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The Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774: Catherine II and the Ottoman Empire
The Russo-Turkish War was one of the most decisive conflicts of the 18th century. In this book, Brian Davies offers a thorough survey of the war and explains why it was crucial to the political triumph of Catherine the Great, the southward expansion of the Russian Empire, and the rollback of Ottoman power from southeastern Europe.
The war completed the incorporation of Ukraine into the Russian Empire, ended the independence of the great Cossack hosts, removed once and for all the military threat from the Crimean Khanate, began the partitions of Poland, and encouraged Catherine II to plan projects to complete the "liberation" of the lower Danubian and Balkan Slavs and Greeks. The war legitimated and secured the power of Catherine II, finally made the Pontic steppe safe for agricultural colonization, and won ports enabling Russia to control the Black Sea and become a leading grain exporter. Traditionally historians (Sorel, for example) have treated this war as the beginning of the "Eastern Question," the question of how the European powers should manage the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
A thorough grasp of the Russo-Turkish War is essential to understanding the complexity and volatility of diplomacy in 18th-century Europe. This book will be an invaluable resource for all scholars and students on European military history and the history of Eastern Europe.
The war completed the incorporation of Ukraine into the Russian Empire, ended the independence of the great Cossack hosts, removed once and for all the military threat from the Crimean Khanate, began the partitions of Poland, and encouraged Catherine II to plan projects to complete the "liberation" of the lower Danubian and Balkan Slavs and Greeks. The war legitimated and secured the power of Catherine II, finally made the Pontic steppe safe for agricultural colonization, and won ports enabling Russia to control the Black Sea and become a leading grain exporter. Traditionally historians (Sorel, for example) have treated this war as the beginning of the "Eastern Question," the question of how the European powers should manage the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
A thorough grasp of the Russo-Turkish War is essential to understanding the complexity and volatility of diplomacy in 18th-century Europe. This book will be an invaluable resource for all scholars and students on European military history and the history of Eastern Europe.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2015
6 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Brian L. Davies
15 books5 followersBrian Davies, Professor of History, received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from The University of Chicago. Dr. Davies specializes in Russian History. He has additional research interests in early modern European, Ottoman, and Central Asian history and is especially interested in the comparative study of state building in the early modern era, subaltern social history, and the development of the capitalist world-system.
He has published three monographs: State Power and Community in Early Modern Russia (London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004); Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500-1700 (Routledge, 2007); Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe (Continuum, 2011) -- and an edited volume, Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1500-1800 (Brill, 2011), and contributed two chapters to The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume One: From Early Rus' to 1689 (Cambridge University Press, 2006). He is at work on another book.
Dr. Davies has developed several graduate level courses addressing transnational issues, among them HIS 5013: Readings in Modern European History; HIS 5063: Readings in Early Modern European History; HIS 6483 Topics in Comparative History: Empire; and HIS 6813/ 6903 Proseminar/Seminar Sequence: The Making of the Modern Capitalist World-System. Davies is also available for Independent Study on topics in the political and social history of Russia and Eastern Europe, early modern Western Europe, Dar al-Islam, Central Asia, military history, and comparative studies.
He has published three monographs: State Power and Community in Early Modern Russia (London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004); Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500-1700 (Routledge, 2007); Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe (Continuum, 2011) -- and an edited volume, Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1500-1800 (Brill, 2011), and contributed two chapters to The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume One: From Early Rus' to 1689 (Cambridge University Press, 2006). He is at work on another book.
Dr. Davies has developed several graduate level courses addressing transnational issues, among them HIS 5013: Readings in Modern European History; HIS 5063: Readings in Early Modern European History; HIS 6483 Topics in Comparative History: Empire; and HIS 6813/ 6903 Proseminar/Seminar Sequence: The Making of the Modern Capitalist World-System. Davies is also available for Independent Study on topics in the political and social history of Russia and Eastern Europe, early modern Western Europe, Dar al-Islam, Central Asia, military history, and comparative studies.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 3, 2022
A thoroughly informative text. It is academic in nature, and so it is very name and date heavy, but very insightful.
August 21, 2025
BORING and quite a few typos. Maybe the proofreader was too bored to read closely.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews