1800

January - Attacked by both the English and the Ottomans, French General Kleber negotiates with the Grand Vezir and agrees to evacuate Egypt.

March - England disavows the agreement with the French. Forced to fight again, Kleber takes the Grand Vezir's 30,000 man army at Heliopolis by surprise and, with only about 12,000 men, heavily defeats it. Following the battle, the people of Cairo revolt and the French must fight house-to-house for weeks to recover the city. The Grand Vezir falls back to Jaffa where he reorganizes his army for another attack on Egypt.

The Ottomans resist Russian attempts to establish themselves permanently in the Adriatic. To avoid open warfare a Russo-Ottoman convention (

March 21 ) organizes the islands into the Septinsular Republic, an independent state under Ottoman suzerainty, with both Ottoman and Russian garrisons.

The withdrawal of Ottoman units from the Balkans to fight the French invasion has resulted in a rapid increase in banditry. A Nizam-i Jedid force, aided by provincial forces from Nicomedia, is sent into Thrace to deal with the bandits.

Spring - With Pasvanoglu's bandit army threatening to overrun the entire province, Haiji Mustapha Pasha, governor of Serbia, begins recruiting and arming Rayas for local defense on a very large scale.

With the aid of captured French off~cers and equipment Ali Pasha defeats the neighboring Pasha of Delvino, forcing him to accept Ali's suzerainty. To counter Ali's power, and with Russian arms, ammunition and encouragement, the Suliotes leave their mountain retreats and begin raiding Janina.

June - Ali Pasha convinces all of his neighboring Pashas to join him in an all-out war against the Suliotes. An army of 15,000 men is assembled. They drive the Suliotes back into their mountain fortresses.

General Kleber is assassinated

June 14 and command of the French army in Egypt passes to General Jacques Menou.

Summer - Ali Pasha's army besieges the Suliote army at Suli. Though heavily outnumbered, they conduct a brilliant guerrilla campaign, repeatedly holding off assaults. After direct assaults fail, Ali builds 64 small forts surrounding Suli and begins a siege. But with the assistance of local notables who fear Ali Pasha's growing power, the Suliotes are kept supplied. The Suliotes are also being supplied by the Russians in the Ionian Islands.

Nizam-i Jedid forces in the Balkans win impressive victories against the bandits, bringing peace and security to much of the area. Rebellious local notables, fearing the troops will now be used against them, use their influence at court to have the force recalled.

Fall - Hoping to conquer Serbia before the new Raya army is ready, Pasvanoglu invades with a large force. Governor Hajji Mustapha Pasha is besieged in Belgrade. In

November the new Raya army, led by its own native princes, defeats Pasvanoglu, driving the invading army completely out of the province.

December - A British naval squadron transporting the British Expeditionary Force arrives at Marmaris in Asia Minor. There it picks up horses and gunboats from the Grand Vezir's army and practices landing operations. The force sails for Egypt in February 1801. A4,000 man force sent by Ali Pasha of Janina, now governor of Rumelia, is defeated at Plevna by bandits supplied by Pasvanoglu. With this force defeated and the Nizam-i Jedid recalled, the bandits once again come to dominate much of the Balkans.

Russia annexes the formerly Ottoman, but now independent, province of Georgia over the protests of Persia.

In Arabia the Wahhabi overrun the string of independent and mutually hostile Sheikdoms and Sultanates that line the shore of the Persian Gulf. Only Oman is able to resist.

1801

March -A 15,000-man British army supported by small Ottoman forces, primarily guides and interpreters, lands at Abukir on March 8.

March 21 General Menou launches a major assault hoping to destroy the British before further Ottoman reinforcements can arrive. While the French take the heaviest casualties, British General Sir Ralph Abercrombie is killed. On March 25 a further 8,000 Ottoman troops, including 2,000 Nizam-i Jedid, arrive by sea. Alexander I becomes Czar of Russia on March 24, by assisting in a conspiracy to murder his father, Czar Paul.

Spring - With Ali Pasha,s attention diverted by the Suliotes, the Muslim Beys form the League of the Chiefs of Epirus against him. In response Ali uses his vast wealth to buy them off and spread dissension.

April -

August - The join/Anglo-Ottoman army, after laying siege to the French in Alexandria, advances down the Nile accompanied by a squadron of Ottoman gunboats. Thousands of natives flock to the army. On May 6 the army, almost devoid of mounted troops, is joined by 600 Syrian cavalry.

A second Ottoman army of 18,000 men under the Grand Vezir advances across the desert. On May 16, Taher Pacha, commanding the advanced guard of the Vezir's army, with about 12,000 men and eight cannon, defeats a French force of 5,500 men and 24 cannon in the seven-hour Battle of Bilbeis about 40 miles outside of Cairo. Following the victory, the Grand Vezir joins with the British and Ottoman forces already in country. The allies lay siege to Cairo on June 21. With his 13,000-man force riddled with disease and short of food, General Belliard surrenders Cairo on June 27.

The remaining French forces hold out until August of 1801, when they are finally forced to surrender to the joint Anglo-Ottoman army. Arriving too late to take part in the action, a 6,000-man force of British regulars and Sepoys from India lands at Kosseir on the Gulf of Suez.

May - The semi-independent Pasha of Tripoli declares war on United States shipping for nonpayment of "tribute." U.S. naval and Marine units battle the Tripolitan Corsairs for four more years until growing trouble with Britain forces the United States to agree to sign a peace treaty with Tripoli after an indecisive campaign.

August - Following their pardon by the Sultan, many of Pasvanoglu's Janissaries and Yamaks had returned to Serbia over the past couple of years. In August they kill Haiii Mustapha, disband his Raya army, and rule with such a ruthlessness that even the local Sipahis appeal to the Sultan for relief. Their leaders, now known as the Dahis, divide the province among themselves and plan to rule it as an independent nation.

October - The Grand Vezir and Grand Admiral arrest most of the Mamluk leaders. General John Hutchinson, commander of the British in Egypt who has been secretly dealing with the Mamluks to turn the country over to them in exchange for English economic domination, threatens war unless they are released. He frees the Mamluks who flee to upper Egypt and resume f~ghting the Ottomans.

Fall-

Winter - Hakki Medmed Pasha is named military ruler of Ottoman Europe with orders to bring the bandit menace in the Balkans under control. Just as with the Nizam-i Jedid earlier, he wins many successes but is eventually defeated by anti-reform ministers in Istanbul who cut off his funding.

December - Continuing his efforts to break up the League of the Chiefs of Epirus, Ali Pasha attacks Islam Progno, Pasha of Paramythia, the most steadfast of the League's members. Aided by Suliote troops, Islam repels the attack.

In Arabia the Wahhabi break the peace treaty with the Ottomans and launch an extended raid on the region around Baghdad, looting and destroying Karbala, an important and wealthy Muslim pilgrimage city.

1801-1802

British forces remain in Egypt supporting one of the several Mamluk factions against the Ottoman government in the hope of securing British influence in a future Mamluk state. Ottoman forces battle the Mamluks for control of Egypt.

With most of northern and central Arabia now under their control, the Wahhabi invade southern Arabia, over-running first the mountainous region south of Taif, and then conquering the desert tribes around Mecca. Sherif Galib of Mecca, feeling the noose being drawn tighter, gathers those tribes still loyal to him and organizes another ultimately unsuccessful expedition into the Nejd.

1802

January - In an attempt to remove any Serbian leadership, the Dahis draw up a list of possible leaders and, on Feb. 4, began killing them. Within a few days 72 Serbian leaders are dead. But many more escape to the hills joining the bandit bands which have long resisted all forms of authority. The Serbians, supported by the Sultan, now rise in rebellion. Striking out of their mountain bases, they begin a guerrilla war against the Dahis. While their attacks are primarily aimed at the rebel Janissaries, the guerrillas also attack Turkish merchants and Sipahis who they blame for past oppression.

February - With much of the countryside now under their control, a Serbian assembly eIects Karageorge, the most successful of the rebel military commanders, as their leader. Austria allows the open smuggling of arms, including artillery, to the rebels, and thousands of Austrian Serbs, including many army off~cers, cross the border to support the rebellion.

March - Sultan Selim blesses the Serbian rebellion and orders all local off~cials to help the Serbs against the Dahis. W.'th this encouragement Karageorge's army swells to more than 30,000 by April. Many of the fortresses held by the Dahis' forces are taken and they are besieged in Belgrade.

May - Selim,s representatives, who were refused the right to attend the negotiating sessions, are presented with the Treaty of Amiens offcially ending the War of the Triple Alliance against Napoleon. Among its provisions the treaty gives the Russians free passage through the Straits which, with their new naval bases in the Ionian Islands, will make them the dominant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean. While angry about this treatment by his allies, Selim signs the treaty on May 13 but opens private negotiations with the French.

June 25 - Angered over continued British occupation of Egypt, Selim signs a separate peace treaty with France, restoring prewar relations and giving France the right of free passage through the Straits into the Black Sea.

Fall - With the southern tribes now following his lead, Abd ul-Aziz, the Wahhabi commander, now attacks the Ottoman possessions in southern Arabia. A very strong Wahhabi army takes Taif, killing every male in the city. They then move on Medina, attacking the strong Beni Harb tribe and besieging the city.

Due to Russian influence, pro-Russian Hospodars (governors) are appointed in the semi-independent Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.

1803

January - Ali Pasha of Janina is again named governor of Rumelia in an attempt to control the anarchy and disintegration in the Balkans.

March - Ali's son Veliuddin leads a 10,000-man army through Macedonia and into Thrace, defeating the bandits. By the end of summer peace is restored.

The British evacuate Egypt in an attempt to repair relations with the Ottomans.

The rebellious Pasha Gurgi Osman is transferred to eastern Anatolia to get him away from his power base in the Balkans. While marching to his new governorship he sweeps up bandits and other rebellious forces. When he reaches Ankara his army totals 10,000. He then rebels, demanding to be returned to the Balkans. Nizam-i Jedid troops and forces from Tayyar Pasha of Erzurum defeat him.

April -

June - When the heavily guarded annual pilgrimage caravan leaves the Holy Cities for the year, Saud's Wahhabi army attacks Mecca itself. Sherif Galib holds out for three months, but, with provisions exhausted, he abandons the city. After dispatching forces to garrison at Medina, Galib takes his main army to Jidda to make a new stand against the Wahhabi advance.

May - Albanian forces in Egypt, unpaid for months, revolt against the Ottoman governor. The Ieader of the Albanians is assassinated four days later, beginning a two-year struggle which ends with Albanian officer Mohammad Ali becoming ruler of Egypt in 1805.

England declares war on France and dispatches ships to blockade the Dardanelles against French shipping. Despite pressure from the British, the Ottoman Empire remains neutral.

Summer - Ali Pasha gets Sultan Selim's support against the Suliotes, and with the aid of Ottoman forces finally totally seals them off from outside aid.

After looting Mecca, Saud advances on Jidda with his main army. At the same time he sends troops against Medina and Yanbo. But without artillery he is unable to capture these walled towns and withdraws.

With Suleyman the Great now dead, Kethuda Ali Pasha becomes the new Ottoman governor of Baghdad. He organizes yet another expedition against the Wahhabi, which gains some success. But with more and more of his former Bedouin allies going over to the Wahhabi, and with growing trouble with the Kurds to the north, he is be unable to seriously challenge Wahhabi power.

June - Galib retakes Mecca, but instead of organizing another expedition against the Wahhabi, enters into negotiations. In exchange for Galib accepting the Wahhabi faith, the Wahhabi agree to leave him in possession of all his towns and incomes.

August - Fearing the growing power of Ali Pasha, rebellious Pashas Pasvanoglu and Tirsiniklioglu Ismail Agha use massive bribes to have him removed as governor of Rumelia.

September - Repeated attacks by troops led by Ali Pasha's son Veliuddin push the Suliotes into only three small mountain-top villages.

October - Wahhabi raids in Syria become so serious that Ahmet Jezzar Pasha, the victor of Acre, is named governor of Damascus in an attempt to control the Wahhabi menace.

Abd ul-Aziz, the Wahhabi leader, is assassinated by a fanatical Muslim angered over the destruction of the shrine at Karbala and his son, Saud, becomes the leader of the Wahhabi movement.

December - Ali Pasha's troops attack and kill most of the Suliotes. Those who survive flee to Corfu into Russian service. The independent Georgian principality of Mingrelia on the eastern Black Sea coast, which has long recognized the suzerainty of the Ottoman Porte, is annexed by the Russians attacking out of eastern Georgia. The Ottomans raise no objections.

1804

April - Ahmet Jezzar Pasha dies and his efforts to con- trol the Wahhabi are abandoned. Free of outside in- terference, Saud uses the time to consolidate his hold over Arabia, annexing Muscat and launching a major raid into Iraq, advancing to the outskirts of Baghdad.

Summer - In an attempt to reconquer Georgia, Persia declares war on Russia. The war is fought briskly for a year or two and then both combatants enter into a very low-energy contest from which Russia finally emerges victorious in 1813. The Ottomans, who hold a number of important fortresses and towns along the Black Sea coast and who are technically protectors of several of the minor local chieftains, take no active part in the struggle.

May - Hassan el Kalay, the local warlord of Medina, surrenders the heavily fortified city to the Wahhabi. The Wabhabi now begin to interfere with the annual pilgrimage caravans to Mecca and Medina. This is intensely embarrassing to the Sultan who is "Defender of the Faithful."

June - The Sultan sends Ebubekir Pasha, the govemor of Bosnia and a supporter of the Serbian Rayas, with an army into Serbia to suppress the Dahis.

Scared by the spreading violence in Serbia, Austria closes the border. Hundreds of ethnic Serbians inAustrian Grenzer units desert and cross into Serbia. With their help the guerrilla bands are transformed into a regular army under a unified chain of command.

With the aid of Russian arms and reinforced with 300 Suliotes from Corfu, Bushatli Mustafa Pasha leads the League of the Chiefs of Epirus against Ali Pasha. Ali's European-trained army defeats the League army and forces its leaders to accept his suzerainty.

August - At the approach of the Ottoman army, the Dahis flee but are surrounded and destroyed by the Ottomans. While the leaders are now dead, a sizable force of rebel Yamaks still holds out in the citadel of Belgrade. Even so, social and economic life throughout the rest of Belgrade and Serbia returns to normal.

The Serbs, who up to this time have been acting in cooperation with the Ottoman forces, refuse to put down their arms following the defeat of the Dahis.

Fall - Tayyar Pasha, son of the traitor Battal Huseyin Pasha, and now governor of Janik and Samsun in eastern Anatolia, revolts against perceived slights by the Sultan. He raises a large army and begins to ravage the countryside.

The Wahhabi overrun Yemen, plundering the rich coastal towns of Loheia and Hodeida.

December - Under threat of war with England and Russia, Selim refuses to recognize Napoleon's declaration of himself as emperor. Napoleon breaks off diplomatic relations with the Porte.

The Russians begin to secretly finance the Serbian rebels.

By the end of 1804 a sort of order has been restored to the Balkans. All-but-independent Pashas Ismail Agha in the east, Pasvanoglu in the west and Ali Pasha in the southwest now dominate their areas. Hoping to end the chaos, Selim III appoints each of them as governor of the territories they already hold. Ismail Agha and Ali Pasha happily agree. Pasvanoglu ignores the Sultan, as usual, and continues to act as a bandit prince, aiding all the territories around him.

1805

January - With an army of Kurds and bandits, Tayyar Pasha begins large-scale attacks on local Ottoman forces. He leaves a 50,000-man force, including a European-style artillery corps led by Russian deserters from Georgia, to guard Sinop. With another 50,000 man army he captures Amasya, Chorum and Sivas and makes himself ruler of most of northern and eastern Anatolia. By the end of the year, though, the combined forces of former Grand Vezir Yusuf Ziya Pasha and local strongman Chapanoglu Suleyman Bey drive back Tayyar's army, forcing him to flee to Russia.

Spring - With the rebel Yamaks still holding the fortress in Belgrade, Karageorge retires to Ravanitza, which he makes his capital. He is joined by large numbers of Serbians and bands of Christians from Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania.

Already at war with England, Napoleon becomes convinced that war will soon break out with Russia as well. As a result he redoubles his efforts to win both the Ottoman Empire and Persia as allies.

With almost the entire Red Sea coast now in Wahhabi hands, Yanbo opens its gates to the new masters. Only Jidda remains in Ottoman hands.

March - The Ottomans become increasingly concerned with the number of Russian troops passing through the Straits bound for the Ionian Islands and demand an explanation from Ambassador Italinski.

April - Selim to forced to accept an alliance with Russia and Britain against France. The Pasha of Erzurum is ordered to assist the Russians against Persia.

After crossing the Libyan desert, U.S. Marines and Arab mercenaries capture the Tripolitan port city of Derna. But Commodore Samuel Barron, commander of the U.S. squadron in the Mediterranean, signs a separate peace with Pasha Yusuf Karamanli and the Marines are withdrawn. This operation is the origin of the line, "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli" in the American Marine hymn.

May - Mohammed Ali defeats the last of his major opponents and establishes himself as the all-but-independent ruler of Egypt.

The Sultan orders the Serbs to lay down their arms. They refuse, transforming a rising into a revolt.

June - The governor of Nish leads an expedition against the Serbian rebellion which is spreading to neighboring Christian regions. Karageorge moves his forces south and fortifies the village of Deligrad to resist the Ottomans.

July - Russia joins England and declares war on France. Ambassadors from both countries increase their pressure on the Porte to formally join the alliance, threatening war if they are refused.

July -

August - Karageorge throws off all pretense of loyalty to the Sultan. In the two-day battle at Ivankovac, his lieutenant, Milenko Stojkovic, defeats the approaching Ottoman army. This battle marks the beginning of full military operations in Serbia.

August - Austria joins England and Russia and declares war against France. Ambassadors from all three countries increase their pressure on the Porte to formally join their alliance against France, continuing to threaten war if they are refused.

September - Unable to resist the threats of war by Russia, Britain and Austria, Sultan Selim renews the Russo-Turkish pact against the French first signed at the time of the French invasion of Egypt.

December - After being defeated by Napoleon, the Austrians sign the Treaty of Pressburg (Dec. 26, 1805) giving Napoleon's Italy possession of Venice, Dalmatia and the city states of Ragusa and Cattaro. Talleyrand urges Napoleon to promise Austria the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia in compensation. He believes this is the most effective way to prevent Russia from expanding south.

1806

Backing their Mamluk protege Muhammad Elfi Bey, the British try but fail to have Mohammed Ali removed as governor of Egypt.

January - France occupies Austria. Russia, fearing a joint Austrian/French movement into the Balkans, calls on the English to support a general attack on the Ottomans in Europe, with a joint British/Russian assault from Malta and the Ionian Islands against Greece to correspond with an attack by 100,000 Russians into the Danubian Principalities.

February - Encouraged by Napoleon's quick and decisive victory over Austria, Sultan Selim officially recognizes him as emperor. Diplomatic relations are restored and a joint Franco-Ottoman expedition is planned against the Serbs.

French forces move rapidly down the Dalmatian coast. A large Russian fleet arrives and, with the help of a large Montenegrin army, captures Cattaro and the Austrian fortresses of Castelnuovo and Risano before the French can arrive.

Spring - Selim III declares the Serbs enemies of Islam and declares war against them. Ibrahim Pasha of Scutari is named to head the Ottoman army assembling in Macedonia with orders to attack from the south. Husrev Mehmed Pasha, the new governor of Bosnia, is ordered to attack from the west.

While its diplomats are assuring Napoleon that Russia has no plans to invade the Ottoman Empire, Russian forces are regularly crossing into Ottoman territory on reconnaissance missions and the Russian foreign ministry completes work on a proclamation to be issued when the Russians occupy Wallachia and Moldavia saying they have come only to save the Ottoman Empire from the French.

When the Pasha of Damascus advances with the usual pilgrimage caravan to Mecca in 1806, it is attacked by the Wahhabi near Medina and forced to retire in disorder.

March -

April - The Russian fleet captures the Dalmatian coastal islands and lays siege to Ragusa.

May - A large Ottoman army enters Serbia from the south and lays siege to Deligrad. A second army, attacking from Bosnia, drives the Serbs out of the important town of Shabatz.

A French force under Gen. Lauriston captures Ragusa after token resistance.

June - Selim attempts to expand the Nizam-i Jedid by raising several new units in Edirne. Fearful this will weaken their power, the European governors revolt and an 80,000-man army marches on Edirne. Selim backs down. This is seen as a sign of weakness, encouraging the notables to plot his overthrow.

August - Karageorge, now commanding more than 70,000 Serbian troops, defeats the Ottoman army of Bosnia. News of the defeat causes the main Ottoman force in the south to fall back into Macedonia.

The able General Horace Sebastiani becomes the new French ambassador to the Porte. Encouraged by Napoleon's European victories, and angered over Russian demands, Selim dismisses the pro-Russian Christian governors of Wallachia and Moldavia. Both are known to be Russian agents and to have supported the Serb uprising.

Urged on by Sebastiani, Sultan Selim opens negotiations with the Serbians. In the "Ichko Convention," he offers to pardon the Serbs, appoint Karageorge governor and give autonomy to the province. In exchange, the Serbs must end their revolt and recognize the Sultan as their ruler.

Convinced the Ottoman Empire is about to collapse, the Czar orders the Russian fleet to expel the French from Dalmatia so they cannot interfere with his plan to dismember the Ottoman Empire.

September - With the renewal of war between France and Russia, the Ottomans declare their strict neutrality and close the straits to all warships. This move cuts off the Russian fleet and army operating in the Ionian Islands. Britain demands the Ottomans remove all French influence from the empire and allow free passage for Russian ships through the straits.

October - The Russians invade the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia. Bayrakdar Mustafa, who now commands Ismail Pasha's forces, and Pasvanoglu use their provincial armies to resist the invasion. They prove no match for the Russians who take most of Moldavia and Wallachia in a six-week campaign.

When news of Napoleon's crushing victory against the Prussians at Jena-Auerstaedt reaches the Czar he panics and withdraws 20,000 troops from the Balkans to defend his western border.

Ali Pasha takes Preveza, Vonitza and Butrinto but the Russians had put a strong garrison into Parga. The French in Dalmatia send him artillery and military advisors.

November - On Nov. 5 the Serbian parliament approves the "Ichko Convention,,, and the Ottomans withdraw all but 300 troops from Serbia. In exchange for ending the rebellion, all fortifications and official positions are turned over to the Serbians.

December - The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia on Dec. 6.

On Dec. 29 the rebel Yamaks still holding out in the Belgrade citadel, surrender the fortress to the Serbs and withdraw to Vidin. The Ottoman governor, in accordance with the "Ichko Convention," tries to occupy the citadel but is blocked by Karageorge's forces.

In an effort to head off war with England, the Porte dispatches a special envoy to King George III, bearing a letter from Sultan Selim III justifying the Ottoman declaration of war against Russia. For their part the British move the 80-gun battleship Canopus and the 44-gun frigate Endymion into the Sea of Marmara as a show of force.

1807

January - On Jan. 25, the Sultan signs the "Ichko Convention," previously signed by the Serbians on Nov. 5, 1806, officially ending the rebellion in Serbia. On the way back to Belgrade the Serbs ambush and kill all the Ottoman representatives traveling with Peter Ichko, the chief Serbian negotiator. At the same time they slaughter the small Ottoman garrison in Belgrade and begin the mass slaughter of all the Muslims in Serbia, effectively nullifying the treaty.

Because of British complicity with the Russian invasion, Sultan Selim declares war on Britain Jan. 29. Napoleon, having just driven the Russians back in eastern Europe and now busy creating the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, calls on Sultan Selim to launch attacks along the entire northern frontier to pin Russian forces in place. He also calls on the Sultan to invade the Crimea in hopes this will force the Russians to commit even more forces to their southern front.

February - The British send a naval squadron to destroy the Ottoman fleet and bombard Istanbul. On the approach to the city on Feb. 19, the British surprise an Ottoman squadron at anchor and capture a corvette and destroy a ship of the line, three frigates, three corvettes and a brig in the Sea of Marmara.

The British demand the Ottomans make peace with Russia, dismiss the French ambassador, cede the Danubian Principalities to Russia and surrender the Ottoman fleet and the forts at the Dardanelles to the British. With the help of French engineers, the Ottomans strengthen their defenses and install 917 cannon and 200 mortars at the city in six days. Every ship in the British squadron is damaged as they flee back into the Aegean.

Overjoyed with this success, Selim signs a formal alliance with France and imports 500 French artillerymen to defend the Dardanelles.

March - The British invade Egypt and capture Alexandria on March 17. Mohammed Ali's forces defeat the British in two battles around Rosetta.

Russian troops capture the fortress of Giurgiu on the north bank of the Danube, but are thrown back when they try to cross the river and attack Ruschuk.

March 31 the Serbian state council proclaims independence and allies with the Russians then occupying Wallachia and Moldavia. The 70,000 Serbian troops then under arms actually outnumber General Michelson's Russian invasion army.

April - Napoleon signs a formal treaty with Persia calling for Napoleon to force the Czar to surrender Georgia to the Shah. In return the Shah will spur on the Afghans and the tribes of Kandahar to attack the English in India.

Spring - Selim sends ambassadors to Paris requesting a full military alliance. As part of a proposed treaty the French are invited to send troops into Egypt. Napoleon authorizes General Sebastiani to draw whatever troops he needs from the army of Dalmatia to assist the Ottomans. A French army is assembled in Italy and French forces avoid the Russian naval blockade by marching overland from Venice.

In Arabia the Wahhabi completely close the pilgrimage route to Mecca and Medina. In Istanbul, when this news reaches the capital, the Janissaries become rebellious, saying it is divine retribution for Selim's "infidel" innovations.

Near Negotin on the Danube, the Ottomans heavily defeat a 3,000-man force of Serbs trying to link up with the Russians.

A Tunisian army invades Algeria and lays siege to Constantine. The city holds out until May when a relief army from Algiers defeats the Tunisians.

In Georgia, Solomon II, King of Imeretia, rebels against the Russians and calls on the Porte for assistance. A Russian force, striking south from Georgia, defeats a hastily prepared Ottoman provincial army from Erzurum on the banks of the Arpa Su River near Kars.

May - The Ottomans throw the Russians onto the defensive throughout the Balkans. The Grand Vezir crosses the Danube, takes Kalaresh, and lays siege to Bucharest.

The French dispatch 15 cannon and ammunition from Dalmatia to the Pasha of Bosnia.

Auxiliary troops in Istanbul revolt against orders to adopt new uniforms and equipment designed in the European style. They are joined by the Janissaries and the Istanbul mob. This force captures and executes

Selim's reform-minded ministers, and forces Selim to abdicate on

May 29. Mustafa IV, a puppet of the reactionaries, is named Sultan. The reactionaries disband the Nizam-i Jedid and hunt down and kill any of its off~cers they can find.

News of the Janissary rebellion and the overthrow of Selim cause Napoleon to reconsider his plans to join with the Ottomans for an attack on Serbia and the expeditionary force is withdrawn.

June - Even with the capital in revolt, the war against the Russians continues. The Ottomans establish sev- eral additional bridgeheads across the Danube. In Serbia the Ottomans rout the Serbs at Loznitza.

July - Russia recognizes the new Serbian state. A Rus- sian regiment is sent to garrison Belgrade.

Following months of playing cat-and-mouse with the Ottoman fleet, a Russian fleet defeats a slightly larger Ottoman fleet at Lemnos on July 1-4.

Following the Russian defeat at Friedland, the Russians sign an agreement with Napoleon calling on them to, among other provisions, evacuate the Ionian Islands, Moldavia and Wallachia.

The chaos in the capital spreads to the front lines and the Ottoman army begins to disintegrate. Bayrakdar Mustafa, Pasha of Ruschuk, establishes his capital as a center of opposition to the rebels who has overthrown Selim III and as a safe haven for those fleeing the bloodbath in Istanbul.

August - Napoleon abandons his Ottoman ally and signs a secret treaty with the Russians to divide the Ottoman Empire between themselves. In preparation for this war, Russia signs an armistice with the Ottomans.

On Aug. 17 Mohammad Ali brings the British forces in Alexandria under siege. The remaining British forces cannot break out and are eventually forced to withdraw in

September .

September - The French reoccupy the Ionian Islands. Feeling betrayed by the French, Ali Pasha of Janina opens contact with the English and agrees to aid them if they should attack the Ionian Islands.

Unaware of the changed circumstances brought about by the French and Russian alliance in the Treaty of Tilsit, the Ottomans and Persians begin a joint campaign against the Russians in Georgia.

1807-1809

Wahhabi raids into the Syrian deserts scatter the Bedouin tribes allied with the Ottomans in the vicinity of Aleppo and Damascus.

1808

March - With French mediation, the Russians and Otto mans sign the Treaty of Slobosia calling on the Russians to leave Moldavia and Wallachia within a month and for the Ottomans to withdraw across the Danube. The Ottomans comply with the treaty but the Russians do not.

Summer - With Ali Pasha of Janina now allied with the British, they dispatch a force of 27 warships to Preveza on the coast of Albania. The ships deliver goods, funds, 10 cannon and munitions to Ali Pasha. To meet this threat the French form a regiment composed of Suliotes and other enemies of Ali Pasha at Corfu.

May - Prince Alexander Prozoroviski assumes command of the Russian Army of the Danube.

July - Bayrakdar Mustafa Pasha raises a 40,000-man army at Ruschuk and marches on Istanbul to restore Selim, but Selim is slain before he can be rescued. So instead Bayrakdar deposes Mustafa IV (July 28) and puts Selim's cousin, Mahmud II, on the throne. In gratitude, Mahmud names Bayrakdar Grand Vezir. Westernization of the army and navy is renewed.

October - A new 10,000-man force (the Segban-i Jedid) is raised from former members of the Nizam-i Jedid and provincial forces trained in the new style.

November - Angered by Mahmud's attempts to limit their powers, the Janissaries revolt again. They kill Bayrakdar, and besiege the new Sultan in the palace. A stubborn defense of the palace forces the Janissaries to compromise with Mahmud. He agrees to disband the Segban-i Jedid. Violating the compromise, the Janissaries kill all the now-disarmed Segbans and burn their barracks. All efforts at Western style reform are abandoned.

France and Russia cannot agree on the division of the Ottoman Empire, so the planned joint invasion is postponed.

Lord Minto, the British naval commander of the East India station, decides that the independence of Oman was vital to British interests and sends an expedition from Bombay which in 1809 destroys the Wahhabi naval base at Ras al Khaymah on the Horn of Horrnuz.

1809

January 5 - To counterbalance the Franco-Russian alliance, Mahmud, with Austrian assistance, converts his war with England into an alliance. The British pledge naval support for the Sultan's Aegean or Adriatic possessions.

April - Russia breaks the armistice and renews its war against the Ottomans. The Serbs begin a four-pronged attack against the Ottomans in Bosnia, Vidin and Nish and attempt to link up with the Montenegrins.

In the Caucasus a joint Russian army and navy attack takes the fortress of Sukhurnkale in the principality of Abkhazeti, capturing the Black Sea coastal plain. The Russians then besiege Poti. Seeing the writing on the wall, Prince Safar Bey Sharvashidze of Abkhazeti, who until now has been an Ottoman vassal, places his principality under Russian protection.

In response to Wahhabi raids, the governor of Damascus organizes an attack on the Jauf region of Arabia, but this just provokes an even larger Wahhabi raid in 1810 led by Saud himself. The Wahhabi plunder 35 villages in three days.

The Pasha of Baghdad sends an army into the deserts south of the Euphrates but is defeated by the Anaza Bedouins and force to retreat.

May /

June - Serb attacks make headway in the southwest, capturing the fortified towns of Sjenica, Suvodol and Novi Pazar. In the Northwest a Bosnian force is defeated at Loznitza. But in the south the Ottomans repulse the Serbs at Nish.

June - Following the death of Prince Prozoroviski, Prince Bagration assumes command of the Russian Army of the Danube.

The Ottomans rout the Serbs at Karnenica and they besiege a large Serbian force in the citadel of Deligrad. In panic the Serbs abandon their conquests of May - June to concentrate against the new threat.

July - The Russians capture the key fortress of Ibrail. Major fighting also breaks out on the eastern side of the Black Sea with Sukhurnkale falling to the Russians.

August - The key Serbian fortress of Deligrad falls and with it the entire southern defensive line. Ottoman armies invade the province from Bosnia and Vidin. Total Serbian destruction seems imminent.

Summer - The Wahhabi launch a fresh attack on the Yemen coast.

Fall - Ali Pasha of Janina sends a large army, including all his artillery, against his old enemy Ibrahim Pasha of Berat.

September - The Russians, now numbering more than 100,000 soldiers, cross the Danube in strength along its entire line. To meet this attack the Ottomans are forced to call off their attacks in Serbia. While saved by the new Russian offensive, the Serbs are angry with the Russians for a lack of support and open negotiations with the French and the Austrians seeking new allies.

October - The English assault the Ionian Islands, quickly and easily taking Zante, Cephalonia, Cerigo and Ithaca between Oct. 4 and 12.

Pechlivan Khan's Ottoman army is defeated by a Russian army led by Prince Bagration at Tartaritza on Oct. 2l.

December - Russian forces gain the upper hand along the entire Danubian front, taking the fortresses of Ismail and Ibrail.

More Ottoman Military History Chronology

1787-1789
1790-1799
1800-1809
1810+