Russian –Turkish War 18771878
Background
• Eastern question as a salient issue for the
Russian empire
– Results of the Crimean war
– Black Sea
– Territories
– French and British support of the Ottomans
• Pan-Slavism
Immediate Reasons
• Riots in Bosnia And Herzegovina – summer
1875
• April Uprising in Bulgaria – April to May 1876
• Suppression and atrocities
– 30 000 victims of bashibuzuks
• Reaction of Europe
– Public opinion in France and especially Britain was
against the pro-Ottoman political line of the
government
• Failure to resolve the issue through diplomacy
Public Opinion in Russia
• Slavophiles vs. Westernizers (Zapadniki)
• Slavophiles (Dostoevsky): the great
mission of Russia, gathering of the Slavic
Orthodox lands, siege of Constantinople
• Zapadniki (Turgenev): war of liberation
Major Battles
• April 12, 1877 – Russia declares war
– Time pressure
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May 1877 – Russian troops enter the lands of Romania
June 21 – Russian troops cross the Danube river
June 25 – Tarnovo
End of July – Shipka pass
August – October attempts to take Plevna
Ottoman counter attack
November 28 – Plevna
December 23, 1877 – Sofia
January 3-5 – Plovdiv
January 15 – Osman-Bazar
Results of the war
• San-Stefano peace treaty February 19
• July 1 Treaty of Berlin
• Bulgarian principality