Pruth campaign

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Pruth campaign of Peter the Great 1711

The Pruth campaign was a failed military operation by Peter the Great against the Ottomans in 1711, which decided the outcome of the Russo-Ottoman War , which had been waged since 1710 .

prehistory

The conflict on Russia's southern border had come against Peter's intentions. Against the background of the peace treaties between the Holy League and the Ottomans in the Treaty of Karlowitz , in the Peace of Constantinople in 1700, he had sought a permanent calming of the situation in the south for Russia, which should secure him a free hand for the offensive against Sweden in the Great Northern War .

Even after the escape of the Swedish king Charles XII. into Ottoman exile - after the defeat by Peter in the Battle of Poltava in 1709 - Russian diplomacy remained anxious to compromise with the Sultan. However, the advocates of a war of revenge against Russia gained the upper hand in the gate . The intrigues of the influential Crimean Khan, who in agreement with Charles XII. led to the declaration of war on Russia on November 20, 1710.

course

The fortified camp on the Prut, illustration by William Hogarth (1697–1764), 1724

Tsar Peter intended to lead the forced war offensively. He wanted to prevent the conflict from spreading to Poland, but he also hoped that an advance into the Ottoman Empire would spark an uprising among the Balkan Christians. The Russian army was to be led quickly south through the Principality of Moldova in order to take up position on the Danube before the enemy appeared . The concentration of Russian troops on the Dnieper was delayed, however, and the advance, which had begun late, was hampered by a lack of provisions and forage .

At the beginning of July 1711, Peter and his main Russian power were still standing south of the Moldovan Jassy on the Prut , when the superior Ottoman army was already approaching. The hastily fortified camp was enclosed by the Ottomans and subjected to a series of devastating attacks on July 19 and 20, 1711. In this hopeless situation, the Grand Vizier's acceptance of the Russian offers of negotiation and his moderate demands for peace for Peter himself came unexpectedly. The Peace of Prut of July 23, 1711 determined the return of Azov to the Ottomans, the destruction of the Russian fortresses on the Don and the abolition of the Russian embassy at the gate, besides Russia had to withdraw its troops from Poland and the unhindered return of Charles XII. to Sweden guarantee.

literature

  • Akdes Nimet Kurat: The Prut campaign and the Prut peace of 1711. In: Year books for the history of Eastern Europe. NF Vol. 10, Issue 1, 1962, pp. 13-66, digitized .
  • Reinhard Wittram : Peter I. Czar and Kaiser. On the history of Peter the Great in his time. Volume 1. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1964, p. 374 ff.
  • Hans-Joachim Torke (Hrsg.): Lexicon of the history of Russia. From the beginning to the October Revolution. CH Beck, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-406-30447-8 , p. 306 f.