Russo-Turkish wars

The Russo-Turkish wars (Russian: Русско-турецкие войны Rússko-turĭéckije vójny), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (Turkish: Osmanlı-Rus savaşları), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of these wars ended in losses for the Ottoman Empire, which was undergoing a period of stagnation and decline. Conversely, they showcased the ascendancy of the Russian Empire as a significant European power after Peter the Great oversaw extensive modernization efforts in the early 18th century. Ultimately, however, the end of the Russo-Turkish wars came about with the dissolution of the two belligerents' respective states as a consequence of World War I: the Russian Empire collapsed in 1917 and was ultimately succeeded by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922; while the Ottoman Empire was partitioned between 1918 and 1922 and succeeded by the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

The first Russo-Turkish War (1568–1570) occurred after the conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan by the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible. The Ottoman Sultan Selim II tried to squeeze the Russians out of the lower Volga by sending a military expedition to Astrakhan in 1569. The Turkish expedition ended in disaster for the Ottoman army, which could not take Astrakhan and almost completely perished in the steppes, while the Ottoman fleet was wrecked by a storm in the Sea of Azov. The peace treaty between the two sides cemented Russia's rule on the Volga, but allowed the Ottoman Empire to obtain a number of commercial benefits. The Crimean Khanate, an Ottoman vassal, continued its expansion against the Tsardom of Russia, burning down Moscow in 1571, but was defeated at the Battle of Molodi in 1572.

The next conflict between Russia and Turkey began 100 years later as part of the struggle for the territory of Ukraine. While Russia conquered Left-bank Ukraine after the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667), the Ottoman Empire, in the course of the Polish–Ottoman War (1672–1676), spread its rule over all of right-bank Ukraine with the support of its vassal, Petro Doroshenko (1665–1672). The latter's pro-Ottoman policy caused disapproval among many Ukrainian Cossacks, who would elect Ivan Samoilovich as sole Hetman of all Ukraine in 1674. In 1676, Russian troops captured Chigirin and overthrew Doroshenko, who was exiled to Russia. In 1677, the Ottoman army tried to retake Chigirin, but was defeated. In 1678, the Ottoman army was finally able to take Chigirin after a bloody assault, but here the Ottoman expansion to the northeast was stopped. In 1679–80, the Russians repelled the attacks of the Crimean Tatars and signed the Treaty of Bakhchisarai in 1681, which established the Russo-Turkish border on the Dnieper River.

Russia joined the European Holy League (Austria, Poland, Venice) in 1686. During the war, the Russian army organized the Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689 and the Azov campaigns (1695–96). In the light of Russia's preparations for the war with Sweden and other countries' signing the Treaty of Karlowitz with Turkey in 1699, the Russian government signed the Treaty of Constantinople with the Ottoman Empire in 1700. Following the results of peace, Russia managed to annex Azov and get access to the Sea of Azov.

After the Russians had defeated the Swedes and the pro-Swedish Empire Ukrainian Cossacks led by Ivan Mazepa in the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Charles XII of Sweden managed to persuade the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III to declare war on Russia on November 20, 1710. The Prut campaign of Peter the Great ended very unsuccessfully for Russia. The Russian army, led by the tsar, was surrounded by a superior Turkish-Tatar army and was forced to agree to unfavorable peace conditions, according to which it returned the previously captured Azov to the Ottoman Empire.

By the late 17th century, Safavid Iran, which neighbored both empires and had been one of the greatest rivals for Turkey for centuries (16th–19th centuries), had been heavily declining. Taking advantage of the situation, Russia and the Ottoman Empire conquered swaths of its territory comprising contemporary Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Northern Iran, which was taken by Peter I in the Russo-Persian War (1722–1723); the Ottomans took the territory to the west, comprising modern day Armenia, parts of Eastern Anatolia, as well as western Iran. The gains by both were confirmed in the Treaty of Constantinople (1724). For a few years, they bordered each other along a large territory in the Caucasus, which caused further frictions.

Russia managed to secure a favourable international situation by signing treaties with Persia in 1732 and 1735. These returned all Iranian territories gained since 1722 in the North and South Caucasus and Northern Iran, and avoided war with the emerging leader of Persia, Nader Shah. The treaties had other diplomatically favourable aspects as they established a Russo-Iranian alliance against Turkey, as Persia was at war with the Ottoman Empire. In the meantime Russia was also supporting the accession to the Polish throne of Augustus III in the War of the Polish Succession (1733–35), over the French-nominated Stanisław Leszczyński. Austria had been Russia's ally since 1726.

Russia entered into another war with the Ottoman Empire in 1736, prompted by raids on Ukraine by Crimean Tatars and the military campaign of the Crimean khan in the Caucasus. In May 1736, the Russian army launched an invasion of the Crimean peninsula and burned the capital of the Crimean Khanate, Bakhchysarai. On June 19, the Russian Don army under the command of General Peter Lacy captured Azov. In July 1737, the Münnich army took by storm the Ottoman fortress of Ochakov. The Lacy army (now 40,000 strong) marched into the Crimea the same month, inflicting some defeats on the army of the Crimean Khan and capturing Karasubazar. Lacy and his soldiers had to leave the Crimea, however, due to lack of supplies.