The Russo-Turkish War (24 April 1877-3 March 1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Eastern Orthodox coalition led by the Russian Empire and composed of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. The war resulted in the de jure independence of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, the full independence of Bulgaria, and the cession of Kars Oblast in eastern Anatolia to Russia.
Background[]
The war was caused by the Ottomans' violent suppression of the 1876 April Uprising in Bulgaria, during which their irregular Bashi-Bazouks engaged in orgies of rape and massacre against the Bulgarian civilian population. That same year, Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, but the ill-prepared and poorly-equipped Serbian army failed to achieve offensive goals, although it repulsed an Ottoman offensive into Serbia. Russia, seeing itself as the defender of Orthodox Christianity, declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 24 April 1877, planning to assist the Balkan states in their overthrow of Ottoman rule.
War[]
At the beginning of the war, 300,000 Russian troops faced 200,000 Ottoman troops, half of whom were stationed in fortified garrisons; all of the Ottoman troops were equipped with new British and American-made rifles and German artillery. However, the Ottomans had poor leadership, and the Turks passively defended the Balkans. At the start of the war, Russia and Romania destroyed all vessels along the Danube and mined the river, ensuring that the Ottomans could not interfere with the Russian crossing of the river. On 20 July 1877, a 130,000-strong Russian, Romanian, and Bulgarian army under the command of Czar Alexander II of Russia and King Carol I of Romania themselves besieged the Ottoman fortress of Plevna, defended by 67,000 troops under Osman Nuri Pasha. The Turks strengthened their defenses and built more redoubts, and the Ottomans succeeded in repelling several costly Russian assaults. The Russians then summoned the Crimean War veteran Eduard Totleben, who had the Allied forces surround the fortress; Osman Pasha's request to be able to withdraw from Plevna was declined by the Ottoman government. In December 1877, the Ottomans launched an attempted breakout from Plevna, but Osman Pasha was wounded in the leg, and the Ottomans suffered heavy losses. On 10 December 1877, Plevna surrendered to the Russians.
At this point, Serbia joined the war, and the Serbian Army launched an offensive in eastern South Serbia. The Serbs succeeded in conquering Bela Palanka, Pirot, Nis, and Vranje before the end of hostilities; Austria-Hungary's diplomatic pressure prevented them from linking up with Montenegro. At the same time, the Russians and Bulgarians fought a series of battles for Shipka Pass in Bulgaria, and Field Marshal Iosif Gurko crushed the Ottoman forces at the pass after four battles, the last one ending in January 1878. Days after the victory at Shipka Pass, the Russians stormed Philippopolis (Plovdiv), and the Ottomans began to retreat to Constantinople; the only factor preventing the Russians from seizing the Ottoman capital was the deployment of British Royal Navy ships in the harbor. Russian forces also invaded eastern Anatolia, seizing Erzerum on 19 February 1878 after a lengthy siege. With their capital and rear flank threatened, the Ottomans were forced to make peace on 3 March 1878.
The war was a crushing blow to the Ottoman Empire. Russia claimed many provinces in the Caucasus, including Kars and Batum, and also annexed the Budjak region. The principalities of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, all of which had held de facto sovereignty for quite some time, were recognized as independent states from the Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarian state was re-established as the Principality of Bulgaria, covering the land between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains (apart from northern Dobrudja) as well as the region of Sofia, which became the new state's capital. The Congress of Berlin, also held in 1878, allowed for the United Kingdom to take over Cyprus and for Austria-Hungary to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina.