Crimean campaigns of 1687-1689 years

In the XVII century the peninsula Crimea was one of the wreckage of the old Mongolian empire - the Golden Horde. Local khans several times arranged bloody invasions on Moscow even in the times of Ivan the Terrible. However, every year it became increasingly difficult for them to confront Russia alone.

Therefore, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal of Turkey. At that time the Ottoman Empire reached its peak of development. It stretched across three continents. The war with this state was inevitable. The first rulers from the Romanov dynasty looked closely at the Crimea.

Prerequisites for hikes

In the middle of the 17th century, a fight broke out between Russia and Poland for the Left-Bank Ukraine. The controversy around this important region grew into a long war. In the end, in 1686, a peace treaty was signed. On it, Russia received vast territories together with Kiev. Simultaneously, the Romanovs agreed to join the so-called Sacred League of European Powers against the Ottoman Empire.

It was created by the efforts of Pope Innocent II XI. Most of it was made up of Catholic states. In the league entered the Venetian Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the Commonwealth. It was to this union that Russia joined. The Christian countries agreed to act together against the Muslim threat.

Russia in the Holy League

So, in 1683 the Great Turkish War began. The main military operations took place in Hungary and Austria without the participation of Russia. The Romanovs, for their part, began to develop a plan for an attack on the Crimean Khan, the Sultan's vassal. The initiator of the campaign was the queen Sophia, who at that time was the actual ruler of a huge country. Juvenile princes Peter and Ivan were only formal figures who did not decide anything.

Crimean campaigns began in 1687, when a hundred-thousand-strong army was sent to the south under the command of Prince Vasily Golitsyn. He was the head of the Posolsky order, and therefore, in charge of the foreign policy of the kingdom. Under his banners were not only the Moscow regular regiments, but also free Cossacks from Zaporozhye and the Don. They were led by the ataman Ivan Samoilovich, with whom the Russian troops joined in June 1687 on the banks of the Samara River.

The campaign was given great importance. Sophia wanted, with the help of military successes, to consolidate her own individual authority in the state. Crimean campaigns were to become one of the great achievements of her rule.

The first hike

Russian detachments first encountered the Tatars after crossing the river Konka (tributary of the Dnieper). However, the opponents prepared for an attack from the north. Tatars burned the whole steppe in this region, because of which the horses of the Russian army had simply nothing to eat. Terrible conditions led to the fact that in the first two days behind was only 12 miles. So, the Crimean campaigns began with a failure. Heat and dust led to the fact that Golitsyn convened a council on which it was decided to return to his homeland.

To somehow explain his failure, the prince began to search for the guilty. At that moment an anonymous denunciation of Samoilovich was delivered to him. Ataman was accused of the fact that it was he and his Cossacks who set fire to the steppe. Sophia became aware of the denunciation. Samoilovich was in disgrace and lost his mace - a symbol of his own power. The Rada of the Cossacks was called, where Ivan Mazepa was elected ataman . This figure was also supported by Vasily Golitsyn, under whose leadership the Crimean campaigns were held.

At the same time, military operations began on the right flank of the struggle between Turkey and Russia. The army under the leadership of General Grigory Kosagov successfully captured Ochakov - an important fortress on the Black Sea coast. The Turks began to worry. The reasons for the Crimean campaigns forced the tsarina to give an order for the organization of a new campaign.

Second campaign

The second campaign began in February 1689. The date was not chosen by chance. Prince Golitsyn wanted to get to the peninsula by spring, to avoid the summer heat and steppe fires. The Russian army included about 110 thousand people. Despite the plans, it moved rather slowly. Attacks of the Tatars were episodic - a general battle did not happen.

May 20, the Russians approached a strategically important fortress - Perekupu, which stood on a narrow isthmus leading to the Crimea. A shaft was dug around her. Golitsyn did not dare to risk people and take Perekop by storm. But he explained his action by the fact that in the fortress there were practically no drinking wells with fresh water. The army after a bloody battle could remain without means of subsistence. Parliamentarians were sent to the Crimean khan. The negotiations dragged on. Meanwhile, the Russian army began the death of horses. It became clear that the Crimean campaigns of 1687-1689. Will lead to nothing. Golitsyn decided the second time to turn the army back.

Thus ended the Crimean campaigns. Years of diligence did not give Russia tangible dividends. Her actions distracted Turkey, which made it easier for European allies to fight with her on the Western Front.

Overthrow of Sophia

At this time in Moscow Sophia was in a difficult situation. Her setbacks were set against her by a number of boyars. She tried to pretend that everything was in order: she congratulated Golitsyn with success. However, in summer there was a coup d'état. Supporters of young Peter overthrew the queen.

Sophia was tonsured into a nun. Golitsyn was in exile thanks to the intercession of his cousin. Many supporters of the old regime were executed. Crimean campaigns in 1687 and 1689 years. Led to the fact that Sophia was in isolation.

The further policy of Russia in the south

Later, Peter the Great also tried to fight with Turkey. His Azov campaigns led to tactical success. Russia has the first marine fleet. True, it was limited to the internal water area of the Azov Sea.

This made Peter pay attention to the Baltic, where Sweden was in charge. Thus began the Great Northern War, which led to the construction of St. Petersburg and the transformation of Russia into an empire. Simultaneously, the Turks won Azov. Russia returned to the southern shores only in the second half of the 18th century.