Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkologentag 2023, Vienna, Avusturya, 21 - 23 Eylül 2023
This paper examines the geopolitical rivalry between the Russian and Ottoman empires in the Caucasus between 1768 and 1829. Following the most prolonged peaceful period of 1740-1768 in the history of the Ottoman empire, there were several wars between Russia and the Ottoman empire in the 18th and the 19th centuries. These wars mainly resulted in the gradual southward extension of Russia’s frontier and influence into Ottoman territory. As a result of the Russo-Ottoman wars of 1768–1774, 1787–1791, 1806–1812, and 1828–1829, the Russian empire was able to extend its European frontiers southward to the Black Sea, south-westward to the Prut River, and south of the Caucasus mountains. Following the first major Russo-Ottoman war of 1768–1774, the Russian empire had the right to maintain a fleet on the Black Sea and then in a much stronger position captured the Crimean peninsula and a new war broke out in 1787. The entire western Black Sea coast was ceded to Russia with the Treaty of Yaş in 1792. The wars of 1806-1812 and 1828-1829 allowed the Russian empire to secure the entire northern and eastern coast of the Black Sea, win control of the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits, and expand into the Caucasus. During this process, not only the geopolitical outputs but also the “demographic warfare” between these two imperial rivals triggered off the mutual cultural interaction along the frontiers. Challenging physical geographies, ethno-religious diversity and centre-periphery tension shaped the background of the imperial rivalry in the Caucasus.