Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812)

The Russo-Turkish War of 1806 to 1812 was fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, one of a long series of wars between the two states, and it ran alongside the Napoleonic Wars. It began after Sultan Selim III, encouraged by the Russian defeat at Austerlitz and advised by France, deposed the pro-Russian rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia. Russia answered by sending a force of about 40,000 men into the two principalities, and the Sultan closed the Dardanelles to Russian ships and declared war. The Russian army won early clashes at Obilesti and Arpachai, and a Russian fleet under Dmitry Senyavin blockaded the Dardanelles and destroyed the Ottoman fleet at Athos. Years of slow campaigning on the Danube followed, until the Tsar gave command to Mikhail Kutuzov, who in 1811 trapped an Ottoman army at Slobozia and forced its surrender. The Treaty of Bucharest of 28 May 1812 ended the war, and Russia annexed the eastern half of Moldavia, which became known as Bessarabia. Both sides wanted peace because Napoleon's invasion of Russia was about to begin. Fighting on the Caucasus front left the border largely unchanged.