The Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689 (russian: Крымские походы, ) were two

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s of the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

against the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...

. They were a part of the Russo-Turkish War (1686–1700) and

Russo-Crimean Wars The Russo-Crimean Wars were fought between the forces of the Tsardom of Russia and the Crimean Khanate during the 16th century over the region around the Volga River. In the 16th century, the Wild Steppes in Russia were exposed to the Khana ...

. These were the first Russian forces to come close to Crimea since 1569. They failed due to poor planning and the practical problem of moving such a large force across the steppe but nonetheless played a key role in halting the Ottoman expansion in Europe. The campaigns came as a surprise for the Ottoman leadership, spoiled its plans to invade Poland and Hungary and forced it to move significant forces from Europe to the east, which greatly helped the League in its struggle against the Ottomans. Having signed the

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with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in 1686, Russia became a member of the anti-Turkish

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(" Holy League" —

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, the

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and Poland), which was pushing the Turks south after their failure at Vienna in 1683 (the major result of this war was the conquest by Austria of most of Hungary from Turkish rule). Russia's role in 1687 was to send a force south to Perekop to bottle up the Crimeans inside their peninsula.

First campaign

On 18 May 1687, a Russian army of about 90,610 soldiers, led by

knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

Vasily Golitsyn, left

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on the Belgorod Line. On 2 June they were joined by 50,000 Left Bank Cossacks under

hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military ...

Ivan Samoilovich at the mouth of the Samora River where the Dnieper turns south. In the heat of summer, 140,000 men, 20,000 wagons and 100,000 horses set out down the east bank of the Dnieper. The huge force, which started too late and was perhaps not well organized, could only travel about 10km per day. When the Russians reached the Konskiye Vody river on the west-flowing part of the Dnieper, they found that the Tatars has set fire to the steppe (they had planned to use steppe grass to feed their horses). After a few days of marching over burnt land, their horses were exhausted, they were short of water and 130 miles from their goal at Perekop, however Golitsyn built a fortress at Novobogoroditskoe at the junction of the

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and the

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...

.Jeremy Black, ''The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492-1792'', (Cambridge University Press, 1996), 36. On 17 June they decided to turn back. ( Ivan Samoilovich was made a scapegoat and replaced by Ivan Mazepa.)

Second campaign

In February 1689, 112,000 Russian troops and 350 guns set out. On 20 April they were joined at Novobogoroditskoye by 30-40,000 Cossacks under Mazepa. They followed the 1687 route, but marched in six separate columns and made much better time. By 3 May they were at the point where the 1687 expedition had turned back. On 15 and 16 May they were attacked by Crimean Tatars near Zelenaya Dolina and Chernaya Dolina. The Crimeans did fairly well but were driven back by the Russian's tabor defense and artillery. On 20 May they reached the isthmus of Perekop. Golitsyn was dismayed to find that all the grass in the area had been trampled down and that there was no source of drinking water north of the peninsula, thereby making a long siege or blockade impossible. Further on, the Tatars had dug a 7km ditch which made moving the artillery forward impossible. The next day, Golitsyn ordered his army to turn back. The Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689 diverted some of the Ottoman and Crimean forces in favour of Russia's

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. They also led to the end of the alliance between the Crimean Khanate, France and Imre Thököly signed in 1683. However, the Russian army didn't reach the goal of stabilizing Russia's southern borders. The unsuccessful outcome of these campaigns was one of the reasons the government of

Sophia Alekseyevna Sophia Alekseyevna ( rus, Со́фья Алексе́евна, p=ˈsofʲjə ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvnə; ) was a Russian princess who ruled as regent of Russia from 1682 to 1689. She allied herself with a singularly capable courtier and politician, Pr ...

collapsed.Walter G. Moss, ''A History of Russia: To 1917'', Vol. I, (Wimbledon Publishing Co., 2005), 228.

Notes

References

* Brian L Davies, ''Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe 1500-1700'', Routledge, 2007. {{Crimea topics Battles of the Great Turkish War Conflicts in 1687 Conflicts in 1689 Wars involving the Ottoman Empire Wars involving the Russian Empire Russo-Turkish wars Military operations involving the Crimean Khanate 1687 in the Ottoman Empire 1689 in the Ottoman Empire 1687 in Russia 1689 in Russia History of Crimea 17th century in the Crimean Khanate