Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 had its origins in the Russian goal of gaining access to the Mediterranean Sea and liberating the Slav peoples of the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe from the Turkish-ruled Ottoman Empire. The nations delivered by the Russians from the centuries of Turkish yoke, still regard this war as the second beginning of their nationhood. Hence, alternative titles attached to it in the 20th-century nationalistic historiographies, such as the Romanian War of Independence, the Bulgarian War of Independence, etc.
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The war begins: Balkan sources and Russian maneuvering
An anti-Ottoman uprising occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the summer of 1875. The main reason for this revolt was the heavy tax burden imposed by financially defunct Ottoman (or Turkish) administration. Despite some relaxation of taxes, the uprising continued well over the end of 1875 and eventually triggered the Bulgarian April uprising of 1876. Tension in Bosnia and Russian support encouraged the principalities of Serbia and Montenegro's declaration of war against their nominal Ottoman overlord early in July. The war raised imperial appetite of the Great Powers Russia (Prince Gorchakov) and Austria-Hungary (Count Andrássy), who made the secret Reichstadt Agreement in July 8, on partitioning the Balkan peninsula depending on the outcome.
In August 1876, Serb forces were defeated by the Ottoman army, which was the worst-case scenario for Russians and Austrians as they couldn't claim any Ottoman possessions. However the atrocities committed against the civilian Slav population during the war and during the Bulgarian April uprising had a wide-spread response throughout Europe. As a result the Constantinople Conference was held in December 1876 in Constantinople (now Istanbul). At this conference, at which Turkey was not represented, the Great Powers discussed the boundaries of one or more future autonomous Bulgarian provinces within the Ottoman Empire.
The Conference was interrupted by the Turkish foreign minister, who informed the delegates that Turkey had approved a new constitution, which guaranteed rights and freedoms of all ethnic minorities and Bulgarians would enjoy equal rights with all Ottoman citizens. Despite that, Russia remained hostile towards the Ottoman Empire, postulating that the constitution was only a partial solution. Through diplomatic negotiations Russians ensured the inaction of Austria-Hungary in future military operations. The remaining powers were paralyzed by strong civil support for the idea of Bulgarian independence, by their disbelief in the capabilities of the Russian army, and by other internal problems.
Prosecution: the one-eyed and the blind
Russia declared war on Turkey on 24 April 1877. Some described this war as "a war between the one-eyed and the blind —", so many errors of strategy and judgment were committed on both sides. This, however, was all too common a problem for contemporaneous warfare, from the Crimean War to the Boer Wars.
In the beginning of the war the outcome was far from obvious. The Russians could raise a larger army, an army of about 200,000 was within their reach. The Turks had about 160,000 troops on the Balkan peninsula. The Turks had the advantage of being fortified, and they also had a complete command of the Black Sea, and had patrol boats along the Danube river.
In reality, however, most of the time the Turks used only about 25% of their military capacity. In addition to that, the Turks had no idea of Russian plans and made little attempt to predict their actions and to counter them. They preferred to stay fortified and wait until the enemy knocked on their doors.
The Turkish military command in Istanbul made poor assumptions of Russian intentions. They decided that Russians would be too lazy to march along the Danube and cross it away from the delta, and would prefer the short way along the Black Sea coast, thus ignoring the fact that this area had the strongest, well supplied and garrisoned Turkish fortresses. So there was only one well manned fortress along the inner part of the river Danube. This was Vidin, and it was garisoned simply because the troops, lead by Osman Pasha, had soon crushed the Serbs in their recent war against Turkey.
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Course of the War
At the start of the war, Russia destroyed all vessels along the Danube and mined the river, thus ensuring it could cross the Danube at any point it wants. This didn't mean anything to the Turkish command. In June a small Russian unit passed the Danube close to the delta, at Galatz and marched towards Ruse. This made the Turks even more confident that the big Russian force would come right through the middle of the Turkish stronghold.
Then in July the Russians, unobstructed, constructed a bridge across the Danube at Svishtov, and began crossing. There were no significant Turkish troops in the area. The command in Istanbul ordered Osman Pasha to march in that direction and fortify the nearby fortress of Nikopol. On his way to Nikopol, Osman Pasha learned that the Russians had already secured it, and so moved to Pleven.
Less than 24-hours after Osman Pasha fortified Pleven, numerous Russian forces under charismatic "White General" Mikhail Skobelev attacked the city. Osman Pasha organized a brilliant defence and repelled two Russian attacks with huge casualties on the Russian side. At that point the sides were almost equal in numbers and the Russian Army was very discouraged. Most analysts agree that a counter-attack would have allowed the Turks to gain control and destroy the passing bridge. However, Osman Pasha had orders to stay fortified in Pleven, and so did not leave that fortress.
Russia had no more troops to throw against Pleven, so they sieged it, and asked the Romanians to provide extra troops. Soon afterwards, Romanian forces crossed the Danube and joined the siege. They fought bravely to capture the Grivitza redoubts around Pleven, and kept them under their control until the very end of the siege. The siege of Pleven (July–December 1877) turned to victory only after Russian forces cut off all supply routes to the fortified Turks, starving them and thus forcing their surrender.
Russians under Field Marshal Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko succeeded in capturing the passes at the Stara Planina mountain which was crucial for manoeuvring. Next, both sides fought a series of battles for Shipka Pass. Gurko made several attacks on the Pass and eventually secured it. Turkish troops spent much effort to recapture this important route, to use it to reinforce Osman Pasha in Pleven, but failed. Eventually Gourko led a final offensive which crushed the Turks around Shipka Pass. The Turkish offensive against Shipka Pass is considered one of the major mistakes of the war, as other passes were virtually unguarded. At this time a huge number of Turkish troops stayed fortified along the Black Sea coast and engaged in very few operations.
A strong Finnish contingent, a Romanian corps and volunteer brigades from the local Bulgarian population fought in the war on the side of the Russians. To express his gratitude to the Finnish batallion, whose impact was disproportionately greater than its size, the Tsar elevated the regiment on their return home to the name Old Guard Battalion, which they still hold.
Conclusion: the Powers intervene
In February 1878 the Russian army had almost reached Istanbul, but scared the city might fall, the British sent a fleet of battle-ships to intimidate Russia from entering the city. Under pressure from the fleet to negotiate and having suffered enormous losses (by some estimates about 200,000 men) Russia agreed a settlement under the Treaty of San Stefano (Ayastefanos Anlaşması in Turkish) on March 3, by which the Ottoman Empire recognized the independence of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and autonomy of Bulgaria.
Alarmed by the extension of Russian power into the Balkans, the Great Powers later forced modifications of the treaty in the Congress of Berlin.
See also
- Alexander of Bulgaria
- History of the Balkans
- History of Europe
- Romanian War of Independence
- Battles of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78
