Table of Contents

Preface 1. Russia at a Strategic Crossroads, 1762-1768 2. The Ottoman Empire and its frontier in Pontic Europe 3. The Russian Empire and its Black Sea Steppe Frontier 4. The Russian Army at Midcentury 5. The Khotin Campaign, 1769 6. The Year of Victories, 1770 7. Stalemate and Breakthrough, 1771-1774 8. Peace, Reforms, and Provocations, 1774-1787 Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

Examines one of the most decisive wars of the 18th century, the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, explaining its significance for the Russian Empire.

About the Author

Brian L. Davies is Professor of History at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA.

Reviews

Brian L. Davies’s new monograph is much to be welcomed … The reader comes away with a strong sense of the complexities and interconnections of East European and Black Sea affairs in the mid-eighteenth century and again in the aftermath of the war.
*Journal of Modern History*

Brian Davies’s monograph expertly and succinctly analyses the complicated conflict and offers political background to each of the war’s many fronts ... This is an excellent account of the war for experts and students of European strategic affairs.
*European History Quarterly*

Brian L. Davies has an established position as one of the foremost military historians of early modern Russia. His latest book is a comprehensive and detailed study - the first for over a century - of the Empress Catherine the Great's first Ottoman War (1768-74). This ended by establishing Russia on the northern shore of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus, thereby facilitating its further expansion during the later eighteenth century and in particular enabling the Russian seizure of the Crimea (1783-84). Professor Davies is an authoritative guide to some complex events, which are of enduring importance: the origin of many of the present-day problems of eastern Europe are to be found in the fighting and its aftermath.
*Professor Hamish Scott, University of Glasgow, UK*

This new study of Catherine II’s first Turkish war constitutes the fourth volume of Russian historian Brian Davies’ work on eighteenth century Eurasia, which he has consciously modeled on William S. McNeill’s classic Europe’s Steppe Frontier 1500-1800. Though focusing primarily on the 1768-74 war, the narrative is comprehensive about the military and diplomatic environments of both Russian and Ottoman courts. Davies’ expertise in Russian military history is matched here with a sincere effort to reach into the less well developed Ottoman side, resulting in a rare, balanced understanding of the imperatives and impact of the long confrontation on the Danube.
*Virginia H. Aksan, McMaster University, Canada*