War in the East: A Military History of the Russo-Turkish War 1877-78

By the same author:

The Franco-Prussian War Volume 1: The Campaign of Sedan. Helmuth von Moltke and the

Overthrow of the Second Empire

The Franco-Prussian War Volume 2: After Sedan. Helmuth von Moltke and the Defeat of the

Government of National Defence

The Road to Königgrätz. Helmuth von Moltke and the Austro-Prussian War 1866

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Covers: The defence of the ‘eagle’s eyrie’, Shipka Pass, August 23 1877. (Andrei Popov,

1893)

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To my Father and Mother

Contents

List of Illustrations

Colour plates

To war. (Konstantin Savitsky, 1888)

Men from the Russian 140th Infantry Regiment (35th Infantry Division) halt during a march, summer 1877. (Pavel Kovalesvky, date unknown)

The Russian crossing of the Danube at Simnitza, June 27 1877. (Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburg, 1883)

Tsar Alexander II crossing the Danube. (Ivan Aivazovsky, 1878)

The storming of the fortress of Ardahan, May 17 1877. (Alexander Kivshenko, date unknown)

A Turkish steamer attacked by the Russian cutter Shutka on the Danube, 1877. (Alexey Bogolyubov, 1882)

Observing the actions around Ala Dagh, June 21 1877. (Simon Agopyan, 1910)

The defence of the citadel at Bayazid, June 1877. (Lev Lagar’o, 1891)

The entry of Grand Duke Nicholas into Tirnovo, July 1877. (Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburg, date unknown)

Before the attack – Plevna. (Vasily Vereshchagin, 1881)

After the attack – dressing station near Plevna. (Vasily Vereshchagin, 1881)

Site of the battle fought on July 18 1877 in front of the Krishin Redoubt near Plevna. (Vasily Vereshchagin, 1880)

Action between the Russian Vesta (left) and Turkish Vechta-Bulend in the Black Sea, July 1877. (Ivan Aivazovsky, 1877)

The assault on Shipka. (Cevat, 1911)

Defence of the Shipka Pass. (Alexander Kivshenko, date unknown)

Fighting around Shipka, August 1877. (Simon Agopyan, 1910)

The defence of the ‘eagle’s eyrie’, Shipka Pass, August 23 1877. (Andrei Popov, 1893)

Major-General Michael Skobelev. (Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburg, 1883)

The Russian grand battery at Plevna. (Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburg, 1880)

Night attack at Plevna. (Simon Agopyan, 1910)

The capture of the Grivitza Redoubt, Plevna, September 11 1877. (Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburg, 1885)

Defeated. Requiem. (Vasily Vereshchagin, 1878-79)

Episode from the Battle of Telis, October 24 1877. (V. Mazurovsky, 1888)

The Nizhny Novgorod Dragoons pursuing the Turks on the road to Kars during the fighting around the Yagni hills, October 3 1877. (Alexander Kivshenko, 1892)

The final battle at Plevna, December 10 1877. (Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburg, 1889)

Attack on a Turkish convoy, winter 1877/78. (Pavel Kovalesvky, date unknown)

The capture of the Turkish steamship Messina by a Russian ship on the Black Sea, December 13 1877. (Ivan Aivazovsky, 1877)

The Battle of Shenovo, January 8 1878. (Alexander Kivshenko, 1894)

Skobelev at Shenovo, January 8 1878. (Vasily Vereshchagin, 1878)

‘Back from the front’. (Sami Yetik, 1920)

Images within the text

Tsar Alexander II. (Hozier)

The Congress of Paris, 1856. (Rogers)

Prince Bismarck. (Russes et Turcs)

War preparations in Russia – impressing wagons and horses for army transport. (Illustrated London News)

The Tsar in Nevski Prospect, St Petersburg, April 1877. (Illustrated London News)

Prince Charles of Roumania. (Ollier)

Prince Gorchakov, Russian Foreign Minister. (Hozier)

Newspapers being read aloud in a Constantinople café. (The Graphic)

Sir Henry Elliot, controversial British Ambassador to Turkey. (Ollier)

Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges)

Midhat Pasha, one-time Grand Vizier. (Ollier)

Discussing war with Serbia in a café in Constantinople. (Illustrated London News)

Sultan Abdul Hamid II. (Hozier)

Turkish troops in a village in Bulgaria. (Russes et Turcs)

Count Ignatiev, Russian Ambassador to Turkey. (Russes et Turcs)

Count Shuvalov, Russian Ambassador to Britain. (Russes et Turcs)

Lord Derby, Britain’s Foreign Secretary. (Fauré)

General Mikhail Cherniaev, the ‘Lion of Tashkent’. (Strantz)

Emperor William I of Germany. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges)

Bulgarian refugees. (Ollier)

Suleiman Pasha. (Hozier)

Bulgarians destroying a Turkish mosque. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

William Ewart Gladstone, a leading member of the Liberal Party, in opposition in Britain, and vociferous opponent of Turkey.

Safvet Pasha, Turkish Foreign Minister. (Ollier)

Influential American war correspondents J.A. MacGahan and F.D. Millet. (Bullard)

Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, British Prime Minister. (Hozier)

Lord Salisbury. (Russes et Turcs)

The conference in Constantinople. From left to right – Zichy (Austrian ambassador), Chaudordy (France), Bourgoing (France), Corti (Italy), Midhat Pasha, Werther (Germany), Safvet Pasha, Elliot (Britain), Ignatiev (Russia), Salisbury (Britain). (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

Admiralty Palace, Constantinople, where the conference was held. (Ollier)

The closing scene of the Constantinople conference – Safvet Pasha rejects the ultimatum. (Ollier)

Queen Victoria.

Bashi-Bazouks as sketched by an artist with The Graphic illustrated newspaper. Note his legend – The best abused men in Europe on the road to Glory. (The Graphic)

Henry Layard, British Ambassador to Turkey following the transfer of Sir Henry Elliot. (Ollier)

Edhem Pasha, Grand Vizier. (Hozier)

The departure of the Tsar from Kishinev. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

Russian aristocratic women help prepare medical supplies for the front. (Budev)

Stocking public buildings at Nish with biscuits. (The Graphic)

General Dmitri Alexeievich Miliutin. (Ollier)

General Nepokoitschitsky, Chief of Staff of the Russian Army in Europe. (Russes et Turcs)

Russian infantry in camp. (Budev)

Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia, commander of the Army of the South. (Hozier)

Grand Duke Michael of Russia. (Ollier)

A Russian column on the march. (Illustrated London News)

Russian Cossack officers, summer 1877. (Rogers)

Lieutenant-General Baron Krüdener, commander of the Russian IX Corps. (Russes et Turcs)

Lieutenant-General Zotov, commander of the Russian IV Corps. (Russes et Turcs)

Lieutenant-General Radetzky, commander of the Russian VIII Corps. (Rogers)

Lieutenant-General Shakofskoi, commander of the Russian XI Corps. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

Major-General Michael Skobelev, legendary commander. Due to the presence of his father in the army, Lieutenant-General Skobelev, commander of a Cossack division, he was sometimes referred to as Skobelev II. (Ollier)

Russian infantry on campaign in Bulgaria, summer 1877. An excellent on-the-spot sketch by José Luis Pellicer. (Budev)

Lieutenant-General Loris-Melikov was an Armenian by birth, and played an important part in the Caucasian campaign. (Hozier)

Recruits from Salonika arriving in Constantinople to be clothed and armed. (Illustrated London News)

Turkish infantry on the march. (Russes et Turcs)

Turkish recruits being put through their paces near Erzerum. (Russes et Turcs)

Turkish troops transported by railway. (Russes et Turcs)

Types seen accompanying a Turkish baggage train. (Histoire de la Guerre d’Orient 1877-1878)

A Turkish battery near Rustchuk. (Strantz)

Abdul Kerim Pasha. (Hozier)

Osman Pasha, defender of Plevna. (Hozier)

Mehemet Ali Pasha. (Hozier)

Ahmed Eyoub Pasha. (Russes et Turcs)

Mukhtar Pasha. (Hozier)

Faizi Pasha, the Chief of Staff of the Turkish forces in the Caucasus. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

Hobart Pasha.

The Turkish fleet at Buyukdere. (Ollier)

Turkish sailors. (Illustrated London News)

Russian batteries shelling a Turkish monitor. (Fauré)

The Turkish gunboat Lufti Djelil, sunk by the Russian batteries near Braila. (Illustrated London News)

The Turkish Egyptian squadron leaving Alexandria for Constantinople with Egyptian troops. (The Graphic)

General Obruchev. (Russes et Turcs)

Varna. (Fauré)

Shumla. (Fauré)

Widdin. (Fauré)

Turkish fortifications outside Rustchuk, giving a good impression of the type of field fortification also seen at Plevna. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

Turkish battery at Rustchuk. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

Shipping horses at Constantinople for the seat of war in Asia Minor. (Illustrated London News)

Sketches of Turkish war activity at Rustchuk. (Illustrated London News)

Locals called out to work at the fortifications at Varna. (Illustrated London News)

Colonel Frederick Wellesley, British military attaché to Russia. (Wellesley)

Cossacks on the road from Galatz to Barboshi. (Illustrated London News)

Russian council of war at Barboshi railway station. (Illustrated London News)

Russian torpedo launches attacking a Turkish monitor at Matghin. (Ollier)

Russian infantry at the railway station, Jassy. (Illustrated London News)

Nicopolis. (Fauré)

Russian troops making rafts on the banks of the Danube. (Ollier)

Lieutenant-General Dragomirov, commander of the Russian 14th Division, part of Radetzky’s VIII Corps. (Russes et Turcs)

Russian troops crossing the Danube at Braila. (Russes et Turcs)

The legendary Archibald Forbes, war correspondent. (Bullard)

Bridge of boats over the Danube between Simnitza and Sistova. (Ollier)

Russian infantry on the march. (The Graphic)

Russian troops landing at Sistova. (Strantz)

Russian troops are welcomed on their entry into Sistova. (Ollier)

Russian Cossack scouts. (Rogers)

Lieutenant-General Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko. (Hozier)

Tsarevich Alexander, commander of the Army of Rustchuk. (Hozier)

General Stoletov. (Rogers)

Tirnova. (Fauré)

Some of Gourko’s men burning a railway station. (Illustrated London News)

Gourko and his staff near the Shipka Pass. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

A Russian Cossack encampment. (Rogers)

Turkish reinforcements for Nicopolis. (Strantz)

Constructing a Russian battery. (Illustrated London News)

Lieutenant-General Schilder-Schuldner, commander of the Russian 5th Division. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

The Turkish garrison of Nicopolis surrenders. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

The heights north of Bukova, seen from the saddle south of the village. This is the ground over which Schilder-Schuldner’s men attacked. (Springer)

A Red Crescent ambulance and doctor. (Ollier)

Russian infantry assault the Turkish entrenchments at Plevna. (Ollier)

Russian infantry contest the outskirts of Plevna. (Budev)

Russian infantry at Plevna. (Ollier)

The assault on Plevna as sketched by the Illustrated London News artist. (Illustrated London News)

Bayazid. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

Erzerum. (Fauré)

Trebizond. (Fauré)

Tiflis. (Fauré)

General Heimann, commander of the Russian Alexandropol Detachment. (Russes et Turcs)

General Tergukassov, commander of the Russian Erivan Detachment. (Russes et Turcs)

General Oklobju, commander of the Russian Rion Detachment. (Russes et Turcs)

Kars. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

Lieutenant-General Heimann’s troops storm Ardahan. (Russes et Turcs)

Russian troops storming Ardahan, May 17 1877. (Strantz)

Mukhtar Pasha reconnoitring Kars. (Illustrated London News)

Turks and British observers watching the bombardment of Kars from the Tchakmak Tabia. (Illustrated London News)

General Sir Arnold Kemball, British military commissioner with the Turkish army in Asia. (Vanity Fair)

General Sir Arnold Kemball (left) and Lieutenant McDougall with the Turkish forces in the Caucasus. (Illustrated London News)

Turkish infantry throwing up shelter trenches just before the battle at Eshki-Kaliass, June 21. (The Graphic)

A Turkish supply column. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

Russian steam engines at work helping to load and unload war matériel. (Budev)

A Turkish officer with his orderly. (The Graphic)

Dervish Pasha. (Russes et Turcs)

A Turkish mountain gun battery. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

Russian wounded being transported in the Caucasus. (Strantz)

Camels conveying ammunition to the front. (Ollier)

An encounter between an artist from the Illustrated London News and some Cossacks. (Illustrated London News)

Cossacks cutting telegraph lines. (The Graphic)

A Cossack reconnaissance party near Yeni Zagra. (Budev)

The capture of Yeni Zagra. (Ollier)

The Times correspondent at Yeni Zagra. (Ollier)

Turkish infantry advance to the attack. This image conveys an excellent impression of how infantry manoeuvred about the battlefields during the war, and how men were sent forward to feed a skirmish line. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

The headquarters of Suleiman Pasha in the Tundja valley. (Ollier)

Guard for the colours of the Bulgarian Legion. (The Graphic)

The road through the Shipka Pass seen from the north, a near-contemporary view. (Springer)

The Shipka Pass viewed from the south, a near-contemporary view. (Springer)

The Shipka Pass - the view south, looking from the Russian position towards the direction in which the Turks attacked, and the epicentre of the battle. (Dave Watson)

The peak from which desperate Russians threw any missile they could find on August 23. (Dave Watson)

Bringing down the Turkish wounded. (Ollier)

The Russians defended themselves desperately when, on August 23, ammunition ran so low they used rocks, tree trunks and other missiles to repel the Turkish assaults. (Russes et Turcs)

Radetzky’s riflemen arrive in the nick of time at Shipka on August 23. (Budev)

Turkish dead at the Shipka Pass. (Illustrated London News)

Prince Hassan, son of the Khedive of Egypt, and commander of the detachment his father provided. (Ollier)

Baker Pasha, a former British officer who rendered good service to the Turks during the War. (Ollier)

A Russian supply column. (Russes et Turcs)

A Russian encampment in a cemetery, Karahassankoi. (Ollier)

The Battle of Karahassankoi. (Illustrated London News)

The Battle of Karahassankoi. Key – 1) Sadina, 2) Karahassankoi, 3) Gagovo, destroyed by bombardment, 4) Popkoi, 5) Haidarkoi, (there is no 6), 7) River Lom, 8) Cossack squadron, 9) Bashi Bazouks, 10) Turkish troops coming from Rasgrad, 11, 12, 14, 15) Russian batteries, 13) Turkish battery near Rasgrad firing on 11 and 12, 16, 17, 18, 19) Turkish batteries, 20) Turkish infantry crossing the Lom. (Ollier)

Russian trenches at Karahassankoi. (Illustrated London News)

The Battle of Sinankoi, September 14 1877 (Strantz)

Russian cavalry at Biela. (The Graphic)

The Battle of Cerkovna. (Ollier)

Turkish infantry near Biela, showing the type of field defences frequently used in the battles of 1877-78. (Illustrated London News)

The quarters of the Tsar at Gorni Studen. (Ollier)

Lieutenant-General Imeretinsky. (Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878)

A view of the terrain over which Major-General Dobrovolski attacked at Lovtcha, with Hills 3 and 4 in the background. (Springer)

Russian troops in action at Lovtcha. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

Russian infantry taking a Turkish redoubt at Lovtcha. (Ollier)

A panoramic view of the action at Lovtcha, as seen from the Russian batteries. The widely-dispersed skirmish lines are particularly notable. (Budev)

Prince Imeretinsky’s corps following the Battle of Lovtcha. (Russes et Turcs)

War artists and correspondents as sketched by a Russian Cossack officer. (Rogers)

The arrival of Prince Charles of Roumania to take command of the army before Plevna. (Ollier)

The Tsar and his staff at Gorni Studen. (Ollier)

Troops from the Russian IV Corps take up their positions prior to the assault. (Russes et Turcs)

The Russian grand battery before Plevna. (Ollier)

Camp followers watching the bombardment of Plevna. (Illustrated London News)

Colonel Wellesley’s quarters. (The Graphic)

A panoramic view of the Battle of September 11. Key – 1) Russian batteries, 2) Grand siege battery, 3) Roumanian batteries, 4) Redoubt captured by the Roumanians on September 8; 5) Russian infantry reserve, 6) Russian infantry regiment moving forward, 7) General Zotov and staff officer, 8) Caissons of the reserve, 9) Grivitza village, 10) ridge behind which part of Plevna lay, 11) Attack by the Russian1st Brigade of the 5th Division, 12) Roumanian assault, 13) Turkish Grivitza redoubt, taken in the evening of September 11, 14) Further Turkish redoubt, 15) Turkish entrenched camp, 16) Turkish lines, 17) Redoubts in the Turkish centre, 18) Turkish redoubt attacked by Russian 30th Division, 19) Turkish redoubts, 20) Road from Plevna to Biela, 21) Road from Plevna to Pelisat, 22) Red Cross ambulance, 23) Location of the Tsar, Grand Duke Nicholas and Prince Charles of Roumania during the battle. (Russes et Turcs)

Roumanian chasseurs assault the Grivitza Redoubt at Plevna. (Russes et Turcs)

Roumanian Dorobantsi fighting within the Grivitza Redoubt. (Russes et Turcs)

Burial of the dead near the Grivitza Redoubt on the evening of September 11. (Russes et Turcs)

Grivitza Redoubt (No 2) as seen from the Roumanian positions at Grivitza Redoubt (No 1). (Strantz)

Russian troops in the trenches before Plevna. (Illustrated London News)

A Russian Red Cross hospital before Plevna. (Ollier)

The headquarters of Grand Duke Nicholas at Gorni Studen. (Budev)

Osman Pasha sketched on campaign. (Illustrated London News)

Todleben. (Histoire de la Guerre d’Orient 1877-1878)

Romanian cavalry crossing the Danube. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

A Roumanian Dorobantsi infantryman sketched on campaign by a Russian Cossack. (Rogers)

Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby, commander of Britain’s Mediterranean fleet.

Roumanian chasseurs on the march. (Russes et Turcs)

The camp of the Roumanian 4th Division near Plevna. (Illustrated London News)

Russian bivouac before Plevna. (Illustrated London News)

General Lazarev, commander of the Russian 40th Division. (Russes et Turcs)

Turks making coffee in camp. (The Graphic)

The Battle of Kizil Tepe. (Ollier)

Removing Turkish wounded during the Battle of Kizil Tepe. (Ollier)

Bashi-Bazouks marching to headquarters. (Illustrated London News)

Turkish infantry assault the Great Yagni, October 13. (Russes et Turcs)

Turkish cavalry. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

Minarets at Erzerum. (Ollier)

A Russian assault at the Camel’s Neck. (Ollier)

British war correspondents with the Turks. (The Graphic)

Mukhtar Pasha sighting a Krupp gun at Erzerum. (Ollier)

A field hospital near Kars following the storming of the city. (Russes et Turcs)

The storming of Kars on the night of November 18 1877. (Strantz)

The burial of Russian soldiers fallen during the storming of Kars. (Strantz)

Turkish officers captured at Kars. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

The Russian Imperial Guard marching to Plevna. (Ollier)

Cossacks foraging. (Russes et Turcs)

Bashi Bazouks on vedette. (Russes et Turcs)

The attack of the Russian Imperial Guard at Telis, October 24. (Russes et Turcs)

The Battle of Gorni Dubnik. (Fauré)

Russian medical services in action near the front. (Budev)

Sultan Abdul Hamid visiting wounded in a Constantinople hospital. (Strantz)

Fighting near the Baba Konak Pass. (The Graphic)

The Russian camp before Plevna. (Ollier)

A line of Turkish outposts at Plevna. (Russes et Turcs)

General Ganetsky, commander of the Russian Corps of Grenadiers. (Russes et Turcs)

Newspaper correspondents in the advanced trenches before Plevna. (Ollier)

Roumanian Dorobantsi in the forward trenches at Plevna. (Budev)

Osman Pasha’s sortie from Plevna, December 10. Key – 1) bridges, 2) road out from Plevna, 3) Russian grenadiers, 4) Russian batteries, 5) Turkish redoubts. (Russes et Turcs)

Turkish troops during the last sortie at Plevna. (Ollier)

The Tsar, Grand Duke Nicholas and Prince Charles of Roumania are greeted on their entry into Plevna. (Russes et Turcs)

Turkish officers observe an assault in the Shipka Pass. (Ollier)

The Turkish assault at Metchka. Key – A, B) Russian batteries, C, D) Second and third lines of Russian entrenchments, E) Russian advance posts abandoned at the start of the action, F) Turkish skirmishers advancing against Pirgos, G) Pirgos road, H) Pirgos village, I) Monitor Nicopol, J) Turkish reserves, K) Russian batteries at Parapan. (Russes et Turcs)

Suleiman Pasha dictating orders. (Ollier)

Russian troops on the march during a snowstorm. (Illustrated London News)

Russian troops advancing from Etropol towards Sofia. (Strantz)

Turkish prisoners, winter 1877/78. (The Graphic)

Russian troops in the Balkans. (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

A British ambulance with the Turkish army. (Ollier)

Turkish sentinels in the Balkans. (Russes et Turcs)

Russian troops resting high in the Balkans. (Ollier)

Russian troops bivouacking in the Balkans. (Ollier)

Turkish prisoners on the plains of Shipka. (Russes et Turcs)

The entrance to the Dardanelles. (Ollier)

A view of Constantinople. (Ollier)

‘The Attack on the Redoubt’ – knowledge of the Siege of Plevna penetrated even children’s games of the time. (Illustrated London News)

HMS Alexandria, Hornby’s flagship. (Illustrated London News)

HMS Sultan saluting the Turkish flag at Chanak. (Illustrated London News)

Russian troops enter Adrianople – note the camels! (Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78)

Turks working on trenches near Gallipoli. (Illustrated London News)

Russian soldiers in a bazaar at Adrianople. (Ollier)

The signing of the armistice at Adrianople. Left to right – General Nepokoitschitsky, Server Pasha, Nelidof, Grand Duke Nicholas, Namyl Pasha. (Russes et Turcs)

The British fleet at Volo. (Ollier)

Count Andrassy, Austria’s Foreign Minister. (Ollier)

The headquarters of Grand Duke Nicholas at San Stefano. (Strantz)

The house at San Stefano at which the treaty was signed. (Ollier)

The Russian Imperial Guard entering San Stefano. (Ollier)

The saloon of Grand Duke Nicholas at San Stefano. (Ollier)

Illuminations arch over Nevsky Prospect, St Petersburg, to celebrate peace. (Ollier)

Signing the treaty of peace at San Stefano. (Ollier)

Grand Duke Nicholas is greeted by the Sultan at the Dolmabahce palace. (Strantz)

The British fleet passing through the Dardanelles. (Ollier)

Keeping the road clear for the guests to the banquet at the Royal Palace, Berlin. (Ollier)

The sitting of the Congress of Berlin. (Ollier)

Crowd outside the Radziwill Palace, waiting to see the plenipotentiaries to the Congress of Berlin. (Ollier)

The Radziwill Palace, meeting place of the Congress of Berlin. (Illustrated London News)

Plan of the hall of the Congress of Berlin, showing the seats of the plenipotentiaries. (Illustrated London News)

The Tsar returns from Kishinev to St Petersburg. (Strantz)

The Sultan decorating wounded Turkish soldiers. (The Graphic)

Images in colour maps section

Sketches by Irving Montagu, artist of The Illustrated London News.

Irving Montagu

A Russian Cossack

Erzerum

‘Pending divorce’

‘Incompatibility of temper’

‘Saluting The Illustrated News in Asia Minor’

‘Tween decks on a Turkish ironclad’

‘Snowed up’

Key to sources

Anon Album della Guerra Russo-Turca del 1877-78 (Milan, 1878)

Anon Histoire de la Guerre d’Orient 1877-1878 (Brussels, 1878)

Anon Russes et Turcs. Guerre d’Orient (Paris 1878, 2 volumes)

Budev Grabados Españoles de la Guerra Ruso-Turco de 1877-1878 (Sofia, 1977)

Bullard Famous War Correspondents (Boston 1914)

Fauré Histoire de la Guerre d’Orient (1877-1878) (Paris, 1878, 2 vols)

The Graphic 1876-78

Hozier The Russo-Turkish War. Including an Account of the Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Power, and the History of the Eastern Question (London nd, 5 volumes)

Illustrated London News 1876-78

Ollier Cassell’s Illustrated History of the Russo-Turkish War (London nd, 2 volumes)

Rogers – original photographs and other material from the collection of Duncan Rogers

Springer Der Russisch-türkische Krieg 1877-1878 in Europa (Vienna, 1891-93, 7 volumes)

Strantz Illustrirte Kriegs-Chronik. Gedenkbuch an den Russisch-Türkischen Feldzug von 1876-1878 (Leipzig, 1878)

Wellesley With the Russians in Peace and War: Recollections of a Military Attaché (London 1905)

Zimmermann Illustrirte Geschichte des Orientalischen Krieges von 1876-1878 (Vienna 1878)

List of Maps

Progress Map No.1 – First period of the Campaign. From the declaration of war to the crossing of the Danube, April 24 to June 27 1877

The crossing at Galatz, June 22 1877

The crossing at Simnitza-Sistova, June 27 1877

Progress Map No.2 – Second period of the Campaign. From the crossing of the Danube to the fall of Plevna, June 27 to December 10 1877

Relative positions of the Russian and Turkish armies August 5 1877

Country between the Lom and Yantra rivers

Battle of Lovtcha, September 3 1877

Battle of Gorni Dubnik October 24 1877

Progress Map No 3 – Third period of the Campaign. From the fall of Plevna to the conclusion of peace at San Stefano, December 10 1877 to March 3 1878

Battle of Metchka-Tristenik, December 12 1877

The following appear in a colour section

Military Circumscriptions of the Russian Empire

Theatre of War in Europe

Theatre of War in Asia

Map of the vicinity of Sistova, Nicopolis and Plevna to illustrate the movements of the Russians immediately after the passage of the Danube

Map of the Balkans near the Shipka Pass to illustrate Gourko’s operations in July

Plan of the positions near Nicopolis

The Second Battle of Plevna, July 30 1877

Shipka Pass and vicinity, with troop dispositions, August 1877

The Third Battle of Plevna, September 11 1877

The Investment of Plevna. Positions of troops November 5 1877

The passage of the Balkans near Sofia, December 25-31 1877

The Fourth Battle of Plevna, December 10 1877

Battles near Philippopolis, January 15, 16 and 17 1878

Map of the Balkans near the Shipka Pass to illustrate the capture of the Turkish Army at Shipka

Battle of Aladja Dagh, October 15 1877 and the Assault on Kars November 17 1877

All maps from Greene Report on the Russian Army and its Campaigns in Turkey in 1877-1878 (New York, 1879, atlas volume)

Acknowledgements

Iam glad to have this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to all those who have helped me in the preparation of this book, a number of whom, in no special order, deserve my particular thanks. Tim Readman read through the final draft and made a number of valuable suggestions.

Jean Hawkes once again overcame all the difficulties caused by my execrable handwriting (and on this occasion also the problems of very unfamiliar names of places and individuals) in patiently typing the book.

Colonel Ali Denizli of the Turkish Army (retd) gave valuable assistance on several aspects of the history of the Ottoman Army. In Plevna, Nicolay Petrov was a most helpful and courteous guide to the Panorama there, and subsequently assisted on a number of points relating to the Bulgarian Legion. In Bucharest, Alina Lefter helped me in explaining the use of some Roumanian military terms. Bob Williams provided invaluable help, particularly with the proper transliteration of Russian names, which I was able to include in the glossary.

As always I am greatly indebted to Duncan Rogers of Helion, who offered continual encouragement and support throughout the writing of the book. In particular he has been instrumental in the matter of illustrations and maps. On this occasion he has surpassed himself. Finally, my family have been patient and supportive throughout the project.

Preface

The Russian and Ottoman Empires clashed repeatedly during the 19th Century. It was a process that progressively weakened the Ottoman Empire and rolled back its frontier from the high tide mark of its expansion. Only when supported by powerful allies during the Crimean War of 1854–1856 did the Turks end on the winning side. The war of 1877–1878 was the latest in a series of conflicts caused principally by the relentless ambition of the Russian Empire. Russian concern for the subject Slav peoples of the Ottoman Empire was an ostensible, though subsidiary, motive for military action.

It was a brutal war, involving very substantial armies and enormous casualties on both sides, fought in conditions that were almost indescribably demanding. It was portrayed in chilling detail by a host of Western observers – diplomats, military attachés, artists and journalists; shocked both by the atrocities which they encountered and the gross incompetence of some of the generalship, they concluded that it was most decidedly not a European war fought between European nations.

In the years following the war it generated, understandably, a flood of books covering all its aspects; but by the dawn of the 20th Century there were other more evidently relevant wars to describe. The Russo-Turkish War ceased to be a subject for Western historians and military commentators, although it continued to receive attention in the countries of the participants. During the 20th Century the only English language narrative studies of the war were The Siege of Plevna, by Rupert Furneaux, published in 1958, which was not solely confined to the events of the siege; and the excellent Caucasian Battlefields by W E D Allen and Paul Muratoff, published in 1953, which devoted nine chapters to a penetrating and scholarly account of the campaign in the Caucasus.

I hope, therefore, that this book may go a little way to filling a historical gap, and to reviving interest both in the colossal struggle that took place in 1877–1878 and in its devastating consequences for the soldiers and civilian populations involved.

1

The Congress of Paris

Once Sebastopol had fallen on September 11 1855 there was no good reason why the Crimean War, the fourth war in the 19th century involving Russia and Turkey, should not be brought to an end. But it was not as simple as that. All the participants were inhibited in one way or another from embarking at once on direct negotiations. For Tsar Alexander II, the recognition of military defeat was a fearful blow to Russian prestige; but Russian public opinion was dead against the war and the nation’s resources were severely overstrained, and it was obvious to his ministers that pride must take second place to reality. Napoleon III still had considerable ambitions to remake the map of Europe; but his ministers were determined on peace, and French public opinion was also against continuance of the war. Sooner rather than later Napoleon must bow to the inevitable. British public opinion, however, was still bellicose, and so was Lord Palmerston, not least because, unlike the French, the British army had no substantial victories to show for all its efforts. The Sardinian government had got all it needed from its participation, which ensured it could count on the favour of the Western powers. For Turkey, the Russian military threat in the Balkans had gone away, while there was nothing to be gained in the Caucasus, where things were not going well, and where the fortress of Kars finally succumbed on November 26.

The Crimean War, having begun as one of the most pointless wars of modern times, fought for obscure aims which had little to do with real national interests, now proved to be peculiarly difficult to terminate. It was only after immensely intricate diplomatic negotiations in November 1855 that the shape of a settlement began to emerge, which would culminate in the peace congress in Paris of the following year. Negotiations began in Vienna between the French ambassador there, Count François Bourqueney, and Count Karl Ferdinand Buol, the Austrian foreign minister. These discussions at first proceeded behind Napoleon’s back, although subsequently his devious foreign minister Count Alexandre de Walewski persuaded him to authorise negotiations. Fundamentally the deal proposed followed the ‘Four Points’ put forward earlier in the course of the war, redefined and strengthened. Point 1, the abolition of the Russian protectorate over the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, now also included a requirement that Russia transfer to Moldavia a strip of territory in Bessarabia that would deprive Russia of control over the mouths of the Danube. Point 2 provided for freedom of navigation on the Danube and its mouths, ‘to be effectively assured through European institutions.’ Point 3 required that the Black Sea be open to all nations, and that all military and naval facilities were to be abolished, no fleets being maintained there. The fourth point involved the abandonment of the Russian claim to a protectorate over the Christian subjects of Turkey, substituting for it assurances as to their security to be given by the Porte. To the Four Points Buol agreed to add a fifth, in the interest of securing French agreement; studiously vague, it stated that the belligerent powers reserved the right vested in them to bring forward in the European interest special conditions in addition to the Four Points.¹

Tsar Alexander II. (Hozier)

The British Cabinet, to Palmerston’s dismay, voted to accept these terms as the basis for preliminary peace conditions, subject to modifications; however, Palmerston and Lord Clarendon, the Foreign Secretary, were left to define the modifications, which gave them to chance to ensure that negotiations with Russia broke down. In any case, Clarendon, together with a lot of other observers, thought the terms too tough for the Russians to accept. If they did not, the Austrians would break off diplomatic negotiations, and Russia would be still more isolated.

Predictably, the Russian reaction was at first to try to water down the terms, but Buol refused to make any concessions, although telling Count Esterhazy, his ambassador in St Petersburg, that he could reassure the Russians privately that the fifth point would present ‘no serious obstacle to the conclusion of peace.’ Thereafter, the matter was considered at the Russian Crown Council on January 15, when the consequences of rejecting the proposals were minutely examined; the outcome, announced next day, was to accept them unconditionally. The reality of Russia’s situation, from the political, diplomatic, economic and military standpoints, could not be gainsaid. It has been suggested that perhaps the clinching argument in favour of acceptance was that the terms proposed would not hinder the development of the country’s resources or impair its future prospects.²

Thus the hope cherished by Palmerston and Clarendon that the Russians would refuse the deal offered them proved illusory. They did what they could to scupper an armistice, turning first to Buol and, when he refused to play, to Napoleon. The latter was in a quandary; he wanted on the one hand to maintain the British alliance but on the other not to ignore French public opinion as to the financial consequences of continuing the war. Palmerston’s position was that there could be no armistice unless Russia accepted the British special conditions, which required demilitarisation of the Aaland Islands in the Baltic, the admission of foreign consuls to Russian ports in the Black Sea and discussion of the future of the Russian provinces on the east coast of the Black Sea. The independence of Georgia and Circassia was a project that always formed part of Palmerston’s war aims.

Walewski produced a fudge that enabled Britain to agree to the armistice; the special conditions would be notified to Russia by France, but only unofficially, while France would privately undertake to support Britain in getting them agreed. Professor Taylor has speculated ‘whether Walewski meant ultimately to cheat the British or the Russians or both.’ It was, he thought, another instance of ‘a translation into diplomatic terms of the hope that something would turn up.’³ Palmerston got his way on one thing; there would be an early meeting of the congress. Once the war had cooled down in the post armistice period, it would be progressively more difficult to bring it back to the boil, and he wanted to keep alive the threat of a renewal of hostilities.

Thus it was that on February 1 the peace preliminaries were finally signed, bringing to an end a war that had cost over half a million lives, two-thirds of them Russian.⁴ The delegates to the peace congress began thereafter to arrive in Paris. The French delegates were Walewski and Bourqueney; the Austrian delegates were Buol and Hübner, his ambassador to Paris. Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha, the Grand Vizier and Mohammed Djemil Bey, his ambassador to Paris, represented the Sublime Porte, while Sardinia’s delegates were Cavour, the Minister President, and Villamarina. Russia was represented by Counts Orlov and Brunnow, the latter being ambassador to London. Prussia, whose neutrality during the war meant exclusion from the congress until it discussed the Straits Convention of 1841, was represented by Otto von Manteuffel, the Minister President and Count von Hatzfeldt, the minister to Paris. Finally, the British delegation was led by Clarendon and Lord Cowley, the ambassador to Paris. Clarendon brought to the congress a profound personal distaste for the war, the original outbreak of which he had regarded as a ‘horrible calamity’ brought about as a result of ‘two sets of barbarians quarrelling over a form of words.’⁵

Now, ironically, his mission was to ensure the continuance of the war if the most extreme terms could not be imposed on Russia. This objective was generally recognized, as he wrote to Palmerston:

I understand that I am not considered by nature a wild beast, but that I am a slave of the English newspapers and the representative of your anti-Russian feelings; and that as peace would be fatal to your Government I am here for the purpose of making it impossible.⁶

It had been apparent to Clarendon before he arrived in Paris that the French would not go along with the British determination to prolong the war; he wrote dismissively that all of France was ‘bent on peace at any price… The French people have gone mad, kissing each other upon the restoration of peace.’⁷ When he got there, he was soon warning Palmerston that Britain would stand alone in going on with the war; there was nobody in France, apart from the Emperor and Walewski ‘who was not prepared to make any peace.’

The Congress of Paris, 1856. (Rogers)

The Congress opened on February 25, and it soon became evident that it was the Bessarabian issue that was going to prove the most difficult to resolve. Orlov’s position was that no territory should be ceded, and that this should be to compensate Russia for returning Kars to Turkey. Neither issue was important to Napoleon, whose concern was to conciliate Russia. It had been a make or break question for Palmerston; he insisted that Clarendon should stand firm on the issue. Professor Taylor, slightly unfairly, put it this way: ‘Clarendon, as usual, lost his nerve, particularly when he saw that Napoleon was bent on peace. Palmerston, as usual, believed that resolution would carry the day.’⁸ In the end a compromise was reached; the Russians were allowed to keep about two-thirds of the Bessarabian territory in question, but ceded to Moldavia the key sector at the mouths of the Danube.

The other central terms were agreed with relative ease. The Russians acquiesced in the neutralisation of the Aaland Islands. Clarendon was obliged to abandon the move to give independence to the Caucasus provinces in the face of a general refusal by the other delegates to contemplate a resumption of the war to achieve this. As to the Danubian Principalities, the ticklish question of their union was deferred, and they were to remain under the nominal suzerainty of the Porte; the treaty provided that ‘no exclusive Protection shall be exercised over them by any of the guaranteeing Powers.’ Arrangements were put in place to oversee freedom of navigation over the whole length of the Danube.

The issue of the rights of Christians, which had been the ostensible cause of the war in the first place, might have proved a stumbling block, had not the Sultan issued a general decree on February 18 confirming the rights of all Christian and non-Muslim subjects of the Ottoman Empires, and setting out an extensive programme of political, administrative, legal and economic reforms. This was in part the work of Stratford Canning, the British Ambassador to Constantinople, and was intended to avoid any direct provision for reform in the final treaty; the question of the rights of Christians was confined to a reference to the Sultan’s decree. To make the best of a bad job, Alexander announced to his people that the decree met the ‘original and principal aims of the war.’ The rights of Christians were assured: ‘Russians! Your efforts and your sacrifices were not in vain. The great work is accomplished.’⁹

The future integrity of the Ottoman Empire was guaranteed by all the powers signing the treaty, and the Empire was formally admitted to the concert of Europe. The most important issue affecting Turkish sovereignty, however, was that which also most directly humiliated Russia. The clauses regulating the future of the Black Sea called for it to be neutralised and demilitarised; the waters of the Black Sea were to be open to all merchant vessels but barred to all warships, with the exception of light vessels, necessary for the policing of the coast lines determined by a separate Russo-Turkish convention. All military and naval bases were to be scrapped, and no shipbuilding was to be undertaken on the Black Sea (although Russia successfully resisted British demands that the demilitarisation should extend also to the Sea of Azov and the rivers flowing into the Black Sea). For Turkey, the loss of Sinope as a base was not of great consequence, and the development of a powerful navy on the Mediterranean was unaffected. For Russia, it was a bitter pill, particularly for Alexander, but it was swallowed readily enough, perhaps because it was without any long-term sanction.¹⁰

The Straits Convention, to be signed at the same time as the treaty, reaffirmed the 1841 convention closing the Straits to foreign warships in time of peace, save for light vessels in the service of diplomatic missions, with the Sultan’s permission.

The Treaty of Paris was finally signed on March 30, to general relief, and was celebrated by a huge military review and artillery salutes in Paris. With the delegates still assembled, the Congress went on to talk about wider issues. To Napoleon’s disappointment, these discussions led nowhere, although the Congress did adopt the Declaration of Paris, an international agreement on the rules of naval warfare to which within two years over forty nations subscribed; one significant refusal to do so came from the United States. Cavour suggested that ‘perhaps the Congress of Paris will owe it to this act that it will not occupy an entirely obscure page in the annals of history.’¹¹

The specific terms of the Treaty of Paris may have been less harsh than might have been the consequence of military defeat; but, as Hugh Seton-Watson has pointed out, ‘Russia’s position in Europe was changed for nearly a hundred years.’¹² And its terms were not forgotten or forgiven by Russia’s leaders; the history of the next two decades would lead inexorably towards further conflict between the Russian and Ottoman Empires, and the outcome of such a conflict would depend on the extent to which in the meantime lessons were learned, both from the Crimean War and, more significantly, from the experiences of other nations during a period of huge military and industrial change.

2

Political and Social Reform in Russia

The accession to the throne of Russia of Alexander II had been melancholy and dramatic. Heartbroken by the events in the Crimea, and the fearful damage inflicted on the army that was so dear to him, Tsar Nicholas I seemed almost to be deliberately courting death in the freezing temperatures of St Petersburg in February 1855. Catching a cold, he ignored his doctors’ advice and continued with his duties. His cold became worse; influenza was diagnosed. At first his doctors felt no real concern; but early in the morning of February 18 the true situation became clear. Nicholas faced his end with dignity, giving orders and dictating despatches, including a message to King William of Prussia begging him never to alter the alliance with Russia. He spoke his last words to his son:

I wanted to take everything difficult, everything serious, upon my shoulders and to leave you a peaceful, well-ordered and happy realm. Providence decreed otherwise. Now I go to pray for Russia and for you all. After Russia I loved you [his family] more than anything else in the world. Serve Russia.¹

With his death, the system created by Nicholas, which has been described as ‘the epitome of an 18th Century Western European police state,’ effectively collapsed. For Alexander and his advisers a wide programme of change in practically all aspects of the Russian state was absolutely necessary.

The Crimean War, and its disastrous outcome, demonstrated with pitiless clarity a number of aspects of Russian government and society that demanded reform. One was of course the extent to which the army needed root and branch overhaul. It was dependent on the loyalty of the peasant soldiers, who had shown their willingness to tolerate appalling privations during the war. But it was increasingly clear to intelligent observers that this loyalty could not be depended on indefinitely, and that the emancipation of the serfs must be high on the reform agenda.

Alexander II was thirty-seven when he became Tsar. He had had the benefit of a much more sympathetic upbringing than his father, the tutors assigned to him being humane and sensitive. His education was well fitted for a future ruler, addressing all aspects of the civil and military duties he would undertake, and gave him a humane and understanding view of the world.² In 1842 he married Princess Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt, (over his parents’ objections) who became the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, and who bore him six sons and two daughters. One historian has described him, in somewhat highly coloured terms, as ‘an unpredictable mixture of stubbornness and feebleness, boldness and timidity, enlightenment and obscurantism.’³

Nicholas I had been careful to give his son steadily increasing responsibilities: he stood in for his father when the Tsar left the capital for any lengthy period. In 1849 Alexander was given command of the Corps of Guards, and of all military colleges and schools. He was less of a soldier than his father but, on the other hand, had had much more experience of the problems of government by the time he came to the throne. He has been characterized as ‘milder, less imperious than his father.’ But at the same time he did not relinquish the decision-making process to anyone else.⁴ He would usually back the advisers he appointed against all criticism.

Alexander wasted little time in tackling the question of the emancipation of the serfs. In a speech in Moscow on March 30 1856 he said: ‘It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait until the serfs begin to liberate themselves from below.’⁵ At the beginning of 1857 a secret committee began to address the key questions involved in carrying through a reform that was far reaching in its social and economic implications. During 1858 committees were set up in most provinces to study the issues; many could not reach unanimous agreement and sent in both a majority and minority view. Alexander was himself moving to a more generous view of what it was necessary to give the serfs in terms of the right to buy not only their own homes but also the surrounding land. One of his key advisers, General Rostovtsev, previously supposed to be a reactionary, was also moving to a more liberal position; his appointment to head the ‘Editorial Commissions’ that were set up to sort out the issues was a key factor in enabling the emancipation programme to move forward.

Rostovtsev died in February 1860, and Count Panin was appointed in his place. Although more reactionary than his predecessor, he accepted the liberal thrust of the proposals. To get the process completed it was necessary to overcome the bitter hostility that existed between the bureaucrats of the Ministry of the Interior and the landowners. The final proposals were discussed by the Council of State in January 1861 and the legislation was introduced in the following month. The serfs were emancipated from the possession of the landowners and were to receive land of their own. There were complex arrangements for the process which would gradually release them and enable them to acquire their land.

While noting that the settlement did not solve the peasant question, Hugh Seton Watson remarked on the fact that serfdom had been ‘peacefully abolished in the same year in which failure to abolish slavery in another great country was a principal cause of one of the most bloody wars of the 19th century.’ In seeking an explanation for the difference, he pointed out that Government authority was much stronger in Russia than in the United States, while the sanctity of private property was less.⁶

The Crimean War had demonstrated the complete inadequacy of the system of communications in Russia. In the year after the war ended there were just over a thousand kilometres of railway in the whole country; in the next twenty years this increased by a factor of nearly twenty. Largely developed by private companies, the encouragement given to them by the government was prompted by strategic considerations, but in such a huge country the economic benefits were enormous and immediate. Industries which had hitherto depended on serf labour naturally faced a downturn for a number of years after the emancipation, while those employing wage labour prospered. Gradually the industries that had fallen back recovered; in the 1860s there was an annual average of 798,000 workers employed in manufacturing, mining and metallurgy, a figure which rose in the next decade to 946,000. Output of pig iron more than doubled between 1862 and 1886, although the total still remained relatively small compared to other industrial nations.⁷

The progressive expansion of Russia from the principality of Moscow which Ivan III inherited in 1462 to the vast territorial empire to which Alexander II acceded nearly four hundred years later involved the absorption of many different peoples and ethnic and religious groups, and by no means all of these completely lost their cultural identity or their desire for autonomy and, in some cases, for independence. This meant that the Russian government, to preserve the integrity of the empire, must impose a rigid and autocratic rule over the provinces in which unrest might occur; and, of course, the imposition of such a system itself stimulated protest.

The vast areas covered by the Russian Empire would in any case make its government an especially difficult task. This problem was, however, exacerbated by the backwardness of its communications system, particularly when compared to that of other Great Powers. In spite of the accelerated building programme, Russia still possessed in 1870 only 10,700 kilometers of railroads compared with 17,900 in France and 18,700 in Germany. The network of paved roads was equally unsatisfactory. Troops could, therefore, not be moved quickly to prevent or put down insurrections or to meet external threats.⁸

By the time Alexander came to the throne, continuing Russian expansion was directed to the south, in the Caucasus; to the east and south-east in Turkestan and Turkmenistan; and to the Far East as far as the Pacific. Expansion into the Caucasus had encountered bitter opposition, particularly in Circassia in the west and Dagestan in the east. In Dagestan resistance was led by religious leaders, and in particular by Shamil, a brilliant guerilla fighter and a man of passionate conviction who inspired absolute loyalty in his followers. A campaign by the viceroy of the Caucasus, Count Michael Vorontsov, ultimately took Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, after an eighteen-month campaign which cost many thousands of Russian casualties. In spite of huge efforts, Chechnya, Dagestan and the mountainous regions of Circassia remained out of Russian control up to the Crimean War.⁹

In Kazakhstan, Russian influence had been steadily consolidated, in spite of a series of revolts in the 1830s and 1840s. Further east, beyond the Aral Sea, Turkestan was divided into three khanates of Khiva, Bokhara and Khokand. Between the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea lay Turkmenistan. In 1858 Count Ignatiev led a Russian mission to Khiva and Bokhara which opened the way for the development of trade. Russian interest in the region grew in the 1860s, and in 1864 a series of military operations began, which steadily expanded the area of Russian control. The most successful of the Russian leaders was Cherniaev, who took the city of Tashkent in June 1865. In the following year some territory in Bokhara was occupied.

In 1867 a governor general of Turkestan was appointed, which was a confirmation of the forward policy being adopted by St Petersburg. By 1873, first Khiva and then Bokhara had each become a Russian protectorate. In 1875 a rebellion in Khokand spread to Russian territory; Kauffman, the governor general, pursued the rebels into Khokand and by January 1876 Major-General Michael Skobelev had taken Andizhan, following which the Russian government annexed the whole of Khokand.¹⁰

In the Far East the governor general of Siberia, N N Muraviev, pursued a vigorous policy, including the exploration of the Amur river, at the mouth of which a Russian settlement was established in 1850. This was not recognised by the Chinese government until 1858. In the following year, the site for a port further down the coast was selected. Then, in 1860, the Russians successfully negotiated the cession of all the territory claimed between the Ussari River and the Pacific, and the building of the port of Vladivostok began.

Meanwhile in the Caucasus the Russians, once the Crimean War had ended, embarked on a methodical military strategy to impose their control on the rebellious regions. Between 1857 and 1859 strong Russian forces penetrated further and further into the areas hitherto dominated by Shamil, and one by one the Chechens and the tribes of Dagestan surrendered. Shamil himself finally surrendered in August 1859. In 1862 a similar campaign began against the Circassians; by May 1864 the Russians were in complete control, although more than half the Circassian population chose to emigrate to Turkey rather than remain under Russian rule.¹¹ The two Christian nations of Transcaucasia, Georgia and Armenia, were perfectly content to remain under Russian rule, although as time went by there was some social discontent which made the region a fertile ground for revolutionary ideas.

Within Russia itself by far the most serious security problem faced by the government was the Polish rebellion of 1863. The population of Poland was somewhat less than five million, of whom three-quarters were Poles; there were 600,000 Jews and a quarter of a million each of Germans and Lithuanians. The Poles and Lithuanians, and some of the Germans, were Catholic. The question of the future of the peasants in Poland could not be