Turkey concluded the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhiysky peace treaty, which ended the war of 1768-1774. As a result, the Russian side received full access to the Black Sea and Crimea.

Peoples Movement

From ancient times on the territory of the Northern Black Sea coast there was a constant movement of various peoples. A network of Greek colonial cities was founded along the sea, over which Rome, the Bosporus and Byzantium seized power at various times. And in the steppe part, Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Avars, Bulgars and Khazars replaced each other.

At the end of the first millennium AD The Northern Black Sea region was divided between the Slavs and the Pechenegs. The latter, after a series of defeats suffered from Russia, were pushed to the west by the Polovtsy. In the XIII century, the Mongols came to the Northern Black Sea, who conquered the Polovtsy and together with them invaded the Crimea. The lands in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the Southern Bug and the Dniester, as well as the steppe part of the Crimea, became part of the Golden Horde. And on the southern coast and in the mountains of Tauris, the Genoese and the representatives of the Christian principality of Theodoro entrenched.

In Asia Minor from the beginning of the XIV century began a rapid growth in the influence of the Ottoman Empire. For a century and a half, the Turks conquered vast territories in South-West Asia and the Balkans. In 1475 they landed numerous troops in the Crimea and the Azov region. In a matter of months, the Ottomans seized the Genoese colonies and Theodoro. And three years later, the Crimean Khanate was made its vassal, which shortly before it separated from the Golden Horde.

  • William Allan. Slave Market in Constantinople
  • © National Galleries of Scotland

From the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate began to raid Poland, Lithuania, and then the Russian kingdom. According to historians' estimates, in the 16th — 17th centuries, about 2-3 million prisoners captured in Eastern Europe passed through the slave markets of the Crimea.

The beginning of the struggle

In 1571, the Crimean Tatar army ravaged the south-western lands of Russia and, reaching Moscow, burned the suburbs of the capital. The following year, tens of thousands of Crimean Tatars, reinforced by the seven thousandth Turkish janissary corps, came out against Russia. The invaders were defeated in the battle of the Young. This defeat weakened the Crimean Khanate and allowed Russia to begin expansion in the southeast direction.

In the 17th century, Cossacks, considered to be Russian subjects, entered into constant clashes with the Turks and Tatars. In 1681 the Bakhchisaray peace treaty was concluded, according to which the border between Russia and the Ottoman Empire passed along the lower reaches of the Dnieper. At the same time, the Cossacks received the right to freely float along the Dnieper to the Black Sea.

However, the world did not last long - after Russia's entry into the Holy League, the Ottoman Empire was again at war with Moscow.

In 1696, Peter I seized the fortress of Azov, and the enemy officially recognized this loss. In 1710, a new war began between Russia and Turkey due to the fact that, after the Battle of Poltava, the Ottoman Empire granted asylum to the King of Sweden, Charles XII, and the hetman of the Zaporozhian Army, Ivan Mazepa. After the unsuccessful Prut campaign, Peter had to return the Turks to Azov and tear down a number of fortifications on the southern borders of Russia.

In 1735, under Empress Anna Ivanovna, another war began between Russia and the Ottoman Empire because of territorial disputes and the raids of the Crimean Tatars on Russian lands.

Igor Kurukin, a professor at the RSUH, Doctor of Historical Sciences, told RT in an interview that the war was extremely difficult and did not develop very well for Russia.

“We need to understand that the Crimea and the Caucasus of that era were very different from how they look now. If nowadays they are associated with fruit and the sea, in which resort visitors splash, then they were considered something of a warm Siberia, ”the historian noted.

According to Kurukin, during the war of 1735–1739, Russia gained important experience.

“The country suffered significant human losses and expended huge resources, but the war was not fruitless. Let it be a very expensive price, but experience was gained that gave Russia future victories, ”he stressed.

After participating in the war, Austria concluded a separate peace treaty with Turkey, Russia had to agree to negotiations on unfavorable conditions, such as the destruction of the fortifications of Azov and the ban on the presence of its fleet in the Black Sea.

Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774

In 1768, Orthodox residents of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the support of the inhabitants of the Russian left bank of the Dnieper, revolted against the dictates of the Polish nationalists, which was called Koliiivshchyna. During the pursuit of the enemy, the rebels crossed the Turkish border and invaded Balta. The Turkish Sultan used this step as a pretext for declaring war on Russia.

The Ottomans acted in alliance with France and hoped to seize Podolia with Volyn, promised by the leadership of the Bar Confederation. However, they were stopped by the troops of Prince Alexander Golitsyn.

The chief specialist of the RVIO scientific department Konstantin Pakhalyuk told the RT that “in the second half of the 18th century, in view of the economic development of the Russian Empire, the question arose of ensuring trade in the southern regions, that is, across the Black Sea - the“ inner lake ”of the Ottoman Empire. It was necessary to solve the problem of the vassal of the Crimean Khanate to her, which raided the southern regions of Russia, the expert added.

“However, it was not Catherine II who initiated the war. On the contrary, in the first years of her rule, Russia fought for increased influence in Poland. Not without the influence of our opponents (France and Austria), Turkey decided, as they say, to seize the moment. It was a great power, whose army outnumbered Russia in number, and everyone expected a long and hard war for Russia, ”he noted.

According to Pakhalyuk, in 1770, the Russian fleet first came out of the Baltic, entered the Mediterranean and defeated the Turks in the Chesme battle. The following year, troops of Prince Vasily Dolgoruky entered the Crimea.

  • Ivan Aivazovsky. Chesme battle on the night of June 25-26, 1770
  • © Collection Theodosia Art Gallery named after IK Aivazovsky

The Khanate declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire and in fact passed under the Russian protectorate. At the same time, the Turks suffered significant losses in battles on the banks of the Danube. Protracted peace negotiations began, but they were unsuccessful, because the Ottoman Empire refused to make significant concessions to Russia.

In the spring of 1773, a positional war began on the Danube. A detachment of about 700 soldiers and Cossacks under the command of Major General Alexander Suvorov knocked 4 thousand Turks out of Turtukai fortress. Russian troops lost only 26 people killed, and the Turks - 1.5 thousand. After that, the Russian military won a number of victories, but were greatly depleted. The forces operating in the region under the command of Peter Rumyantsev retreated.

In 1774, Russian troops under the command of Mikhail Kamensky and Suvorov in the battle of Kozludzhi almost completely outnumbered the Turkish forces. The Ottoman command requested a truce.

  • Battle of Kozludzhi
  • © Wikimedia

Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhiysky treaty

The peace treaty between Russia and Turkey was signed on July 21, 1774 in a camp near the village of Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi (on the territory of modern Bulgaria). In the future, the text of the document was expanded due to a number of additional agreements.

According to the agreement, the Crimea and the adjacent Tatar regions officially gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. The fortresses of Azov, Kerch, Enikale and Kinburn were recognized as Russian. Russia received extensive land between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug, the territory of the Great and Small Kabarda. The Russian merchant navy had unhindered access to the Black Sea and the straits. Moldavia and Wallachia passed under the Russian protectorate.

Russia received the authority to protect Christians in the Ottoman Empire and the ability to freely send its subjects on a pilgrimage to the Middle East. In addition, Turkey pledged to pay 7.4 million gold piastres for military expenses.

However, soon after the signing of the treaty, the Turks began to sabotage the fulfillment of their obligations. The authorities of the Ottoman Empire did not pay indemnities, obstructed Russian shipping and organized provocations in the Crimea. In 1783, after the turmoil organized by Turkey and the request of the local population to bring order to the peninsula, Catherine II officially annexed Crimea and the Kuban to the Russian Empire.

  • Unknown artist. Fireworks in honor of the visit of Catherine II to the Crimea

According to Pakhalyuk, as a result, the Turks were driven back to the south, while Russia strengthened control over the Black Sea and gained access to the Caucasus.

In turn, historian and writer Dmitry Volodikhin said in an interview with RT that “the Northern Pontic for a long time was an arena for the struggle between Russia, the Commonwealth, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, which was carried on almost equal.”

“The weakened Rzeczpospolita stopped first, while Russia, on the contrary, became a leader,” the expert noted.

According to him, in the Northern Black Sea coast not only the state borders shifted, but the frontiers between the Christian world and Islam moved.

“Today you can hear accusations against Russia that it captured the Northern Black Sea region. But we must not forget that before this it was captured by the Ottoman Empire. In this sense, the Russian troops simply ousted the invaders, ” said Volodikhin.

In turn, Igor Kurukin said that at that time there were qualitative changes in Russia compared to earlier eras.

“At that time, our country was already a great power with a modern army, without which it would not have been possible to join the Northern Black Sea region,” he stressed.

According to the expert, by that time the need to change the borders in this region was long overdue, as evidenced by earlier campaigns, in particular, the times of Peter I and Anna Ioannovna. But Russia still lacked the strength for this.

“Victory in the war and the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhiysky world changed Russia. A victorious spirit appeared, which later led the state to new challenges. Moreover, this enthusiasm was common - Rumyantsev and Suvorov were great commanders, but they would not have been able to win without appropriately tuned generals and officers, ”Kurukin explained.

The expert added that an important result of the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhiysky world was Russia's receipt of full access to the Black Sea, and then to the Crimea with a naval base in Sevastopol. In addition, Russia has begun to actively influence the processes in the regions occupied by Turkey.

"Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhiysky world has become one of the greatest accomplishments of Catherine II", - concluded Kurukin.