Contents
Introduction
Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812
French Invasion of Russia
War of the Sixth Coalition
The End of Napoleon
Concluding Remarks
Bitesize Edition
We rejoin the story this week with Russia and France having signed peace after the War of the Third Coalition. However, both sides were still very aware of the strength of the other. The French were expanding into the Balkans, controlling Dalmatia in modern-day Croatia in 1806. At the same time, the Ottomans removed the leaders of Moldavia and Wallachia. The Russians marched on the regions and the Ottomans declared war on them for this.
The Russians enjoyed naval supremacy in the war against the weakening Ottomans. The conflict ended with Russia annexing Moldavia and renaming it Bessarabia. The Ottomans were on the back foot and didn’t want to weaken any further. The Russians were still wary of the French, and the Russians ignoring the French Continental System was fuelling tensions.
We then saw Napoleon attempt his well-known invasion of Russia. He held Moscow for five weeks, but Russia torching the city to the ground left Napoleon stranded up shit creek without a paddle, and more importantly, any supplies. Napoleon wasn’t invincible, and this started the beginning of the end. Find out more below.
Introduction
The superpower battles in the Napoleonic Wars took a break as the French had dominated the early proceedings. The Ottoman’s role in the Napoleonic Wars hit a high when they fought the Russians in the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812.
Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812
As this series discusses the history of the Balkans, what of the Ottomans during this period I hear you ask? Well, when the French defeated the Russians at Austerlitz (War of the Third Coalition), it was encouraged by the Ottomans. This ties into this story, as it saw the Russians distracted away the French until the end of this conflict with the Ottomans in 1812.
The conflict began when the French Empire occupied Dalmatia in modern-day Croatia in 1806. They constantly threatened to advance further into the Balkans. To defend from this, the Russians marched into Moldavia and Wallachia, after the Ottomans had removed the Hospodar (Master) of Moldavia and Wallachia. In response to the Russian march, the Ottomans blocked the Dardanelles for the Russians and declared war upon them.
Throughout the conflict, although having signed peace with the French, the Russians remained cautious of their strength. The Russians defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of the Dardanelles and established Russian supremacy over the Ottomans at sea. The once powerful navy of the Ottomans saw deep weakness in the Battle of Athos a month later. Outside the fighting in the Balkans, there was also a front in the Caucasus.
The conflict ended with Russian victory and the Treaty of Bucharest, which saw Russia annex eastern Moldavia, and rename the region Bessarabia.
Both parties were incentivized to end the conflict. The weakening Ottomans didn’t want to be dragged into an impending Russo-French conflict, and the Russians didn’t want to be fighting on two fronts.
The Russians had violated the French Continental System since they were being hurt economically by the system. This led to the well-known French invasion of Russia, studied as one of the most disastrous military endeavours ever undertaken.
French Invasion of Russia
The French crossed the Niemen River that separated the Duchy of Warsaw and Russia on 24th June 1812. The French lost half of its forces within six weeks after weather, disease, and a lack of provisions ravaged the army. In August, the French won the Battle of Smolensk and advanced towards Moscow. They reached Moscow on September 14th, 1812, but found it abandoned, in a move led by Russian army commander Mikhail Kutuzov. The Russians set as much of the city on fire as possible, leaving the French deep in enemy territory with little food, on the doorstep of winter. Clever Russian tactics saw the French capture of Moscow as a hollow victory, but the true point of loss for the French was their own logistics and their overstretched ambitions.
Napoleon sent many peace proposals which weren’t answered by the Russians. He planned to remain in Moscow for the winter, but five weeks later they began to retreat westwards, searching for supplies. Napoleon’s Army was once again unequipped for the conditions. The Battle of Maloyaroslavets forced the French back onto the same route they took to get to Moscow, and so possessed no supplies to plunder. The Russians also took control of supply depots the French held in Minsk, Vitebsk, and Polotsk.
More than half of the remaining army perished. Napoleon left his army behind on December 5th and returned to Paris in a sledge. There are many estimates for the number of troops lost, and none paint a pretty picture for the French. It was the failed invasion of the massive landmass that is Russia. Most importantly, it showed that Napoleon wasn’t invincible.
War of the Sixth Coalition
Before the French invasion of Moscow in July 1812, The British, Swedes, and Russians had signed the Treaty of Orebro, ending both the wars between the British and Swedes (1810-1812) and between the British and Russians (1807-1812). Previously in April 1812, the secret Treaty of Saint Petersburg saw Sweden and Russia unite against the French.
The British were marching into French-occupied Spain with the Spanish armies at the same time as Napoleon was marching on Moscow. This saw the defeat of the French at Salamanca and the capture of Madrid.
February 1813 saw the Prussians switch sides to the coalition, and the same month also marked the end of Austria’s alliance with France, which moved to a state of armed neutrality.
By the end of March, the French were at war with The British, the Swedes, the Russians, the Spanish, the Portuguese, and the Prussians.
The decline of the French was swift. In March 1813, King Joseph withdrew from Spain. August 1813 saw the Austrians declare war on France after the Armistice of Plaswitz saw an armistice of two months as both sides recovered from early losses. This turned the numbers advantage to the coalition.
The battles at Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, and Leipzig (The Battle of Nations) were the major battles of this conflict. The Leipzig battle saw a major coalition victory. They offered peace terms in November 1813 in the Frankfurt Proposals in which Napoleon would remain Emperor of France. But would only retain control of Belgium, Savoy, and the Rhineland. Napoleon delayed too long, and the Allies withdrew the offer in December. After further losses, Napoleon tried to reignite the Frankfurt Proposals, but the coalition responded by imposing terms that would see France return to its 1791 borders. This also would include losses of Belgium and the Rhineland. Napoleon’s refusal saw the Allied troops march into Paris in March 1814. Napoleon was deposed three days later.
The End of Napoleon
After Napoleon’s abdication on 11th April 1814, he was exiled to the island of Elba. The Congress of Vienna (September 1814- June 1815) saw the European order redrawn. The main aim was to balance the size of the main powers to promote an environment of peace, with none being stronger than the others.
At the same time as the Congress of Vienna, Napoleon returned to Paris on 20th March 1815. The French were upset about their declining power in the Congress, and so Napoleon’s return to Paris saw him gather a sizable army. The Battle of Waterloo, in modern-day Belgium, marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars with a coalition of British and Prussian armies defeating the French. Napoleon fled to Paris with support for him having waned dramatically. Napoleon abdicated for a second time on the 22nd of June 1815.
This time, Napoleon was permanently exiled to the island of Saint Helena, and he died in May 1821 of stomach cancer.
The period that followed this was dubbed the Concert of Europe. It was a period that saw relative peace, until the Crimean War, which will be discussed in a future piece.
But, at this time, we saw the end of the French Empire. The Ottomans remained in the Balkans, having lost territory to Russia in Bessarabia. As we continue in the history of the Balkans, will the Ottomans be able to uphold the territory they currently possess?
Concluding Remarks
I believe this covers an important piece of the history of the Ottoman reign in the Balkans. Most other major powers were distracted by the rise and fall of Napoleon, and so the Ottomans continued to rule over most of the Balkans, albeit with losses to Russia and signs of major weakness. But as discussed in the intro, internal tensions were mounting. I’ll cover the rebellions, uprisings, and wars for independence in the Balkans in next week’s piece.
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