Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878

The Russo-Turkish War of 1877 to 1878 pitted the Russian Empire, joined by Balkan Christian allies including Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, against the Ottoman Empire, following international outcry over the Ottoman suppression of a Bulgarian uprising the previous year. The war's central campaign was a grinding Russian siege of the Ottoman fortress town of Plevna in Bulgaria, which held out for five months before falling in December 1877 and opened the way for a Russian advance toward Constantinople. Russian victory was confirmed by the Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878, but its generous terms for Russia and its Balkan allies alarmed the other European powers, who revised the settlement at the Congress of Berlin later that year. The Congress of Berlin's final terms recognized full independence for Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and granted autonomy to a newly created Bulgarian principality, reshaping the political map of the Balkans and reducing direct Ottoman territory in Europe.