Peter I, after his victory over Charles XII, who was considered the best commander in Europe at that time, apparently believed in the power of his army and in his abilities as a strategist. And not only he himself believed in it, but also his entire court, the government and even his generals. The frivolity in the preparation, organization and implementation of the campaign was simply incredible. As a result, only some miracle allowed him, his wife Catherine and members of Peter’s government, who for some reason were dragged along with the army, to remain alive. But Peter lost the army, the one that defeated the Swedes. The corpses of soldiers were lying all along the retreat route.

Prut campaign 1711.

Peter I’s plan was specific - to cross the Danube a little higher from its confluence with the Black Sea and move across Bulgaria to the southwest until the second capital of the Sultan, Adrianople, was threatened. (The Turkish name of the city is Edirne. It was the capital of Turkey in 1365 - 1453). In Adrianople, Peter hoped for reinforcements from 30 thousand Vlachs and 10 thousand Moldovans. To justify his campaign in the Balkans, Peter used a proven ideological weapon - the Orthodox faith. In his address to the nations Balkan Peninsula Those who professed Christianity were told: “All good, pure and noble hearts must, despising fear and difficulties, not only fight for the Church and the Orthodox faith, but also shed their last blood.”
There were a lot of people who wanted to take part in the celebration of Moscow weapons. Everyone wanted to be present at the great victory over Turkey, and especially over the Crimean Khanate. After all, back in 1700, Peter and his Muscovite kingdom paid a humiliating tribute to the Crimean Tatars. The whole world knew about this humiliation and constantly reminded the Muscovites. So Dosifei, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote: “There are only a handful of Crimean Tatars... and yet they boast that they receive tribute from you. The Tatars are Turkish subjects, it follows that you are Turkish subjects.” That is why the Chancellor of the State G.I. Golovkin, Vice-Chancellor P.P. Shafirov, clergyman Feofan Prokopovich, Catherine, about two dozen court ladies and many others ended up in Peter’s convoy. It was supposed to recapture Constantinople from the Turks and subjugate to Moscow the lands that were once part of Byzantine Empire. Our intentions were serious, but we were going on a picnic.
Having celebrated the two-year anniversary of the Poltava victory with his guards regiments on June 27 (July 8, 1711) in the steppes of Moldavia and drinking his favorite Magyar wine, Peter on the same day sent his cavalry, 7 thousand sabers, under the command of General Rene for capture Danube city Brailov, where the Turkish army, moving towards the Muscovites, concentrated its supplies. General Rene had to capture them, or, as a last resort, burn them. And three days later the infantry crossed the Prut and moved south along the western bank in three columns. The first was led by General Janus, the second by the Tsar, and the third by Repnin. On July 8, the vanguard units of General Janus met the Turkish troops and retreated to the royal column. The Tsar's orders to Repnin to urgently bring a third column to help the first two were in vain. Repnin's soldiers were pinned down by the Tatar cavalry in Stanilesti and could not move. The alarmed king ordered a retreat towards Stanileshti. The retreat began at night and continued all morning. It was a terrible transition. The Turks were hot on their heels and continuously attacked Peter's rearguard. Tatar detachments galloped back and forth between the carts of the convoy, and almost all of it perished. The exhausted infantry suffered from thirst. The Turks completely surrounded the defenders' camp on the banks of the Prut. Turkish artillery approached - the guns were deployed in a wide semicircle so that by nightfall 300 guns were looking at the camp with their muzzles. Thousands of Tatar cavalry controlled the opposite bank. There was nowhere to run. The soldiers were so exhausted from hunger and heat that many could no longer fight. It was not easy to even get water from the river - those sent for water came under heavy fire.
They dug a shallow hole in the middle of the camp, where they hid Catherine and the accompanying ladies. This shelter, fenced with carts, was a pitiful defense against Turkish cannonballs. The women cried and howled. The next morning a decisive Turkish offensive was expected. One can only imagine what thoughts overwhelmed Peter. The likelihood that he, the Moscow Tsar, the Poltava winner, would be defeated and transported in a cage through the streets of Constantinople was very high.
What did the king do? Here are the words of Peter's contemporary F.I. Soimonov: "... the Tsar's Majesty did not order to enter into the general battle... He ordered... to place a white flag among the trenches..." White flag meant surrender. Peter ordered his envoy, P.P. Shafirov, to agree to any conditions “except slavery,” but to insist on immediate signing, because the troops were dying of hunger. And here are the lines from P.P. Shafirov’s report to the tsar: “... the vizier ordered to be with him. And when we came to him, the Crimean Khan and a man with ten Kube-viziers and a pasha, including the Janissary aga, were sitting with him ... and the khan stood up and went out angry and said that he had told them before that we would fool them.”
To ensure the safety of signing the Act of Surrender, on the night of July 12, a dense corridor of Turkish guard soldiers was built between the surrounded camp and the vizier’s tent. That is, although negotiations with the vizier were conducted by Vice-Chancellor P.P. Shafirov, Peter I had to personally sign the Act of Surrender in the vizier’s tent. (The peace treaty between the kingdom of Moscow and the Ottoman Empire was signed in Adrianople in 1713).
If the Turkish commanders really received huge bribes - ransom for the tsar and his courtiers, then the Crimean Khan did not receive any ransom from Peter I. It was the Crimean Khan Davlet-Girey who spoke out so that “the Poltava winner in a cage would be taken through the streets of Constantinople.” Despite the fact that the Crimean Khan was very dissatisfied with the signed document, he still did not destroy the remains tsarist army during the retreat, although he could easily have done this. From an army of 54 thousand, Peter withdrew about 10 thousand people beyond the Dniester on August 1, completely demoralized. The Moscow army was destroyed not so much by the Turks and Tatars as by ordinary famine. This hunger haunted Peter's army from the first day of its crossing of the Dniester, for two whole months.

Petr Pavlovich Shafirov.
According to the testimony of "Sheets and papers...Peter the Great". From July 13 to August 1, 1711, the troops lost from 500 to 600 people every day who died of starvation. Why then did the Crimean Khan Davlet-Girey, having the opportunity, not destroy the Moscow army and the Tsar of Moscow? After all, in order for the Crimean Khan to release the Moscow Tsar, his tributary, from his hands, the power of the vizier Batalji Pasha was not enough. The Khan was a ruler on his territory and had enough strength and capabilities to destroy his eternal enemy after the Turkish army retreated to the south and the Moscow army to the north.
However, Davlet-Girey did not do this. Apparently the Moscow Tsar took some tactical steps, since the Crimean Khan let him out of his hands. What Peter I did to save himself, his wife and the remnants of his army is still being hidden most carefully. He signed a letter of oath confirming his vassal dependence on the Chingizid family. There is quite serious evidence that Prince Peter of Moscow (the Crimean khans never recognized the royal title of the Moscow Grand Dukes, which, in their opinion, was completely illegally appropriated by Ivan the Terrible), was forced to sign just such a shameful document.
And about some more events and legends associated with this campaign.
150 thousand rubles were allocated from the treasury to bribe the vizier; smaller amounts were intended for other Turkish commanders and even secretaries. The vizier was never able to receive the bribe promised to him by Peter. On the night of July 26, the money was brought to the Turkish camp, but the vizier did not accept it, fearing his ally, the Crimean Khan. Then he was afraid to take them because of the suspicions raised by Charles XII against the vizier. In November 1711, thanks to the intrigues of Charles XII through English and French diplomacy, Vizier Mehmed Pasha was removed by the Sultan and, according to rumors, was soon executed.
According to legend, Peter's wife Ekaterina Alekseevna donated all her jewelry for bribery, however, the Danish envoy Just Yul, who was with the Russian army after it came out of encirclement, does not report such an act of Catherine, but says that the queen distributed her jewelry to save the officers and then, after peace was concluded, she gathered them back.
----
And now let's fast forward 25 years, during the time of Anna Ioannovna, when, for a completely unknown reason, in 1736, the Russian army of 70 thousand soldiers and officers, together with the corps of Ukrainian Cossacks, under the command of Field Marshal Minich (the German Minich did a lot for the development Russian army, in particular, he introduced field hospitals for the first time) set out from the area of ​​​​the present city of Tsarichanka, Dnepropetrovsk region, and by May 17 approached Perekop. On May 20, Perekop was taken and the field marshal’s army moved deep into the Crimea. In mid-June, Minikh approached the city of Kezlev (Evpatoria) and took it by storm. After this, Minich's army headed to the capital of the Crimean Khanate - Bakhchisarai and took it by storm on July 30. The main goal of the campaign was the state archive of the Crimean Khanate. Minikh removed many documents from the archive (possibly the charter of Peter I), and the remaining documents were burned along with the archive building. It is believed that Anna Ioannovna organized a raid on the Crimean archives in pursuance of the secret will of Peter I. Field Marshal Minich completed his main task (which very few knew about) - to seize the Khan’s archives, so already in early August he left Bakhchisarai, and on August 16 passed Perekop and with the remnants of the shabby army moved to Hetman Ukraine.
Minich lost more than half of his army, mainly due to epidemics, but the empress was pleased with the work done and generously rewarded the general with estates in different parts of the country.

Anna Ioannovna.

Apparently Anna Ioannovna did not receive all the documents she wanted. That is why in 1737 the army of Field Marshal Lassi made a second campaign to the Crimea. He no longer visited either Evpatoria or Bakhchisarai. He was interested in other ancient cities of Crimea, mainly Karasu-Bazar, where the Crimean Khan moved after the pogrom of Bakhchisarai. We were looking for something! By the way, the generals of his army, unaware of the true objectives of the campaign, offered many very practical ideas about the routes and methods of conducting this military campaign, but Lassi remained unshaken and even threatened to expel the generals from the army.

Field Marshal Minich

The march of Minich's army in 1736

The epic of classifying ancient Crimean documents did not end there. Since most of the archival materials of the Crimean Khanate were not found either during the campaigns of 1736-1737, or after the Russian occupation of Crimea in 1783 (here A.V. Suvorov was involved in the search), Russian the authorities sent one expedition after another to conduct searches. Many interesting documents were found, but all of them are still classified.

Diplomatic results of Poltava. Poltava reassured the Russian Tsar with the speedy conclusion of peace. But this hope was not destined to come true. It took another 11 long years to end the war.

The direct diplomatic result of the Poltava victory was the restoration of the Northern Alliance with the participation of the Polish-Saxon (Peter returned the Polish throne to Augustus II) and Danish kings. The Prussian king entered into a defensive alliance. Military consequences were also not long in coming. In 1710, Russian troops conducted a successful “fortress campaign”: they captured Riga (it was the largest city in the Kingdom of Sweden!), Revel and Vyborg. After Poltava, Russia waged war only on enemy territory.

Prut campaign against the Turks. However, the strengthening of Russia did not suit everyone in Europe. Türkiye received Charles XII in a friendly manner. Incited by Charles and European diplomats, the Sublime Porte declared war on Russia in 1711. Inspired by his victories, Peter led the Russian army deep into enemy territory to the banks of the Prut River and almost made a mistake similar to the one that led to the death of the Swedish army. Historians (starting with Peter I himself) have more than once compared Peter’s Prut campaign with the adventure of Charles XII in Ukraine.

Charles XII demands that the Turks resume
battles of the Prut

The Tsar recognized the error of his chosen strategy. 38 thousandth Russian army Far from its borders, it found itself surrounded by a 135,000-strong Turkish army. Heat and lack of water and food complicated the situation. Peter counted on the help of the population of Moldavia and Wallachia, but it turned out to be minimal. The ruler of Moldavia, Dmitry Cantemir, whom Voltaire compared with Mazepa, went over to the side of the Russian Tsar. The situation seemed critical. The threat of captivity loomed not only over the army, but also over the king, who was in the camp with his wife.

True, Russian soldiers repulsed all attacks of the Janissaries, who suffered heavy losses and finally refused to go into battle. Therefore, the Turkish commander-in-chief Baltaci Pasha entered into negotiations. The courage of Russian soldiers, the skill of diplomats (and, perhaps, the diamonds of Tsarina Ekaterina Alekseevna) determined the relatively easy conditions of the Prut Treaty: Russia ceded Azov to Turkey and pledged not to interfere in Polish affairs. Russian troops could return home without hindrance. Charles XII, who was located nearby in Bendery, was most dissatisfied with the agreement. He demanded troops to pursue Peter, but the Turks cooled his warlike ardor. Regretting the losses, the tsar found consolation in the fact that he could now concentrate entirely on Baltic problems.

Battle of Cape Gangut. 1715 A. Zubov

Victories at Gangut and Grengam. The war with the Swedes continued in Pomerania (Northern Germany) and Finland. The war had to be waged not for the sake of new conquests, but in order to persuade the Swedes to a peace beneficial for Russia (as the Tsar wrote, so that “the Swedish neck would bend more softly”). In 1714, under the leadership of Peter I, the first victory of the Russian galley fleet was won at Cape Gangut, which had great moral significance. A real attempt to make peace with Sweden at the Congress of Åland in 1718 was unsuccessful due to the death of the Swedish king (he died during the siege of a fortress in Norway). By that time, the Northern Alliance had collapsed, and Sweden had found an ally in Great Britain. A new victory of the Russian fleet near the island of Grengam on July 27, 1720 and the subsequent landing of Russian troops in Sweden made Swedish queen Ulrica-Eleanor is more accommodating.

Nystadt world. A peace treaty was signed in the Finnish city of Nystadt on August 30, 1721. Livonia, Estland, Ingria and part of Karelia with Vyborg went to Russia. Peter returned Finland to the Swedes and paid compensation of 2 million Reichstaller for the lost territories. An exchange of prisoners took place.

As a result of the war, Russia received much Furthermore, which she hoped to receive when starting hostilities. It gained not only access to the Baltic Sea, but also a number of economically developed territories. The war became a harsh school for the Russian state. The tsar himself called it a “three-year school,” because he believed that schoolchildren should study for 7 years. Russia emerged from the war with strong army And navy. In fact, the Russian Empire became a powerful European power, although it had to confirm this status in the subsequent wars of the middle and second half of the XVIII V.

The nature of the war. The war with Sweden was not for Russia " Patriotic War" Even such a talented historian as E.V. Tarle, in essence, failed to prove its liberating character. Of course, when the troops of Charles XII committed outrages in Ukraine, robbed and killed the local population, they rose up to fight the invaders. There was guerrilla warfare, which the Swedes also faced in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The general bitterness of the people and the actions of the partisans were considered in Europe a violation of the “rules of Christian and political peoples” in the conduct of war. But, as we have seen, during the war there were cases of betrayal and the defection of some Ukrainian Cossacks to the side of the Swedish king.

The majority of the Russian population, experiencing the hardships of wartime, suffering from taxes and duties, was not very well aware of the goals of the massacre that dragged on for 21 years. It is no coincidence that uprisings broke out in the country; opponents of the tsar condemned the war and the construction of a new capital on the swampy banks of the Neva. To the Tsar himself in 1717, in the afterword to the book by P.P. Shafirov about the causes of the Swedish War had to prove the need to continue military operations. “Because any war at the present time cannot bring sweetness, but burden, for this reason many are indignant about that burden.” But when they are already brought great sacrifices, is it possible to cede conquered lands and fortresses to the enemy? - asked Peter. “And won’t the whole world laugh at the fact that, having already endured the 17th year and received such glory, and moreover security, we will expose ourselves to constant misfortune and eternal shame without any need?”

The price and meaning of victory. Indeed, victory in the war was not easy for Russia. The combat losses of the Russian army amounted to 120-130 thousand people, of which approximately 40 thousand were killed. Even more human lives (up to half a million) were claimed by disease.

Main event Northern War- The Battle of Poltava turned out to be truly fateful for Russia. It prepared for the country the fate of an empire - a state with a multinational population formed as a result of conquest. On this path, the country faced not only victories, but also difficult trials.

Read also other topics Part III ""European Concert": the struggle for political balance" section “West, Russia, East in battles XVII-early XVIII century":

• 9. "Swedish flood": from Breitenfeld to Lützen (September 7, 1631-November 16, 1632)
  • Battle of Breitenfeld. Winter Campaign of Gustavus Adolphus
• 10. Marston Moor and Nasby (2 July 1644, 14 June 1645)
  • Marston Moor. Victory of the parliamentary army. Cromwell's army reform
• 11. “Dynastic wars” in Europe: the struggle “for the Spanish inheritance” in early XVIII V.
  • "Dynastic Wars". The fight for the Spanish inheritance
• 12. European conflicts are becoming global
  • War of the Austrian Succession. Austro-Prussian conflict
  • Frederick II: victories and defeats. Treaty of Hubertusburg
• 13. Russia and the “Swedish question”

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Prut campaign of Emperor Peter 1

The so-called Prut campaign of Tsar Peter the Great began in midsummer in 1711. It was then that, on the territory belonging to modern Moldova, the confrontation escalated within the framework of the war waged between Turkey and Russia. At the same time, the results of these military operations were quite bad for the Russian side. As a result of the war, Peter had to give up the fortress of Azov, which he had previously conquered, which was necessary for Russia both for the development of trade routes and acted as an important naval base. Let's look at the main events of the Prut campaign.

Two years before the events described above, Russia defeated the army of the Swedish king Charles the Twelfth as part of the Northern War. In the battle of Poltava, the entire army was practically destroyed, and the monarch himself was forced to flee to Turkey, where he hid until 1711, when Turkey declared war on Russia. But military operations stood still, because neither side actually wanted to enter into a large-scale war.

Modern historians often blame Peter the Great for the fact that it was precisely because of his omissions during this period that the war became possible. After all, if the Russian Tsar after Battle of Poltava started pursuing Karl, then most likely the outcome of events would have been different. However, Peter begins to pursue the fleeing king only three days after his flight. This miscalculation cost the Russian ruler the fact that the Swedish king managed to turn the Turkish Sultan against Peter.

The Russian side had at its disposal the Russian army and the Moldovan corps. In total, about eighty-six thousand men and one hundred and twenty guns were collected. The Turkish side consisted of the Ottoman army and the troops of the Crimean Khanate. According to contemporaries, the Turkish army numbered four hundred and forty guns and one hundred and ninety thousand people!

For the Prut campaign, the Russian Tsar transports an army to Poland through Kyiv, bypassing the Soroki fortress, located on the banks of the Dniester. On June 27, 1711, the army, led by Peter himself and his associate Sheremetev, crossed the Dniester and advanced to the Prut River. It took a little less than a week to implement the plan, and if not for the frankly weak discipline in the Russian ranks and the lack of organization, many Russian soldiers would not have had to die from dehydration and exhaustion.

Chronology of the Prut campaign of Peter I

The following events unfolded as follows:

• On July 1, Sheremetev’s troops reach the eastern bank of the Prut River, where they are suddenly attacked by Crimean cavalry. As a result, about three hundred Russian soldiers were killed, but this raid was repulsed.
• Two days later, the army continues its movement along the banks of the river and reaches the town of Yassy.
• On the sixth of the same month, Peter the Great ordered the crossing of the Prut. After a successful crossing, Dmitry Cantemir joins the troops.
• Two days later, the Russian army splits up to better ensure provisions in this territory, and on the fourteenth of July it unites again.
• A nine-thousand-strong garrison remains in Iasi, and the rest of the forces move forward.
• On the eighteenth of July a new battle begins. At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Ottoman soldiers strike at the rear of the Russian troops. Despite the significant numerical superiority, the Turkish garrisons are retreating. The main reason for this lay in the weakly armed infantry and lack of artillery.
• On July 19, the encirclement of Peter the Great's army began. At noon, the Turkish cavalry completely surrounds the Russian army, without entering the battle. The Russian Tsar decides to move up the river to choose a more favorable place for the battle.
• On the twentieth, a huge gap formed during the movement of Peter's troops. The Turks immediately took advantage of this, striking the convoy, which was left without cover. Then the pursuit of the main forces begins. Russian troops take up a defensive position near the village of Stanilesti and prepare for battle. By evening, the Turkish army also approaches. The battle begins at seven o'clock in the evening, but the first Turkish attack was repulsed. In total, in this battle the Russians lost about two thousand soldiers (half fell on the field, and the others were wounded). However, the Turks' losses were significantly greater. They lost more than eight thousand people wounded and killed.
• On July 21, a massive artillery attack on the Russian army begins. At the same time, in the intervals between shelling, the Turks continually attacked with cavalry and infantry. However, even with such an onslaught, the Russian army continued to bear the blow. Peter the Great himself was well aware of the hopelessness of the situation on the battlefield, and therefore he decides to propose the signing of a peace treaty at the military council. As a result of the negotiations, Shafirov was sent to the Turks as a post-peace officer.

This ended the Prut campaign of Peter the Great.

Map of the Prut campaign of 1711:

Table: Prut campaign of 1711

Video lecture: Prut campaign of Peter 1

Prut campaign - the battle between Russian Empire and Turkey, which occurred in 1711 on the territory of modern Moldova. It turned out to be unsuccessful for Russian army, because of which the country had to abandon everything that had been conquered over the past 10 years. To this day, historians cite the Prut Campaign as an example of excessive arrogance and carelessness.

How it all began

To find out the prerequisites for the Prut campaign, one should consider an event that occurred two years earlier. It is the Battle of Poltava (July 8-10, 1709) - one of the decisive battles of the Northern War, marked by the victory of Russia over Sweden. The king of the defeated power, Charles XII, had to flee to Turkey, where they agreed to provide him with asylum. There, the ruler spent the next two years, pitting the Sultan against the Russian Empire and pushing for war with it.

Peter's "Napoleonic" plansI

How was Charles XII able to escape from the occupied territory? Everything happened through the fault of Peter I. He was too inspired by the successes of his army, so he did not attach much importance to defeated Sweden, and began the search for its former ruler only 3 days after the end of the battle, when his trace had long since disappeared. If the tsar had thought of leaving his troops in Sweden immediately after the Battle of Poltava or sending them to fight in Finland, he would have been able to conclude a peace agreement with the recognition of Russia’s recent conquests. However, Peter I decided to deal immediately with the southern enemy, Turkey, which led to the loss of the important naval base-fortress of Azov.

If we consider the history of Peter's war, this is not the first time when he did not understand the real situation and could not sensibly assess his strength. For example, the king decided to subjugate the Khiva and Bukhara khanates, and at the same time dig a river canal on their territory, allowing access from the Caspian Sea to the Amu Darya. But he sent only a six-thousandth army of Cossacks under the leadership of Captain Bekovich-Cherkassky to conquer these territories. In the end, it all ended with the fact that in 1716, immediately after the performance, the entire army was destroyed by an army of Khivans, many times larger in size.

Another example of the king’s reckless decisions is his visit to Paris, where he went with the goal of marrying his daughter to Louis XV. This would have been an ordinary politically advantageous decision, if not for the fact that Peter I offered the child of a former shepherdess and washerwoman as a wife to the King of France, which was simply humiliating for both sides.

Another example of Peter’s adventurism is his plans to found a colony in Madagascar. Having barely completed the war with Sweden, having lost many soldiers and weapons, having in the only developing naval fleet only eight ships capable of such an operation! Only defeat in the Prut campaign tempered the tsar’s ardor.

Balance of enemy forces

From the side of the Russian Empire, an army came out, uniting representatives of the Russian army and the Moldavian corps. In total there were about 86 thousand people and 120 guns. The opponents had about 190 thousand people belonging to Turkey and the Crimean Khanate, and 440 guns. Those. The army of the Russian Empire was more than 2 times smaller and better equipped.

Progress of the battle

The Russian army set out on a campaign led by Peter I, as well as Field Marshal Sheremetev, in July 1711. Having crossed the Dniester River, located on the territory of modern Ukraine and Moldova, on June 27 (June 16, old style), they had to face new difficulties. Their further path lay in the desert steppes. The soldiers suffered not only from lack of water, but also from sudden temperature changes day and night. When they got to the nearest reservoir, many of them drank themselves to death or decided to shoot themselves, unable to withstand the torture.

On July 14, the army was able to reach the Prut. After a recount of the soldiers on July 17, it turned out that their number had decreased by 19 thousand, which significantly complicated the victory of the Russian Empire in this battle. In addition, the army lost about 14 thousand more people, who had to be left to protect communications.

The surviving soldiers were far from in the best condition: many died right on the road, because of which it was possible to understand in which direction the army was moving; the rest of the wars were badly burned due to the constantly scorching sun and needed medical attention, but all the medicine had already been used up.

Meanwhile, an army led by the Grand Vizier Baltaji Mehmed Pasha and the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray II was moving towards them. On July 21, after three days of bloody battles, the Turks managed to press their opponents to the city of Prut and surround them with an army that was several times larger in number of soldiers and guns, a semicircle of earthen trenches and artillery batteries.

According to the memoirs of Rasmus Erebo, who accompanied the king on the campaign, Peter I “ran back and forth around the camp, beat himself in the chest and could not utter a word,” because he already understood that defeat was inevitable, and death or captivity awaited him.

Signing of the peace treaty

The Tsar immediately sent a messenger to St. Petersburg with instructions not to carry out the orders received from him, since he could be captured by the Turks, who would use this opportunity and force him to sign a document beneficial to them. Peter I also summoned the diplomat Pyotr Shafirov, who was excellent at persuading the opposite side to favorable terms. The king’s only condition was the preservation of the northern capital, which he loved so much, and he agreed to other losses, since he understood his plight.

The situation was so deplorable that the wife of Peter I, Catherine, collected all her jewelry and sent it to the Turks, prompting the Sultan to make peace.

Fortunately for the Russian Empire, Turkey did not even think of defending the interests of Sweden and depriving the defeated side of the privileges received as a result of victory in the Northern War. The Sultan was not interested in the northern Russian territories, but he put forward a number of strict demands on the southern ones:

• Transfer of the Azov fortress to Turkey;
• Destruction of the Taganrog fortress, built to protect Russia's access to the Black Sea;
• Russia does not interfere with the return of Charles XII to his homeland;
• Until the Sultan learns that the King of Sweden is safe in his homeland, Sheremetev must be in their captivity, like a general in the Russian army;
• The Russian Empire does not interfere in the affairs of Poland and the Zaporozhye Cossacks.

Consequences

The signing of the peace treaty played a key role in the political life of Russia. Only thanks to the efforts of Peter and skillful diplomats, major territorial losses were avoided. However, two facts should be remembered. Firstly, it was not beneficial for the Turks to deprive Russia of its influence, since this would improve the position of Sweden, which they really did not want. Secondly, if not for the ambitions and frivolity of the tsar himself, it would have been possible not only to avoid war and the loss of access to the Black Sea, but also to increase the territory of the state. Many historians blame Charles XII for the strategic mistakes he made during the war, namely: not using the full potential of the active troops, excessive reliance on allies, neglecting such important means as reconnaissance and communication between military units. However, they forget that two years later all this was exactly repeated by Peter I in the Prut campaign.

The results of the war with Turkey for the Russian Empire were:

• Losing all the gains of the last ten years in just a month. A particularly difficult loss for Russia was the loss of the Black Sea Fleet;
• A total of 37 thousand people were killed, of which only 5 thousand died in battle.

At this time, Charles XII announced that he refused to leave Turkey. This fact only worsened relations between the Turks and the Russian Empire, which led to a new war in 1712, which lasted two years, but was not notable for major battles.

During the Northern War in the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Russia inflicted a crushing defeat on the Swedish army of King Charles 12. The Swedish army was practically destroyed, and Charles 12 fled to Turkey. There he hid in the Bendery fortress (on the territory of modern Transnistria) and for 2 years persuaded the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to war with Russia.

As a result, in 1711 the Sultan declared war on Russia. But military operations were inactive. The Turks did not want a large-scale war, and limited their participation only to sending their vassals - Crimean Tatars- in regular raids across the territory of modern Ukraine and Moldova. Peter the Great also did not want an active war, he simply wanted to raise a peasant uprising against the Ottomans.

Many historians argue that Peter himself is to blame for declaring war. Because after the Battle of Poltava, the Swedish army was almost completely destroyed, and the Russian Tsar did not pursue Charles 12, allowing him to freely leave the territory of the state.

The pursuit began only three days after the end of the battle, when precious time had already been lost and it was impossible to catch up with the enemy. This mistake was worth the fact that during the 2 years of his stay in Turkey, Charles 12 was able to turn the Turkish Sultan against Russia.

The Russian army, as well as the Moldovan corps, took part in this military campaign on the Russian side. The total number of troops was about 86,000 people and 120 guns.

On the part of the Ottoman Empire, the army of the Turks and the army of the Crimean Khanate took part in the war. The total strength of the enemy army was about 190,000 people and 440 guns.

For the Prut campaign, Peter the Great transferred his army through Kyiv to the territory of Poland. On June 27, 1711, the Russian army, under the leadership of Peter the Great, as well as his closest ally Sheremetev, crossed the Dniester River and began its movement towards the Prut River. This campaign lasted less than a week, but the poor quality of its organization led to the fact that this transition (during which there were no battles with the enemy) cost the lives of many Russian soldiers. The reason was lack of supplies. Soldiers died from basic dehydration.

On July 1, Sheremetev’s troops approached the eastern bank of the Prut and here they were suddenly attacked by the Crimean Tatar cavalry. After a short battle, 280 Russian soldiers died. The raid was repelled.

On July 6, Peter the Great ordered to cross the Prut River. After crossing the river, the Moldavian ruler Dmitry Cantemir joined the Russian army.

On July 14, the army united again. 9,000 soldiers remained in the city of Iasi to protect the garrison. The rest of the army continued to participate in the campaign.

On July 18, the first battle of this campaign began. At 14:00 the Turkish army attacked the rear of the Russian army. Despite their numerical superiority, the Turkish troops were forced to retreat, as their offensive was unorganized. They had no artillery and their infantry was poorly armed.

On July 19, the Turks began to encircle the Russian army. In the middle of the day, the Turkish cavalry completed a complete encirclement, but did not attack. Peter the Great decided to go upstream of the river to find a more convenient place for the battle. The movement began at night.

On July 20, during the movement, a significant gap opened up in the Russian army, which the Turks immediately took advantage of and attacked the convoy, which was left without cover. After this, the pursuit of the main forces began. Peter the Great took up defensive positions near the village of Stanilesti and prepared for battle. By evening, large forces of the Turkish army, Crimean Tatars and Zaporozhye Cossacks began to arrive here. The battle has begun. The Turks were unable to defeat the Russians; their attack was repulsed. The losses of the Russian army during this battle amounted to 750 people killed and more than a thousand wounded. Turkish losses were even more significant, amounting to about 8,000 killed and wounded.

On July 21, the army of the Ottoman Empire began a massive artillery shelling of the positions of the Russian army. In between shelling, Russian positions were attacked by cavalry and infantry. Despite the enormous superiority of their army, the Turks could not break the Russian resistance. Peter the Great, realizing the hopelessness of the position of his army, proposed at a military council to make peace with the Turks. As a result, Shafirov was sent to the Turks, who was given the broadest powers of the ambassador.

The wife of Peter the Great, Catherine, gave all her jewelry to hand them over to the Turkish Sultan, encouraging him to conclude peace. This once again proves that the position of the Russian army in this war was so difficult. Peter the Great himself, sending his ambassador, told him to agree to any peace conditions except one - the loss of St. Petersburg is unacceptable.

Negotiations between the parties to conclude peace lasted two days. As a result, on July 22, Peter’s ambassadors returned. The requirements were:

Russia undertakes to transfer the Azov fortress to Turkey;

the Taganrog fortress, built to protect the exit to the Black Sea, must be destroyed;

complete renunciation of political and military interference in the affairs of Poland and the Zaporozhye Cossacks;

free pass for King Charles 12th to Sweden.

The general of the Russian army, Sheremetyev, remained hostage to the Ottoman Empire until Charles 12 passed through Russian territory.

The Prut campaign was completed with the signing of a peace treaty on July 23, 1711. The signing of the agreement took place at 18:00, after which the Russian army retreated to the city of Iasi, and then returned to Moscow through Kyiv. As for Charles 12, he opposed this peace agreement, insisted that Ottoman Empire continued the war.

“You fought with them. We also saw their valor. If you want to fight with Russia, fight on your own, and we will conclude a peace treaty” (Baltaji Mohmed Pasha)

The signing of peace between Russia and Turkey had a huge impact political significance, because Russian Tsar, being under threat of the complete destruction of his army, was able to make peace through diplomatic persuasion. But one very significant amendment needs to be made - the signing of such a peace became permissible only because of Turkey’s interest. The Sultan understood that the destruction of the Russian army would contribute to the rise of Sweden, which was also unacceptable.

Russia lost everything it had conquered over the years in one day. The loss of the Black Sea Fleet was especially painful.