Battle of Adrianople (1829)
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changes Treaty of Adrianople
| Battle of Adrianople | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Russo-Turkish Wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Russian Empire |
 Ottoman Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Hans Karl von Diebitsch |
Reşid Mehmed Pasha | ||||||||
 | |||||||||
The Battle of Adrianople was one of the final battles of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829 and resulted in the Treaty of Adrianople (1829), which ended that conflict.
Russian interest with regard to the Ottoman Empire centered on the Balkan Peninsula region and the Dardanelles in particular. Ottoman control of this strait left the potential, despite past treaties, to cut off a significant portion of Russian trade and access to the Mediterranean Sea. A weakened Ottoman military in the wake of Sultan Mahmud II's reformation of the armed forces and the recent destruction of their navy during the Greek War of Independence gave the Russian military the opportunity to seize control of the strait, as well as some additional territory. There is also reason to believe that Tsar Nicholas I desired to further reduce the resurgent Ottoman army.[1]
The Balkans were the main focus of Russian attention at this time, but there was a significant interest in the Caucasus as well. Russian aspirations there centered on the creation of a better or more defensible military border with the Ottoman Empire. Though this was not the main objective of this war, the opportunity provided by a weakened Ottoman position in Europe allowed Russian forces the chance to make these goals a reality.[2]
Prelude
The Russian invasion of Ottoman territory in the Balkans was stalled at the end of 1828 by the fortress of Shumla in modern Bulgaria and other similar garrisons. Some of these forces, however, had been pulled up from the Balkan mountains, leaving the path south open to further Russian incursion. Diebitsch decided to bypass the forts after leaving small forces behind to contain the garrisons. This allowed him to approach Adrianople uncontested, but the journey through the mountains was hard on his army, and they were not in the condition to besiege the city. Rather than show weakness to the enemy, Diebitsch pushed his soldiers onward, hoping to bluff the defenders into believing a fresh Russian army had appeared on their doorstep.[3]