1787

August - Angered by Russian encroachments in Georgia and meddling in Wallachia, the Ottomans declare war against Russia on Aug. 15. An Ottoman naval squadron appears off the coast of Scutari in northern Albania, overawing the rebellious Pasha of Scutari, bringing him back into loyalty to the Sultan.

September - Russia places three armies in the field under the overall command of Count Gregory Poternkin, a 70,000-man army in the Balkans, a 4O,000-man army in the Caucasus and a 30,000-man army in the Crimea.

Gustavus III, king of Sweden, declares war on Russia in defense of his ally, the Ottoman Empire.

October - On Oct. 1, General Suvorov defeats an Ottoman naval landing against the fortress on the Kinburn in the Crimea.

The Ottomans dispatch lO,000 troops to Anapa on the eastern side of the Black Sea to foment a revolt against Russian rule by the Islamic Caucasian tribes.

The Ottoman governor of Baghdad uses his reformed Mamluk and Janissary army and a large force of Kurdish cavalry to resist a Bedouin uprising. A large Bedouin army had taken Zaubair and Basra but is smashed at Umm ul-Abbas.

December - The Austrians attack Belgrade in advance of their declaration of war but are repulsed. They also dispatch a 2,000-man force, supported by Serbian and Bosnian Christian volunteers, to Montenegro to provide weapons and training to Prince Peter's forces.

The Venetian fleet, at war with the Bey of Tunis since 1784, is recalled to deal with the tremendous increase in piracy caused by the Russian-sponsored privateers.

1788

February - Austria declares war against the Ottomans on Feb. 10 and dispatches an 80,000-man army against the Ottomans.

Prince Peter of Montenegro openly rebels against his Ottoman overlords and sends his army to join the Austrians.

April - The Austrians take Jassy without resistance when the Ottoman ruler of Moldavia deserts the Grand Vezir at a crucial moment.

June 17 - The Russian fleet defeats the Ottomans in the First Battle of the Liman at the estuary of the Dnieper on the western Black Sea coast.

June 28-29 - In the Second Battle of the Liman the Ottoman fleet is badly defeated at the mouth of the Bug River.

July 9 - The Ottomans defeat a Russian fleet trying to bring reinforcements to Kinburn, forcing it to return to Sevastopol.

Military reverses and internal troubles force Sweden to suspend hostilities against Russia, allowing Catherine to send major reinforcements to Potemkin.

July-August - The Russians defeat an Ottoman naval attempt to reinforce Oczakov and then blockade. After a storm damages many ships the main Ottoman Black Sea fleet is forced to retire to Istanbul.

August - September - The Ottomans capture the Austrian fortified pass at Mehadia, and cross the Danube in force, driving the Austrians before them. Emperor Joseph II assembles a large army and counter-attacks. He is heavily defeated at Slatina in the Temesvar losing all his artillery, supplies and thousands of troops.

September - After a long siege, the Austrians finally capture Khotzim in extreme northern Bessarabia, completing their conquest of northern Moldavia.

November - Austria, after losing more than 70,000 men, asks for and receives an armistice.

December - After months of siege, the Russians, advancing across the frozen waters of the Liman estuary, capture Oczakov. The Russians, who have already lost 11,000 men during the siege, lose another 4,000 in the assault. The Russians kill every man, woman and child in the city.

As a result of his military skills Ali Pasha Tepelene, a former brigand chieftain, is named Pasha of Janina. He will use the war years to greatly increase his power and become known as Ali Pasha, the Lion of Janina.

1789

Spring - The Russians invade Moldavia from the north, the Austrians from the west, though they are generally unsuccessful against a revitalized Ottoman army led by Grand Vezir Koja Yusuf.

Having defeated an uprising of his nobles, Gustavus III of Sweden renews his war against the Russians.

Encouraged and armed by the Russians, the Christian Suliotes and the Muslim Shimariotes, two large groups of mountain bandits in the Epirus, form a loose confederation and rise against Ali Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Janina.

April - Following the death of Sultan Abd ul-Hamid, Selim III becomes the new Sultan. For political rear sons he replaces the successful Koja Yusuf Pasha as Grand Vezir with a less capable man.

July - A 55,000-man Ottoman army, made up almost entirely of auxiliaries and militia forces, moves against the Austrians in Moldavia, but a forced march by General Suvorov's Russian army allows it to arrive just in time to rout the Ottomans at the Battle of Focsani.

August - In the west, an Austrian victory in the second Battle of Mehadia clears the way for the main Austrian army to advance on Belgrade.

September - The main Ottoman army is sent to relieve Moldavia. It is likewise defeated by the now almost legendary Suvorov on the banks of the Rimnik River. The entire army of new Grand Vezir is destroyed, being either killed, captured or dispersed beyond recall. Ottoman resistance collapses along the entire front.

October - Kara Mahmud Pasha, governor of Scutari, attacks Montenegro but is routed near Podgoritza.

October -

November - The Austrians invade Bosnia and Serbia, capturing Belgrade after a three-week siege, and then move on to capture Bucharest without resistance.

In the east, Potemkin besieges and captures the fortresses of Akkerman (Oct. 11) and Bender (Nov. 14), against minimal resistance. The end of the carmpaign season finds the Ottomans in disarray and the allies poised to launch a joint push toward Istanbul in the spring.

More Ottoman Military History Chronology

1787-1789
1790-1799
1800-1809
1810+