The prince who carried out the Crimean campaigns. Sophia's last failure: Golitsyn's Crimean campaigns

Moscow agreed subject to the settlement of relations with Poland. After two years of negotiations with the Poles, their king Jan Sobieski, who was experiencing difficulties in the fight against the Turks, agreed to sign the “Eternal Peace” with Russia (1686). It meant Poland’s recognition of the borders outlined by the Truce of Andrusovo, as well as the assignment of Kyiv and Zaporozhye to Russia.

Despite its duration, this Russian-Turkish conflict was not particularly intense. It actually came down to only two large independent military operations - the Crimean (1687; 1689) and Azov (1695-1696) campaigns.

First Crimean campaign (1687). It took place in May 1687. Russian-Ukrainian troops took part in it under the command of Prince Vasily Golitsyn and Hetman Ivan Samoilovich. The Don Cossacks of Ataman F. Minaev also took part in the campaign. The meeting took place in the area of ​​the Konskie Vody River. The total number of troops that set out on the campaign reached 100 thousand people. More than half of the Russian army consisted of regiments of the new system. However, the military power of the allies, sufficient to defeat the Khanate, turned out to be powerless in the face of nature. The troops had to walk tens of kilometers through deserted, sun-scorched steppe, malarial swamps and salt marshes, where there was not a drop of fresh water. In such conditions, the issues of supplying the army and a detailed study of the specifics of a given theater of military operations came to the fore. Golitsyn's insufficient study of these problems ultimately predetermined the failure of his campaigns.
As people and horses moved deeper into the steppe, they began to feel a lack of food and fodder. Having reached the Bolshoi Log tract on July 13, the Allied troops were faced with a new disaster - steppe fires. Unable to fight the heat and the soot that covered the sun, the weakened troops literally collapsed. Finally, Golitsyn, seeing that his army could die before meeting the enemy, ordered to go back. The result of the first campaign was a series of raids by Crimean troops on Ukraine, as well as the removal of Hetman Samoilovich. According to some participants in the campaign (for example, General P. Gordon), the hetman himself initiated the burning of the steppe, because he did not want the defeat of the Crimean Khan, who served as a counterweight to Moscow in the south. The Cossacks elected Mazepa as the new hetman.

Second Crimean Campaign (1689). The campaign began in February 1689. This time Golitsyn, taught by bitter experience, set out into the steppe on the eve of spring so as not to have a shortage of water and grass and not to be afraid of steppe fires. An army of 112 thousand people was assembled for the campaign. Such a huge mass of people slowed down their movement speed. As a result, the campaign to Perekop lasted almost three months, and the troops approached the Crimea on the eve of the hot summer. In mid-May, Golitsyn met with Crimean troops. After volleys of Russian artillery, the rapid attack of the Crimean cavalry choked and was never resumed. Having repelled the onslaught of the khan, Golitsyn approached the Perekop fortifications on May 20. But the governor did not dare to storm them. He was frightened not so much by the power of the fortifications as by the same sun-scorched steppe lying beyond Perekop. It turned out that, having passed along the narrow isthmus to the Crimea, a huge army could find itself in an even more terrible waterless trap.
Hoping to intimidate the khan, Golitsyn began negotiations. But the owner of Crimea began to delay them, waiting until hunger and thirst would force the Russians to go home. Having stood for several days at the Perekop walls to no avail and being left without fresh water, Golitsyn was forced to hastily turn back. Further standstill could have ended in disaster for his army. The Russian army was saved from a larger failure by the fact that the Crimean cavalry did not particularly pursue the retreating ones.

The results of both campaigns were insignificant in comparison with the costs of their implementation. Of course, they made a certain contribution to the common cause, since they diverted the Crimean cavalry from other theaters of military operations. But these campaigns could not decide the outcome of the Russian-Crimean struggle. At the same time, they testified to a radical change in forces in the southern direction. If a hundred years ago Crimean troops reached Moscow, now Russian troops have already come close to the walls of Crimea. The Crimean campaigns had a much greater impact on the situation within the country. In Moscow, Princess Sophia tried to portray both campaigns as great victories, which they were not. Their unsuccessful outcome contributed to the fall of the government of Princess Sophia.

The struggle continued with the later Azov campaigns (1695) of Peter I.

In the 17th century, the Crimean peninsula turned out to be one of the fragments of the old Mongol empire - the Golden Horde. Local khans staged bloody invasions of Moscow several times during the time of Ivan the Terrible. However, every year it became more and more difficult for them to resist Russia alone.

Therefore it became a vassal of Turkey. The Ottoman Empire at this time reached the peak of its development. It extended over the territory of three continents at once. War with this state was inevitable. The first rulers of the Romanov dynasty looked closely at Crimea.

Prerequisites for the hikes

In the middle of the 17th century, a struggle broke out between Russia and Poland for Left Bank Ukraine. The dispute over this important region escalated into a long war. Eventually a peace treaty was signed in 1686. According to it, Russia received vast territories together with Kiev. At the same time, the Romanovs agreed to join the so-called Holy League of European Powers against the Ottoman Empire.

It was created through the efforts of Pope Innocent XI. Most of it was made up of Catholic states. The Republic of Venice and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth joined the league. It was this alliance that Russia joined. Christian countries agreed to act together against the Muslim threat.

Russia in the Holy League

So, in 1683 the Great Major began fighting took place in Hungary and Austria without Russian participation. The Romanovs, for their part, began to develop a plan to attack the Crimean Khan, a vassal of the Sultan. The initiator of the campaign was Queen Sophia, who at that time was the de facto ruler of a huge country. The young princes Peter and Ivan were only formal figures who did not decide anything.

The Crimean campaigns began in 1687, when a hundred thousandth army under the command of Prince Vasily Golitsyn went south. He was the head and therefore was responsible for the foreign policy of the kingdom. Under his banners came not only Moscow regular regiments, but also free Cossacks from Zaporozhye and the Don. They were led by Ataman Ivan Samoilovich, with whom Russian troops united in June 1687 on the banks of the Samara River.

The campaign was given great importance. Sophia wanted to consolidate her own sole power in the state with the help of military successes. The Crimean campaigns were to become one of the great achievements of her reign.

First trip

Russian troops first encountered the Tatars after crossing the Konka River (a tributary of the Dnieper). However, the opponents prepared for an attack from the north. The Tatars burned out the entire steppe in this region, which is why the horses of the Russian army simply had nothing to eat. Terrible conditions meant that in the first two days only 12 miles were left behind. So, the Crimean campaigns began with failure. The heat and dust led to Golitsyn convening a council, at which it was decided to return to his homeland.

To somehow explain his failure, the prince began to look for those responsible. At that moment, an anonymous denunciation against Samoilovich was delivered to him. The ataman was accused of being the one who set fire to the steppe and his Cossacks. Sophia became aware of the denunciation. Samoilovich found himself in disgrace and lost his mace, a symbol of his own power. A Cossack Council was convened, where they elected ataman. This figure was also supported by Vasily Golitsyn, under whose leadership the Crimean campaigns took place.

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

Second trip

The second campaign began in February 1689. The date was not chosen by chance. Prince Golitsyn wanted to reach the peninsula by spring to avoid the summer heat and the Russian army included about 110 thousand people. Despite the plans, it moved rather slowly. The Tatar attacks were sporadic - there was no general battle.

On May 20, the Russians approached the strategically important fortress of Perekop, which stood on a narrow isthmus leading to the Crimea. A shaft was dug around it. Golitsyn did not dare to risk people and take Perekop by storm. But he explained his action by the fact that there was practically no drinking wells With fresh water. After a bloody battle, the army could be left without a livelihood. Envoys were sent to the Crimean Khan. Negotiations dragged on. Meanwhile, the loss of horses began in the Russian army. It became clear that the Crimean campaigns of 1687-1689. will lead to nothing. Golitsyn decided to turn the army back a second time.

Thus ended the Crimean campaigns. Years of effort have not given Russia any tangible dividends. Her actions distracted Turkey, making it easier for the European allies to fight her on the Western Front.

Overthrow of Sophia

At this time in Moscow, Sophia found herself in a difficult situation. Her failures turned many boyars against her. She tried to pretend that everything was fine: she congratulated Golitsyn on his success. However, already in the summer there was coup d'etat. Supporters of young Peter overthrew the queen.

Sophia was tonsured a nun. Golitsyn ended up in exile thanks to his intercession cousin. Many supporters of the old government were executed. Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689 led to Sophia being isolated.

Further Russian policy in the south

Later he also tried to fight with Turkey. His Azov campaigns led to tactical success. Russia has its first naval fleet. True, it was limited to the internal waters of the Sea of ​​​​Azov.

This forced Peter to pay attention to the Baltic, where Sweden ruled. Thus began the Great Northern War, which led to the construction of St. Petersburg and the transformation of Russia into an empire. At the same time, the Turks recaptured Azov. Russia returned to the southern shores only in the second half of the 18th century.

Crimean campaigns of Prince Golitsyn

A year after the conclusion of the “Eternal Peace”, Russia, in fulfillment of its duties under the “Holy League”, began a war with the Crimean Khanate - a Turkish vassal and long-time enemy of Russia. The 50,000-strong army was led by Prince V.V. Golitsyn. In May 1687 she approached the river. Horse Waters. Soon, at the river. Samara, it was joined by the 50,000-strong army of Hetman I. Samoilovich. G. Kasogov’s detachment sailed along the Dnieper on ships to the Kizi-Kermen fortress. The Don Cossacks of Ataman F. Minaev also took part in the campaign.

The situation seemed to be favorable - the Turks could not provide assistance to the Crimea, since they were at war with Austria, Poland and Venice. But Golitsyn’s troops found themselves in a very difficult situation. It was a hot summer. There was not enough water, food, or fodder. The Crimeans also burned out the steppe from Konskie Vody to Perekop. There were no battles, but losses grew - both people and horses could not stand it. I had to retreat. A year and a half later, a new campaign began in the spring. We made preparations - collecting money and warriors. On the river The Novobogoroditsk fortress was built in Samara to close the path to Crimean invasions of Ukraine.

By that time, the position of the Ottoman Empire had greatly weakened. Russia's allies in the "Holy League" defeated Turkish troops in Hungary, Dalmatia, and Morea. Belgrade fell under the blows of the Austrian army. In Turkey itself, outraged troops overthrew Sultan Mohammed IV.

In February 1689, the Russian-Ukrainian army of V.V. Golitsyna (112 thousand people) again moved across the steppes to Perekop. Khan fielded an army of 250,000. In mid-May, fierce battles began, the defeated Crimeans retreated. But the heat began again, and the hardships of the first campaign resumed. After unsuccessful negotiations with the khan, who proposed an agreement on the terms of the Bakhchisarai Peace of 1681 (Golitsyn did not agree with them), the Russian command began to withdraw troops.

Both campaigns did not bring any apparent success. Russian-Ukrainian military forces approached Crimea, but were unable to enter the peninsula. The losses were considerable. Nevertheless, the significance of the campaigns, and not a small one, is that for the first time in two centuries (after the overthrow of the Horde yoke) Russia undertook two large uprisings against the Crimean Khanate. The Crimeans experienced feelings of fear and the bitterness of defeat. Their military forces could not provide assistance to the failed Turkey.

Austria and Venice received help from Russia and were able to use it well. Russia demonstrated its increased military power. It is characteristic that in Istanbul, which received news of the approach of large Russian-Ukrainian armies to the Crimea and Turkish possessions in the Northern Black Sea region, panic arose more than once: “The Russians are coming!”

In Moscow, they tried, especially the regent Sophia, to portray both campaigns as great victories, which they were not.

Tsar Peter Alekseevich did not even want to once accept Golitsyn, who had returned from a campaign. But, despite his extreme dislike for his sister and her talented chancellor, after their overthrow, he continued the same policy in the southern direction, although he made some changes to it.

Crimean campaigns- military campaigns of the Russian army against the Crimean Khanate, undertaken in 1689. They were part of the Russo-Turkish War of 1686-1700 and part of the larger European Great Turkish War.

First Crimean campaign

Second Crimean Campaign

Results

The Crimean campaigns made it possible to divert significant forces of the Turks and Crimeans for some time and benefited Russia’s European allies. Russia stopped paying the Crimean Khan; Russia's international authority increased after the Crimean campaigns. However, as a result of the campaigns, the goal of securing the southern borders of Russia was never achieved.

According to many historians, the unsuccessful outcome of the Crimean campaigns was one of the reasons for the overthrow of the government of Princess Sofia Alekseevna. Sophia herself wrote to Golitsyn in 1689:

My light, Vasenka! Hello, my father, for many years to come! And hello again, God and Holy Mother of God by mercy and with your intelligence and happiness, defeating the Hagarians! May God grant you to continue to defeat your enemies!

There is an opinion that the failure of the Crimean campaigns is greatly exaggerated after Peter I lost half of his entire army in the second Azov campaign, although he only received access to the inland Sea of ​​Azov.

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Notes

Literature

• Bogdanov A.P.“The true and true story of the Crimean campaign of 1687.” - a monument to journalism of the Ambassadorial Prikaz // Problems of studying narrative sources on the history of the Russian Middle Ages: Collection. articles / USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of History of the USSR; Rep. ed. V. T. Pashuto. - M., 1982. - P. 57–84. - 100 s.

An excerpt characterizing the Crimean campaigns

Mom was completely captivated by dad's poems... And he wrote them to her a lot and brought them to her work every day along with huge posters drawn by his own hand (dad was a great drawer), which he unrolled right on her desktop, and on which , among all kinds of painted flowers, there was in capital letters it is written: “Annushka, my star, I love you!” Naturally, what woman could withstand this for a long time and not give up?.. They never parted again... Using every free minute to spend it together, as if someone could take it away from them. Together they went to the movies, to dances (which they both loved very much), walked in the charming Alytus city park, until one fine day they decided that enough dates were enough and that it was time to look at life a little more seriously. Soon they got married. But only my father’s friend (my mother’s) knew about this younger brother) Jonas, since this union did not cause much delight on either my mother’s or my father’s side of the family... My mother’s parents predicted a wealthy neighbor-teacher as her groom, whom they really liked and, in their opinion, “suited” my mother perfectly , and in my father’s family at that time there was no time for marriage, since my grandfather at that time was put in prison as a “supporter of the nobles” (which, probably, they tried to “break” the stubbornly resisting father), and my grandmother ended up in the hospital from nervous shock and was very sick. Dad was left with his little brother in his arms and now had to run the entire household alone, which was very difficult, since the Seryogins at that time lived in a large two-story house(in which I later lived), with a huge old garden around. And, naturally, such a farm required good care...
So three long months passed, and my dad and mom, already married, were still going on dates, until my mom accidentally went to my dad’s house one day and found a very touching picture there... Dad stood in the kitchen in front of the stove, looking unhappy “replenishing” the hopelessly growing number of pots of semolina porridge, which at that moment he was cooking for his little brother. But for some reason the “evil” porridge became more and more, and poor dad could not understand what was happening... Mom, trying with all her might to hide a smile so as not to offend the unlucky “cook,” rolled up her sleeves right away began to put this whole “stagnant household mess” in order, starting with the completely occupied, “porridge-filled” pots, the indignantly sizzling stove... Of course, after such an “emergency”, my mother could no longer calmly observe such a “heart-tugging” male helplessness, and decided to immediately move to this territory, which was still completely alien and unfamiliar to her... And although it was not very easy for her at that time either - she worked at the post office (to support herself), and in the evenings she went to preparatory classes for medical school exams.

She, without hesitation, gave all her remaining strength to her, exhausted to the limit, to my young husband and his family. The house immediately came to life. The kitchen smelled overwhelmingly of delicious Lithuanian zeppelins, which my dad’s little brother adored and, just like dad, who had been sitting on dry food for a long time, he literally gorged himself on them to the “unreasonable” limit. Everything became more or less normal, except for the absence of my grandparents, about whom my poor dad was very worried, and sincerely missed them all this time. But now he already had a young, beautiful wife, who, as best she could, tried in every possible way to brighten up his temporary loss, and looking at my father’s smiling face, it was clear that she succeeded quite well. Dad’s little brother very soon got used to his new aunt and followed her tail, hoping to get something tasty or at least a beautiful “evening fairy tale”, which his mother read to him in great abundance before bed.
Days and then weeks passed so calmly in everyday worries. Grandmother, by that time, had already returned from the hospital and, to her great surprise, found her newly-made daughter-in-law at home... And since it was too late to change anything, they simply tried to get to know each other better, avoiding unwanted conflicts (which inevitably appear with any new, too close acquaintance). More precisely, they were simply getting used to each other, trying to honestly avoid any possible “underwater reefs”... I was always sincerely sorry that my mother and grandmother never fell in love with each other... They were both (or rather, my mother still are) wonderful people, and I loved them both very much. But if the grandmother, throughout their entire life together, somehow tried to adapt to her mother, then the mother - on the contrary, in the end grandma's life, sometimes showed her my irritation too openly, which deeply hurt me, since I was very attached to both of them and really did not like to fall, as they say, “between two fires” or forcibly take sides. I could never understand what caused this constant “quiet” war between these two wonderful women, but apparently there were some very good reasons for this, or perhaps my poor mother and grandmother were simply truly “incompatible” , as happens quite often with strangers living together. One way or another, it was a great pity, because, in general, it was a very friendly and faithful family, in which everyone stood up for each other and went through every trouble or misfortune together.
But let's go back to those days when all this was just beginning, and when every member of this new family I honestly tried to “live together”, without creating any trouble for the others... Grandfather was also already at home, but his health, to the great regret of everyone else, had sharply deteriorated after the days spent in prison. Apparently, including the difficult days spent in Siberia, all the long ordeals of the Seryogins in unfamiliar cities did not spare the poor, life-torn grandfather’s heart - he began to have recurring micro-infarctions...
Mom became very friendly with him and tried as best she could to help him forget all the bad things as soon as possible, although she herself had a very, very difficult time. Over the past months, she managed to pass the preparatory and entrance exams for medical school. But, to her great regret, her long-time dream was not destined to come true for the simple reason that at that time in Lithuania she still had to pay for the institute, and her mother’s family (which had nine children) did not have enough finances for this.. In the same year, her still very young mother, my grandmother on my mother’s side, whom I also never saw, died from a severe nervous shock that happened several years ago. She fell ill during the war, on the day when she learned that there was a heavy bombing in the pioneer camp, in the seaside town of Palanga, and all the surviving children were taken to an unknown location... And among these children was her son , the youngest and favorite of all nine children. A few years later he returned, but, unfortunately, this could no longer help my grandmother. And in the first year of mom and dad life together, she slowly faded away... My mother's father - my grandfather - was left with a large family, of which only one of my mother's sisters - Domitsela - was married at that time.

The Bakhchisarai peace did not bring peace to the Ottoman Empire. Disillusioned with the Ukrainian lands, the Sultan turned his eyes to the west, where another seeker of Ottoman vassalage appeared - the Hungarian Calvinist nobleman Imre Tekeli. In 1678, he led an uprising in Hungary against the Austrian Habsburgs, and four years later he called on the Sultan for help, becoming his vassal. The support of part of the Hungarian nobility led by Tekeli gave the Turks the opportunity to conquer all of Hungary and defeat the Austrian Habsburgs.

However, the Turkish campaign against Vienna in 1683 ended in disaster for them. They were defeated at the walls of the Austrian capital by an army of Austrians, Germans and Poles led by the Polish king Jan Sobieski who came to its aid. This victory marked the beginning of the gradual ousting of the Turks from Central Europe. In 1684, the Catholic Holy League was created to combat them, consisting of Austria, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Venice.

Representatives of the League, primarily Poland, invited Russia to join as allies. For her, participation in a large European coalition gave her a chance to defeat the Crimean Khanate. Moscow agreed, subject to the settlement of relations with Warsaw. After two years of negotiations, the Poles, who were experiencing difficulties in the war with the Turks, agreed to sign the “Eternal Peace” (1686) with the government of the Russian princess Sophia. It meant Poland’s recognition of the borders outlined by the Andrusovo Truce, as well as the assignment of Kyiv and Zaporozhye to Russia.

For the first time since the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the policy of the Russian State in relation to the Crimean Khanate is acquiring an active offensive character. The government of Princess Sophia, whose foreign policy activities were in charge of Prince Vasily Golitsyn, sets the task of conquering Crimea and access to the Black Sea.

From this moment it begins new stage Russian-Crimean struggle. Now, to its main task - the protection of peasant labor - is added the goal of access to the southern sea, which was associated with economic growth country and expanding its needs foreign trade. To achieve this new strategic goal, Russia already needed to crush the power of the Ottoman Empire. And in this historical period, the Crimean Khanate was destined for almost a whole century to play the role of the leading edge of Turkish defense or a buffer on the path of the economic and military-political aspirations of the Russian State.

But the Khanate became a barrier on Russia’s path not only to the sea. The strike on Crimea was also seen in Moscow as a step towards the spread Russian influence on the Orthodox Christians of Southeastern Europe, who were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. It is unlikely that the government of Sophia suspected that by joining the Holy League, Russia was embarking on a long and complicated path of dividing the Ottoman possessions. It will stretch for more than two centuries, standing in a row the most important areas foreign policy Russia. On this path she will be destined to win glorious victories, endure heavy losses, bitter disappointments and fierce rivalry between European powers.

And it was Crimea that was destined by historical fate to become the first center around which, at the end of the 17th century, the Eastern Question began to arise for Moscow, which meant the struggle for the division of the possessions of the Ottoman Empire and the liberation of Orthodox peoples from its power. Subsequently, this led Russia to a series of sentimental alliances, often based not on practical goals, but on issues of ideology and assistance to Orthodox brothers. Built on spiritual connections and emotions, such alliances were characterized by high expectations, but instead sometimes brought grief and problems. During the period of the country's economic lag behind the leading world powers, the continuation of such a policy began to border on adventurism, which ended in defeat in the Eastern War (1853-1856).

But all this was still far away. In the meantime, the beginning of the journey was laid by the royal decree of October 22, 1686 on the campaign to Crimea. The royal letter explained the reasons for the break in peace this way. It noted that the war begins to rid the Russian land of unbearable insults and humiliation; Nowhere do the Crimeans take so many prisoners as from here, they sell Christians like cattle, they curse the Orthodox faith. But this is not enough: the Russian kingdom pays an annual tribute to Crimea, for which it suffers shame and reproaches from neighboring sovereigns, but still does not protect its borders with this tribute: the khan takes money and dishonors Russian messengers, ruins Russian cities; there is no authority over him from the Turkish Sultan.

However, not everyone in the Russian State was supporters of the coming war. Thus, in a conversation with the Moscow clerk E. Ukraintsev, the Ukrainian hetman I. Samoilovich put forward reasons for the unprofitability of this conflict for Russia: “There will be no profit for the states of expansion, there is nothing to own before the Danube - everything is empty, and beyond the Danube it is far away. The Wallachians have all disappeared, and even if they were, they are fickle people, they succumb to everything; The Polish king will take them for himself: why should they quarrel with him over them? Enough of the old quarrels! Crimea cannot be conquered or retained by any means. Fight for the Church of God? A holy and great intention, but not without difficulty. The Greek Church remains oppressed there, and until the holy will of God it remains so; and here, near the great sovereigns, the Polish king is persecuting the Church of God; he has ruined all Orthodoxy in Poland and Lithuania, despite treaties with the great sovereigns.” The Hetman believed that “The whole of Crimea cannot be conquered with one campaign; Let's take the towns - the Turks will come and begin to mine them, but it is difficult for us to defend them, because the army must be withdrawn from there for the winter, and if we leave them there, then from hunger and from the pestilence there, many will die and become extinguished. “And most importantly,” the hetman finished his speech, “I don’t trust the Poles: they are deceitful and fickle people and eternal enemies to the people of Moscow and our Cossacks.” In response, Ukrainians could put forward mainly only ideological motives: “if we are not in this union, then there will be shame and hatred from all Christians, everyone will think that we are closer to the Busurmans than to Christians.”

However, on this issue Samoilovich had his own opinion. “Under the Turkish yoke,” the hetman noted in a letter to Moscow, “there are peoples of the Orthodox Greek faith, Wallachians, Moldavians, Bulgarians, Serbs, followed by numerous Greeks, who are all hiding from their father’s authorities and are consoled by the name of the Russian tsars, hoping someday get joy from them. If, through the entry of the royal majesties into an alliance, the Caesar of Rome and the King of Poland were lucky enough to take possession of the Turkish regions and force the local peoples to a union, in Jerusalem itself to raise the Roman Church and lower Orthodoxy, then all Orthodox peoples would receive insatiable pity from this.”

In general, the hetman considered this war unnecessary, ruinous and capable of doing more harm than good. According to a number of researchers, the defeat of the Crimean Khanate, which maintained the balance of power in the region, was also disadvantageous to him. The disappearance of Crimea meant the strengthening of Moscow’s regional influence, and, accordingly, the possibility of limiting the autonomy of Ukraine. Many subsequent events showed the foresight of the Ukrainian hetman, who knew the problems of the region closely. But they didn’t listen to him then.

The first campaign against Crimea took place in May 1687. It was attended by Russian-Ukrainian troops under the command of Prince Vasily Golitsyn and Hetman Ivan Samoilovich. Up to 100 thousand people set out on the campaign. More than half of the Russian army consisted of regiments of the new system. For the first time, the number of cavalry units was lower than the infantry units, which are gradually becoming the backbone of the Russian armed forces.

Meanwhile, the collected power, sufficient for a military victory over the Khanate, turned out to be powerless in the face of nature. The troops had to cross tens of kilometers of deserted, sun-scorched steppe, malarial swamps and salt marshes, where there was not a drop of fresh water. In such conditions, issues of supply and studying the specifics of a given theater of military operations came to the fore. Their insufficient elaboration by Golitsyn, who, being a good diplomat, turned out to be an inexperienced military leader, contributed to the failure of his undertaking. Striving for military glory and strengthening the position of Princess Sophia, the prince did not bother to calculate all the “ravines” of his enterprise.

As people and horses moved deeper into the steppe, they began to feel a lack of food and fodder. Having reached the Bolshoi Log tract on July 13, the troops were faced with a new disaster - steppe fires. Unable to fight the heat and the soot that covered the sun, people literally fell off their feet. Hundreds of kilometers of open steppe turned into a nightmare for infantry and artillery. Finally, Golitsyn, seeing that his army could die before seeing the Crimeans, ordered to turn back.

The unsuccessful campaign caused the intensification of raids by Crimean troops on the territory of Ukraine and the removal of Hetman Samoilovich, who openly expressed disagreement with Moscow’s policies in his circle. According to some participants in the campaign (for example, General P. Gordon), the hetman initiated the burning of the steppe because he did not want the defeat of the Crimean Khanate, which served as a counterweight to Moscow in the south. The Cossacks elected I.S. as the new hetman. Mazepa.

The second campaign began in February 1689. Now Golitsyn, taught by bitter experience, set out into the steppe on the eve of spring, so as not to have a shortage of water and grass, and also not to be afraid of steppe fires. An army of 112 thousand people was assembled for the campaign. Such a huge mass of people slowed down their movement speed. The trek to Perekop lasted almost three months. The troops approached Crimea on the eve of the hot summer.

On May 16, Golitsyn had a skirmish with the Khan’s troops in the Black Valley. The Crimean cavalry overthrew the Russians and drove them into the convoy. However, after volleys of Russian artillery, the Crimean attack fizzled out and was never resumed. Having repulsed the onslaught, Golitsyn approached the Perekop fortifications on May 20. The governor did not dare to storm them. He was confused not so much by the fortifications as by the steppes lying beyond Perekop. The coveted Crimea turned out to be the same sun-scorched land where there was a lack of fresh water. WITH right side Perekop stretches across the expanse of the Black Sea. On the left is Lake Sivash. The water in them was salty and undrinkable. It turned out that in Crimea a huge army could find itself in a terrible waterless trap.

Hoping to intimidate Khan Selim-Girey, Golitsyn began negotiations with him. But the owner of Crimea began to delay them, waiting until hunger and thirst would force the Russians to leave. Having stood for several days at the Perekop walls to no avail and drank supplies of fresh water, Golitsyn’s army hastily went home. What saved him from a larger failure was the lack of pursuit by the Khan's cavalry.

In the Crimean campaigns the main emphasis was placed on military power. Having decided to conquer Crimea “with one thunderclap,” the Russian command did not sufficiently develop the plan for the campaign itself, the features of the theater of military operations and the mechanism for implementing the planned tasks. And when nature and the defenders of Crimea presented unexpected obstacles to Golitsyn, he was not ready to overcome them. “The main question was not resolved in advance: what is Crimea and how to conquer it? They thought that as soon as they invaded Crimea with a large army, the Tatars would get scared and surrender to the will of the winner; They didn’t think about one thing: beyond Perekop’ there is the same waterless steppe as on the road to the peninsula,” noted S.M. Soloviev.

The results of both campaigns were insignificant in comparison with the costs of their implementation. Of course, they made a certain contribution to the common cause, since they diverted the Crimean cavalry from other theaters of military operations. But these campaigns did not decide the outcome of the Russian-Crimean struggle. However, they testified to a radical change in forces in the southern direction. If a hundred years ago Crimean troops reached Moscow, now Russian troops have already come close to the walls of Crimea. Since then, according to the Turkish historian Seyid-Muhammad-Riza, “the inhabitants of Crimea began to look through the doors of fear and expectations at the events of the time.”

The Crimean campaigns had a much greater impact on the situation inside Russia. Their unsuccessful outcome became an important reason for the overthrow of Princess Sophia and the rise to power of Peter I. There was a six-year lull in the war, when the country was actually ruled by the mother of Peter I, Natalya Naryshkina (1688-1694).

In Zaporozhye during this period there was a mutiny of the military clerk Petrik. Accompanied by 60 Cossacks, he set out for Kyzy-Kermen, where he concluded Eternal Peace between Ukraine and Crimea. While on the territory of the Khanate, Petrik declared Ukraine a “separate” (independent) power and, with the help of the Crimean army, began the fight against Moscow and Mazepa. However, wide sections of the Cossacks did not support the new “Tatar hetman”. It relied on the forces of the Khanate and was used by it to give some legitimacy to the Crimean raids on Ukrainian lands. According to one version, Petrik was hacked to death during the Crimean raid of 1696.

After the death of Queen Natalie, Peter, who led the country, resumes hostilities. Golitsyn's disastrous experience predetermined the tsar's choice of a more modest object of attack. It became not the center of the Khanate, but its eastern flank with the Azov fortress. Its capture disrupted the land connection between the possessions of the Crimean Khanate in the Northern Azov region and the Caucasus. Owning this support base, the tsar strengthened control not only over the Khanate, but also over the Don Cossacks.

The relative convenience of the message also played an important role in the choice. Unlike the road to Perekop, the path to Azov ran along rivers (Don, Volga) and through relatively populated areas. This freed the troops from unnecessary convoys and long marches across the sultry steppe. To divert the Crimean forces from Azov, a group of governor B.P. acted in the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Sheremetev and Hetman I.S. Mazepa.

The Azov campaign began in March 1695. The Russian army (31 thousand people) was commanded by generals Avton Golovin, Franz Lefort and Patrick Gordon. The Tsar himself served as commander of the bombardment company in the army. In July, Azov was besieged. It was defended by a 7,000-strong garrison. The Russians did not have a fleet, and the besieged could receive support from the sea. The delivery of food to the Russian camp along the river was prevented by towers with chains. We managed to take them. But this was the only serious success of the campaign. Both assaults on the fortress (August 5 and September 25) ended in failure. In October, the siege was lifted and the troops returned to Moscow.

Actions in the lower reaches of the Dnieper were more successful. Sheremetev and Mazepa took Kyzy-Kermen, after which the rest of the lower Dnieper towns (Mustrit-Kermen, Islam-Kermen, etc.) were abandoned by their garrisons and occupied by the Russian-Ukrainian army without a fight. Having strengthened these towns (especially the Tavansk fortress that arose on the site of Musritt-Kermen) and leaving garrisons there, the Russian-Ukrainian army left the lower reaches of the Dnieper.

Returning from the Azov campaign, the king began to prepare for a new campaign. It was supposed to use the fleet as well. The place of its creation was Voronezh. By the spring of 1696, 2 ships, 23 galleys, 4 fire ships, as well as a significant number of plows, on which Peter set out on a new campaign, had been built. To distract the Crimean troops, Sheremetev’s group was again sent to the lower reaches of the Dnieper.

In the second Azov campaign Russian forces, led by governor Alexei Shein, were brought to 75 thousand people. As a result of joint actions of the army and navy, Azov was completely blocked. The attacks of the Crimean troops, who tried to put the siege under control, were repulsed. The onslaught from the sea was also repelled. On June 14, 1696, Cossack plows attacked a Turkish squadron with a 4,000-strong landing force that had entered the mouth of the Don. Having lost two ships, she went to sea and left the combat area.

Then the Azov garrison tried to establish contact with the Kuban Tatars. This was prevented by the Ukrainian and Don Cossacks. Having repelled the attempts of the Kuban Tatars to break through to the fortress, the Cossack detachments of Yakov Lizogub and Frol Minaev (2 thousand people) on their own initiative went on July 17 to attack the Azov stronghold. They knocked the defenders off the rampart and rushed towards stone walls. The Turks, due to a lack of lead, fired back with anything, even coins, and threw burning bags filled with gunpowder at the attackers. The Cossacks, not supported by the main forces, returned to the rampart, from where direct shelling of the fortress began. Peter ordered the troops to prepare for a general assault. But it didn't come. Deprived of support, the garrison surrendered on July 19.

Access to the Sea of ​​Azov did not solve the problem of communication between Russia and the Black Sea. Access to it required a larger-scale war with Turkey and the attraction of much greater resources. In an effort to find strong allies to solve this problem, Peter in 1697 organized the Great Embassy to European countries in order to, with their help, achieve access to the zone of ice-free seas. This mission did not live up to Peter's hopes. The collapse of the Black Sea plans leads to a reorientation of the tsar's foreign policy towards the Baltic shores.

When Peter replaced military activity with diplomatic activity, the Crimean side tried to seize the initiative. In the summer of 1697, Azov was attacked by a large Crimean army. On August 1, after a stubborn 11-hour battle with Shein’s army, the Crimeans retreated. The Russians pursued them all the way to Kagalnik (a river south of the lower Don). After this battle, the Crimean Khanate made no more serious attempts to recapture Azov.

In the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the campaign of 1697 was marked by the heroic defense of the Russian-Ukrainian garrison of the Tavansk fortress, which withstood a three-month siege and a series of attacks by the Crimean-Turkish army under the command of Duma nobleman Vasily Bukhvostov. The Tavanans’ response to the demand to surrender has been preserved, revealing worthy example Russian-Ukrainian brotherhood in arms: “We do not believe your lying prophets, we hope in Almighty God and His Most Pure Mother, we firmly hope that you will not take our city until our sabers have rusted and our hands have weakened, and grain and military reserves have there are a lot of us. Do not frighten us with threats and do not seduce us with deceptions. Do what you want, but we will not think of giving this city to your region, but every hour we expect troops to come to us and are ready to stand courageously until our strength lasts, for the Orthodox faith, for the honor and for the name of our sovereign. We hope, with God’s help, to inflict a great defeat on you and you will have eternal shame.”

The assault on Tavansk that followed on September 25 was repulsed. The explosion of a tunnel under the fortress carried out on October 1 did not affect the determination of the garrison. Its defenders were preparing to fight on the ruins when, on October 10, the troops of Prince Y. Dolgoruky and Hetman I. Mazepa came to their aid. This forced the besiegers to retreat. The defense of Tavansk and the defeat at Kagalnik did not allow the Crimean-Turkish army to seize the initiative in the 1697 campaign. IN next year Dolgoruky and Mazepa went to Perekop. The campaign ended in failure.

In January 1699 the country Holy League, with the exception of Russia, signed the Treaty of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire. According to it, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth regained the lands lost to it under the Buchach Peace. The Allies did not support Moscow’s demand to obtain Kerch, which opened the Russians’ access to the Black Sea. On July 3, 1700, Russia also made peace with Turkey, which received Azov and stopped sending commemorations to the Crimean Khan. The lower reaches of the Dnieper returned to the rule of the Sultan with the obligation to destroy all towns and fortifications there.

The Treaty of Karlowitz put an end to Ottoman expansion in Europe. The era of great conquests of the empire is over. Türkiye no longer posed a serious threat to its European neighbors and assumed a defensive position. Due to its growing weakness, it becomes an object of expansion by stronger powers.

All these changes affected the Crimean Khanate, which repeated the fate of the overlord. Now Istanbul needed Crimea less and less and restrained its military activity. This was reflected in the decrease in the regional weight of the Crimean Khanate. If in 1681 it was a full participant in the Peace of Bakhchisarai, now it has been excluded from the number of subjects of international law. As the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey II lamented: “We were not included in the world. No matter how much we asked, our request was not heeded and they showed us complete contempt.” Russian-Crimean problems were now resolved directly by Russia and Türkiye.

Historian V.D. Smirnov summed up the previous period of the khanate’s life this way: “Serving the interests of the sovereign Porte without visible benefit for their own country, the vassal Crimean khans killed all the forces of their people in continuous wars in political types Turkey, being content only with plunder during military raids. Either rushing towards separatism, or, on the contrary, relying on the firmness of support in unity with the Otoman Empire, Crimean Tatars they did not develop strong foundations for the identity of their state, having done nothing fundamental either in its internal organization, or in terms of merging its various constituent national elements, or in creating a reasonable and expedient modus vivendi with neighboring states. The short-sightedness of the Crimean politicians broke the friendly relationship with Russia, established by the clever organizer of the Crimean Khanate Mengli-Gerai I, and after hesitations, always harmful in international politics, inclined them to rapprochement with Poland, whose days were also numbered in history. When, at the end of the 17th century, Russia, gradually gathering its strength, at once deployed it in all its formidability in front of the Turks and together in front of the Tatars, the former were stunned by this formidability, but did nothing; the latter, having come to their senses, wanted to do something, but the time had already been lost. The Tatars had neither fortresses nor weapons, and they did not have the means to establish either, for even if there were some internal sources, such as industry and trade, they were not in the hands of the Tatar population of the country, which was very indifferent to the strengthening or decline of the sovereign power of the Tatar aliens. The source of enrichment of the Tatars themselves through raids has now been closed due to the international obligations that the Ottoman Porte was forced to undertake.”