Part 1: Ottoman Empire in the 18th Century

The following is the second installment of a two-part article providing an overview of the military campaigns of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th Century. Part one we looked at the Great Persian War which the Ottomans fought from 1723 to 1746. In this installment we will once again turn our attention to the European theater.

This article, in a slightly modified form, first appeared in the January 1994 issue of the Seven Years War Association Journal. This excellent Journal appears quarterly and is edited by Jim Purky. It is available for $30 a year by writing to Purky at 3127 Park Place, Evanston, IL 60201.

The 18th Century opened with bleak prospects for the Ottomans. The Treaty of Karlowitz, signed on Jan. 26, 1699, appeared to be a betrayal of the Ghazi state, the Ottoman's very reason for existence. As a Ghazi (crusader) state it was required for the empire to be constantly expanding the Domain of Peace (the Islamic world) at the expense of the Domain of War (everybody else).

Large Map (slow: 138K)
Jumbo Map (very slow: 231K)

The reverse was a catastrophe, and that was exactly what had happened in 1699. Territory which had long been under Ottoman control was allowed, for the first time, to fall into Christian hands. While this move was unpopular, the Ottoman ruling class saw it only as a temporary step.

The historian Naima, in his chronicle of the period, argued that peace, even on unfavorable terms, was required in order to enable the empire to regroup its forces and renew its strength. Once revitalized, Ottoman arms would again be victorious. As a precedent he cited the truce of Hudaybiyah that the Prophet Mohammad had made with the Meccans in 627 A.D. In this case the Prophet himself had been willing to treat not just with infidels, but even with idolaters.

And, given the requisite breathing spell, Ottoman arms were indeed successful.

In 1711 the Russians under Peter the Great invaded Moldavia, a Christian province which was tributary to the Ottomans. While the Moldavians and the Wallachians rose in support of Peter's invasion, it was to no effect. Through poor planning and a lack of an adequate intelligence network, Peter soon found himself and his army cut off and all but surrounded by a greatly superior Ottoman and Tartar force.

He begged for peace and after the payment of an especially generous "inducement" he was allowed to retreat back into Russia As a result the Russians surrendered the recently captured city of Azov and its surrounding district, and with it their dream of a Black Sea fleet. They also agreed to dismantle the Taganrog and Dnieper fortresses and withdraw from Poland.

Flushed with victory, the Ottomans now attacked Venice and its holdings in Greece. By 1714, under the leadership of Grand Vezir Damad Ali, they had retaken all of the Morea and the Archipelago. Unfortunately for the Ottomans their rapid success scared the Austrians who now elected to side with the Venetians. War between the two empires broke out in 1716.

At first the war went well for the Ottomans, with the Austrians being driving back at Karlowitz. But then at Peterwardein the Ottomans met the main Austrian army under the inspired leadership of Prince Eugen. When Grand Vezir Damad Ali was killed leading a counterattack, the Ottomans broke. Eugen went on to take the fortress of Temesvar and in 1717, after another stunning victory, captured the great fortress of Belgrade.

The victory was declared "the greatest victory of all time" by the Austrian emperor and was immortalized in a song which was sung thereafter by generations of Austrian imperial armies as they marched to war. A peace was signed surrendering all of Hungary and large parts of Serbia, Bosnia and Wallachia to the Austrians.

War between the Ottomans and the Russians almost broke out again in 1723 when Peter the Great tried to extend his power into the Caucasus. To block the Russian advances the Ottomans invaded Georgia. Through the active intervention of France the two great powers avoided conflict. In June 1724 they agreed to settle their differences by dividing up northern and western Persia. The Ottomans got Georgia and the lands around the Black Sea, allowing them to maintain their absolute control of this important body of water. The Russians got Daghestan and the land around the Caspian Sea.

This treaty would involve the Ottomans in the exe tended and immensely costly war with Persia which was covered in part one of this article.

War with Austria and Russia 1736- 1739

Throughout all this time Russia never abandoned its desire for ports on the Black Sea. With the Ottomans heavily engaged with the Persians, now seemed a good time to fulfill those desires. Empress Anne of Russia worked out an agreement with Austria which wanted the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia cited raids by the Crimean Tartars as grounds for an ultimatum. War was declared on May 2, 1736.

Unfortunately for the allies, the Ottomans were able to temporarily suspend their war with the Persians. The Russians attempted through several inducements to keep the Persians in the field. But Nadir Shah, the ruler of Persia, knew his nation was exhausted after 13 years of unending war with the Ottomans and refused.

When the war broke out the Ottoman army was not mobilized, so the Sultan relied on the Tartar forces to delay the Russians. The Russian army, commanded by Marshall Munnich, rolled over the Tartars, seizing the entire Crimean Peninsula. Unfortunately for the Russians, they completely out-ran their supply lines and foraging for food in this area was impossible. Disease and starvation set in, forcing the Russians to abandon the entire Crimea.

In mid-1737, Russia tried to conquer Moldavia, but the Ottomans held the line at the Dneister River.

The Austnans finally entered the war in 1737. Unfortunately for them Prince Eugen had died in 1736 and they were now led by men of far less skill. Nonetheless, their first moves met with great success. Their main thrust was along the Vardar River (which flows from Greece to Serbia). The Austrians received assistance from the local Christians in Serbia and Montenegro. They were able to capture Sarajevo, Nish, Wallachia and parts of Moldavia. This was a rather large area to hold and the Austrians distributed their forces throughout the region in small garrisons.

The Ottomans decided to deal with the Austrians first. Assisted by their renewed and modernized Bombardier Corps, the Ottomans were successful in their counterattacks. The Austrians were defeated at Banja Luka and Bucharest during the fall of 1737.

In 1738, the Ottomans launched several campaigns that resulted in the recapture of Belgrade, Semendria and Irsova. This placed the Ottomans in a defensive posttion along the Danube River.

Effectively beaten, the Austrians signed the Treaty of Belgrade on Sept. l8, 1739, losing not only all their gains of this war, but all the territorial gains they had won as a result of the Treaty of Passarovitz in 1718.

High Water Mark

This was a high water mark for the Ottomans who began to dream again of redeeming the failures of 1529 and 1683. During the negotiations for the treaty, Hekimoglu Ali Pasha was able to boast, as well as threaten, that the road to Vienna was now open and he knew the way. This treaty favored the Ottomans in several ways. The Ottoman negotiator, ably assisted by the French ambassador, the Marquis de Villeneuve, was able to pressure Austria since he knew that Austria was concerned about the health of Emperor Charles.

The treaty restored the old boundaries on the Sava and Danube rivers. With the treaty signed, 200,000 Ottoman troops were freed up for service against the Russians.

Early in 1739 the Russians had launched an invasion into Moldavia The city of Jassy was captured and the Russians were preparing to invade Wallachia when they received news of the Austrian capitulation at Belgrade.

The Russians were experiencing their usual supply problems and this news compelled them to agree to a peace treaty in October. Russia surrendered Azov, the Crimea and all of Moldavia to the Ottomans. In return the Ottomans agreed to accept responsibility for the behavior of the Tartars and to allow the Russians certain trade and religious travel rights.

Unfortunately for the Ottomans, who had been at war without let up for almost 30 years, they were granted no rest. As soon as the treaty was signed with the Russians the old war with Persia, which had never really ended, began again when Nadir Shah launched a massive invasion of the region around Baghdad with an army estimated at 325,000 men. This new phase of the war lasted until late 1746 when both the Ottomans and the Persians, exhausted from years of ceaseless battle, f'nally agreed to a treaty which more or less left the two empires with the same borders they had in 1723.

The Ottomans were now successful in staying out of a major conflict for almost 20 years. They avoided being dragged into the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. They almost allied themselves with Prussia, but there were many internal problems in the empire that were of a higher priority than foreign adventure and intrigue.

It has been argued that the success of the Ottomans against their European opponents spoiled the Ottomans and led to the long string of military failures that were to follow. The repeated victories against Russia, Venice and Austria between 1711 and 1739 created such faith in the efficacy of the empire's army, that no significant reforms were undertaken in the next several decades. Thus a minor technological gap with the West was allowed to become a rapidly widening chasm.

War with Russia, 1768-1774

Russia, always concerned about Poland, placed a puppet king, Stanislas Poniatowski, on the Polish throne in 1764. Stanislas could not protect the non-Catholics and other dissidents in Poland, who appealed to the Sultan for protection. At the same time, France and the Tartars were urging the Sultan to go to war. At first the Sultan hesitated, but then the Russians attacked and burned the Ottoman border city of Balta in which the dissident Poles had taken refuge.

The Russian torches accomplished what French diplomacy had failed to achieve. The Sultan declared war on Oct. 4, 1768.

The war opened well with Kirim Giray, the ruler of the Crimean Tartars, Ieading a massive raid into Ruse sian territory, returning with thousands of slaves and hordes of treasure. In response, the Russians had him assassinated in January 1769. Devlet Giray IV took control of the Crimean Tartars, but he was a poor Ieader and his lack of strong leadership created a lot of internal problems. Accordingly, the Tartars were not able to supply the Ottomans with their usual amount of support.

While the Sultan had been eager for war, his army had been allowed to deteriorate during the last 20 years of peace and the Ottomans were unable to form any effective army to stop the Russians.

Russian spies were sent throughout the Balkans to foment uprisings. From 1769 to 1770 the Russians advanced through the Balkans. Bucharest was captured on Feb. 2, 1770. At the same time the Caucasus and Azov were attacked. It was a war of slaughter as the Christian Russians gave no quarter to either Muslim soldiers or civilians.

It was not until August of 1770 that the Grand Vezir was finally able to bring an army together to oppose the Russian advance. But at Kartal the Ottomans lost a third of their army when they tried to retreat across the Danube. Bulgaria was now laid open to the Russians and there was nothing between the Russian army and Istanbul.

At this time Russia received assistance from England in moving a part of its Baltic fleet into the Mediterranean. The Russians landed troops and supplied arms to Greek rebels in the Morea and the islands of Cephalonia and Zanta. But here the Russian were opposed by Muhsinzade Pasha, the former Grand Vezir. He called in reinforcements of Albanians and defeated both the Greek insurgents and the foreign invaders, driving the Russians back to their ships.

The Ottoman fleet sailed out to meet the Russians, but quickly realized they were overmatched and refused combat. They took refuge in the straits of Chesme but the entire fleet was destroyed there by Russian fire ships on the night of July 6, 1770.

British advisors with the fleet now urged Orlov, the Russian commander, to attack Istanbul immediately. Orlov did not heed their advise and thus gave the Ottomans time to reorganize and rebuild their fleet under the direction of the Frenchman Francis de Tott. What chance the Russians had for an attack on Istanbul now passed. Unable to follow up their victory, the Russians contented themselves with interfering with Ottoman rule in Syria and Egypt.

In the Crimea, the Russians once again used the local inhabitants to assist them. This time they invaded in 1771 with a large army while most of the Tartar army was out on raiding parties. Most of the local princes of Crimea went over to the Russians since it looked as if they would win the war. By 1772 all of Crimea was occupied by Russia.

Diplomatic Screws

Fearful of unchecked Russian expansion, Prussia and Austria began to put the diplomatic screws to Russia. This led to the First Partition of Poland in 1772 as Russia yielded its gains along the Danube in exchange for a portion of Poland. Austria and Prussia, as peace mediators, also helped themselves to some Polish territory.

In 1773 the Pugachev Rebellion (a Cossack uprising) took place in the area between the Volga and Ural rivers and denied the Russians access to their traditional Cossack allies.

The Russian Empress, Catherine the Great, was prepared to make peace with the Sultan, due to the on- going Pugachev Rebellion. However, the Sultan, as Caliph and head of the Islamic world, refused to surrender Muslim Crimea to the control of a Christian power.

Catherine was left with no alternative but to continue the conflict. General Rumyantsev was to have Ied an invasion force into the Balkans. However, with scarcely 35,000 men he could do nothing more than make a few tentative forays across the Danube in 1773.

While 1773 was not a good year for the Russians it was a surprisingly successful one for the Ottomans. Muhzinsade Pasha, the hero the Morea, was reinstated as Grand Vezir. Reorganizing and reinforcing the army, he inspired it with a new lease on life.

In 1773 he embarked on a campaign now conf~ned to the south bank of the Danube. First the Ottomans withstood a Russian siege of Silistria, fighting for it street by street and forcing a Russian withdrawal. The Russians took revenge for their defeat by massacring the civilians of the undefended town of Bazarjik. Surprised as they did so by the appearance of an Ottoman force, the Russians fled, abandoning their campfires with pots filled with half-cooked meat. Meanwhile, another Russian force advancing on Varna was repulsed by the Ottomans with the help of a unit of Marines from an Ottoman naval squadron cruising off the Black Sea coast.

To meet this renewed threat, Rumyantsev's army was increased in 1774 to 55,000 and he was given a greater degree of military and political freedom to conduct his operations. However time was running out for the Russians and a great victory was needed quickly. The Cossack revolt remained active inside Russia and the harvest of 1774 was so poor that the yearly levy of recruits for the army had not been carried out. Fortunately for the Russians, Rumyantsev had as a subordinate, General Alexander Vasilievitch Suvorov. One of the greatest, and strangest, Russian generals of all time, Suvorov was destined to never lose a battle.

In 1774 Suvorov was sent on a reconnaissance mission with a division of 8,000 men. He encountered a scouting party from the main Ottoman army near Kozluca. Suvorov was an aggressive general who believed that his superiors would avoid a major engagemeet, so he decided to force the issue.

Suvorov cleared a wood line felled with Albanian skirmishers as well as a ravine defended by a Janissary Orta. After clearing the forward Ottoman defensive line, the Russians entered open ground in front of a ridge line defended by the Ottomans, with their artillery in posttion. Suvorov immediately formed several brigade squares with his infantry and commenced an advance on the Ottoman position.

The Ottomans bombarded the Russian squares, but failed to slow their advance. Just then a rain shower began. This refreshed the Russians, but rendered the Ottoman muskets useless since the Ottomans lacked leather cartridge boxes to protect their ammunition (They carried their cartridges in their pockets).

The Ottomans realized that their artillery alone wasn't going to stop the Russians, so they decided to launch a series of infantry counter-attacks. Each time it appeared the squares would break, but each time the Russians managed to repel the attackers. Finally, Suvorov's Cuirassier and Hussar regiments arrived on the scene and broke up the Ottoman attack. The battle turned into a rout with Suvorov's 10,000 men defeating an estimated 40,000 Ottomans.

Peace Treaty

The Grand Vezir now proposed an armistice but the Russians invited him to instead negotiate a formal peace treaty. The articles were drafted and signed in five days. On July 21 , 1774, the Grand Vezir signed the Treaty of Kucuk Kaymarca (or Kuchuk Kainarji) which was basically the same treaty rejected by the Sultan two years before. Russia received Azov and was recognized as the protector of Orthodox Christians in the Balkans.

To allow the Sultan to save face, the Crimea was not annexed by the Russians but was instead recognized as an independent state. This fiction would be eliminated in 1783 when the Russians formally annexed the Crimea.

The loss of the Crimea was far worse then the losses of 1699 which had started the century. The lands surrendered to the infidels then had been Christian lands. In this case it was Islamic lands that were lost.

It was an insult the Ottomans could not accept and it would lead directly to another war between the Ottomans and the Russians in 1787 in which Suvorov would once again save his homeland.