Russo-Turkish Wars
The Russian-Turkish or Russian-Ottoman wars are wars between Tsarist Russia and, from 1721, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire . In the process, religious motifs were mixed with striving for great power. The Russo-Turkish Wars often interacted with the Turkish wars of other major European powers.
Christian Orthodox Russia saw itself as the spiritual successor to the Byzantine Empire , which had been conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 . The dream of religious fanatics and later also of nationalists in Russia was a "reconquest" of Constantinople . Russia also saw itself as the protective power of the Orthodox Christian inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the Balkans and also in Palestine . The Christians in the Ottoman Empire had to bear almost the entire tax burden, their word was not valid in court, and from time to time there were massacres and looting (for example on Chios 1822). After all, they made up around forty percent of the total population in the early 19th century.
Russia also sought access to the Black Sea . In a lengthy process from 1774 to 1783, the Crimean peninsula came to Russia; This was not only significant for port facilities, but also ideologically: According to legend, the Christianization of Russia in the early Middle Ages began in the Crimea. An important point for Russia remained the possibility of getting through the Bosporus into the Aegean Sea and thus into the Mediterranean , for both merchant and warships.
Another factor, however, were the other great powers of Europe, besides France and Great Britain also Austria . Like Russia, they were all interested in taking over territories if the Ottoman Empire were to be broken up. Therefore, different sides supported the Reich diplomatically or in some other way, because they feared that another great power would have benefited from one end. Because of the defeats, but also because of the lack of modernization, the empire was called the " sick man on the Bosporus ". In the 19th century, North Africa lost to European colonial powers, while several areas in the Balkans gained independence.
The Russo-Ottoman War that culminated in the Crimean War (1853–1856), the largest military conflict in Europe between Napoleon and the First World War, was of particular importance . France, Great Britain and Austria sided with the Ottomans, which permanently shattered the relationship between them and Russia. The First World War is not counted among these wars; at that time, conversely, the Ottoman Empire joined the opponents of Russia. After the war ended, the empire was largely destroyed and modern Turkey emerged .
| # | war | part of |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681) | |
| 2 | Russo-Turkish War (1686-1700) | Great Turkish War |
| 3 | Russo-Turkish War (1710-1711) | Great Northern War # The war against the Ottomans |
| 4th | Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739) | Russo-Austrian Turkish War (1736–1739) |
| 5 | Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) | |
| 6th | Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) | Russo-Austrian Turkish War (1787–1792) |
| 7th | Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812) | |
| 8th | Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) | Greek War of Independence |
| 9 | Russo-Turkish War (1853-1856) | Crimean War |
| 10 | Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) |
Mesut Hakkı Caşın, a scientific advisor to Turkish President Erdogan, even mentioned the number of 16 wars that Russians and Turks waged against each other at the beginning of 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Voice of America of February 28, 2020: Turkish, Russian Leaders Talk as Fighting Continues in Syria
- ↑ RT German of February 29, 2020: We fought with Russia 16 times and will do it again
