Introduction It Is a Well-Known Fact That the Expansion of the Ottoman

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Introduction It Is a Well-Known Fact That the Expansion of the Ottoman INTRODUCTION It is a well-known fact that the expansion of the Ottoman Empire pro- ceeded through various phases of power relations between the states and peoples of the invaded lands and the empire itself. Tributary states, such as the Bulgarian tsardoms of Trnovo and Vidin, Serbia, or many of the Aegean Islands were, in the course of renewed attempts to enlarge the territory under the sultan’s rule, incorporated into the empire. By the sec- ond half of the sixteenth century, however, a more or less stable system of tributary states was formed, which, despite the ever-changing scale of imperial influence, remained largely constant. The acknowledgment of the Ottoman overlords was a fundamental element of the policies of the rulers of Crimea, Moldavia, Ragusa, Transylvania, and Wallachia during the early modern period. In other entities, such as Cossack Ukraine, or Northern Hungary, the Ottoman tributary position was a short-lived expe- rience, which is, nevertheless, worthy of attention. The status of Ottoman tributary states has, until recently, all but escaped the attention of researchers of the Ottoman Empire and has mainly been treated in the context of national historiographies. Croatian, Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Transylvanian German historians have dedicated numerous studies to the contacts between the Ottoman Empire and the country to which they declared allegiance. It is hardly surprising that in spite of the growing number of recent publications on the Crimea, it remains the European tributary that attracts the least scholarly inter- est, as no nineteenth- or twentieth-century nation state has claimed the legacy of the khanate as its own. National historiographies reveal many important details in the history of these states; however, their focus on single states as closed units tends to distort the interpretative process. Seeing the single case as unique—or applying only a rather coarse defi- nition of the other states being in a “better” or “worse” situation—often results in misinterpretations of Ottoman attitudes and local responses, the nature and causes of the connection. In recent decades, the most important development of historical schol- arship that had its impact on the histories of the Ottoman tributary states was the re-assessment of the history of the empire itself, with an emphasis on its composite state character, a re-evaluation of its activities, and the identification of its inner logic of empire-building. The shift of perspective 2 introduction from one focused on the “Ottoman yoke” to the “Pax Ottomanica”— or, rather, an emphasis on the negotiation between imperial and local perspectives—has resulted in a more nuanced understanding of the his- tory of Ottoman-dominated Europe. Moreover, a change in the assessment of the Ottoman tributary status took place, with more understanding for the imperial perspectives. There have even been very promising initiatives for systematic comparative studies in this field; however, they have so far focused mainly on the legal framework of the tributary status, based on Ottoman sources, usually with a special focus on one tributary state. Given the wide geographic area covered and the linguistic variety of the sources, it is clear that only an international network of scholarly exchange would render it possible to create a nuanced understanding of the experience of tributary states that would “give voice” to both imperial and domestic sides, and at the same time take into account general trends and regional differences. From 22 to 23 May 2009, a conference in this vein was convened in Dubrovnik (Croatia) as a cooperation between the project “Ottoman Orient and East Central Europe: Comparative Studies in the Perceptions and Interactions in the Border Zones” at the Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropa an der Universität Leipzig (GWZO) and the Institute for Historical Sciences in Dubrovnik of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU). It was the first event aimed at creating an international scholarly network, such as described above, by bringing together well-known experts of the various tributary states to discuss the state of the art and further possibilities of research. The topics of the papers presented at the conference were selected to cover the broadest possible field, maintaining a balance topically as well as regionally. The goal of the convenors was to provide a current over- view of the historiographies of the individual states and thereby open up new perspectives for further research. The program thus covered the most important topics in the history of the Ottoman tributary states, offered the widest possible regional scope (Ragusa, Wallachia, Moldavia, Tran- sylvania, Crimea, and even the Cossack hetmanate), and even provided a conceptual panel that addressed, in detail, the meaning of tributary status from the Ottoman perspective. This volume, based on the material presented at the conference in Dubrovnik, but completed with additional studies by experts in various fields, was compiled with a similar aim. The articles are grouped into three sections which cover the crucial aspects of the political relationship between the empire and its tributary states. The first section is dedicated .
Recommended publications
  • Venetian Hosts and Ottoman Guests in the Venedik Sarayı in Constantinople (C
    Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale e-ISSN 2385-3042 Vol. 54 – Giugno 2018 ISSN 1125-3789 Venetian Hosts and Ottoman Guests in the Venedik Sarayı in Constantinople (c. 1670-1681) Maria Pia Pedani (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia) Abstract After the end of the Cretan war (1645-1669) and before the starting of the Morean war (1684-1699) Venetian diplomats settled again in Constantinople and in the Venetian Palace (Venedik Sarayı) that had been the embassy of the Republic for centuries. In this period baili and extraordinary ambassadors (ambasciatori straordinari) used to celebrate Venetian or Ottoman civic and religious festivals with dinners and parties. Their guests were above all other European diplomats and middle- ranking Ottoman officials. Some Turks, above all those who lived in the neighbourhood, contributed to the organisation of such events with their gifts and, in exchange, they received money or other presents. This paper aims to study the circulation of objects and commodities between Europe and the Ottoman Empire and, in particular, which kind of items were exchanged before or during official dinners held in the Venetian Palace or in the Venetian summer houses in Arnavutköy and Balta Liman. The Turks brought or sent mostly vegetables, flowers and different kind of food, while Venetians used to give to their guests not only the famous Venetian cloths but also unusual objects such as ivory boxes, gloves, brushes, glass sculptures, mirrors, fans, fake flowers and so on. The sources used for this research are the accounting books of the Venetian embassy for the years 1670-83. Keywords Gift exchange.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Ukraine Advisory Board
    THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE ADVISORY BOARD John T. Alexander Professor of History and Russian and European Studies, University of Kansas Robert A. Divine George W. Littlefield Professor in American History Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin John V. Lombardi Professor of History, University of Florida THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE Paul Kubicek The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling, Series Editors Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kubicek, Paul. The history of Ukraine / Paul Kubicek. p. cm. — (The Greenwood histories of the modern nations, ISSN 1096 –2095) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978 – 0 –313 – 34920 –1 (alk. paper) 1. Ukraine —History. I. Title. DK508.51.K825 2008 947.7— dc22 2008026717 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2008 by Paul Kubicek All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008026717 ISBN: 978– 0– 313 – 34920 –1 ISSN: 1096 –2905 First published in 2008 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48 –1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this book, but in some instances this has proven impossible.
    [Show full text]
  • NARRATING the NATIONAL FUTURE: the COSSACKS in UKRAINIAN and RUSSIAN ROMANTIC LITERATURE by ANNA KOVALCHUK a DISSERTATION Prese
    NARRATING THE NATIONAL FUTURE: THE COSSACKS IN UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN ROMANTIC LITERATURE by ANNA KOVALCHUK A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Comparative Literature and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2017 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Anna Kovalchuk Title: Narrating the National Future: The Cossacks in Ukrainian and Russian Romantic Literature This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Comparative Literature by: Katya Hokanson Chairperson Michael Allan Core Member Serhii Plokhii Core Member Jenifer Presto Core Member Julie Hessler Institutional Representative and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2017 ii © 2017 Anna Kovalchuk iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Anna Kovalchuk Doctor of Philosophy Department of Comparative Literature June 2017 Title: Narrating the National Future: The Cossacks in Ukrainian and Russian Romantic Literature This dissertation investigates nineteenth-century narrative representations of the Cossacks—multi-ethnic warrior communities from the historical borderlands of empire, known for military strength, pillage, and revelry—as contested historical figures in modern identity politics. Rather than projecting today’s political borders into the past and proceeding from the claim that the Cossacks are either Russian or Ukrainian, this comparative project analyzes the nineteenth-century narratives that transform pre- national Cossack history into national patrimony. Following the Romantic era debates about national identity in the Russian empire, during which the Cossacks become part of both Ukrainian and Russian national self-definition, this dissertation focuses on the role of historical narrative in these burgeoning political projects.
    [Show full text]
  • Andreas Kappeler. Die Kosaken: Geschichte Und Legenden
    Book Reviews 181 Andreas Kappeler. Die Kosaken: Geschichte und Legenden. Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck, 2013. 127 pp. 20 illustrations. 2 maps. Index. Paper. ndreas Kappeler has done it again! Over twenty years ago, he published A a brief history of Ukraine, in which he managed to pack the most important parts of the history of the country into a mere 286 pages. Not only was that work brief and to the point, but it also held to a relatively high level of scholarship and made a number of interesting and well-grounded generalizations. In that book, Kappeler anticipated the longer and more detailed work of Paul Magocsi by experimenting with a multinational and polyethnic history of the country. In the present work, Kappeler is equally brief and to the point and has again produced a well-thought-out and serious history, this time of the Cossacks, and he has again included some important generalizations. Although in this volume, the multinational and polyethnic elements are not quite so prominent, he does make note of them, and, in particular, he compares the Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks on several different levels. Kappeler begins with geographic and geopolitical factors and notes that both the Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks originated along rivers—the Dnieper and the Don, respectively—as defenders of the local Slavic population against the Tatars and the Turks. He describes the successful Ukrainian Cossack revolt against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and what he calls “the Golden Age of the Dnieper Cossacks” under their leaders, or hetmans, Bohdan Khmel'nyts'kyi and Ivan Mazepa; and then the eventual absorption of their polity, the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate, into the Russian Empire.
    [Show full text]
  • Eastern Europe - Historical Glossary
    EASTERN EUROPE - HISTORICAL GLOSSARY Large numbers of people now living in western Europe, north and south America, South Africa and Australia are from families that originated in eastern Europe. As immigrants, often during the late 19th century, their origin will have been classified by immigration officials and census takers according to the governing power of the European territory from which they had departed. Thus many were categorised as Russian, Austrian or German who actually came from provinces within those empires which had cultures and long histories as nations in their own right. In the modern world, apart from Poland and Lithuania, most of these have become largely unknown and might include Livonia, Courland, Galicia, Lodomeria, Volhynia, Bukovina, Banat, Transylvania, Walachia, Moldavia and Bessarabia. During the second half of the 20th century, the area known as "Eastern Europe" largely comprised the countries to the immediate west of the Soviet Union (Russia), with communist governments imposed or influenced by Russia, following occupation by the Russian "Red Army" during the process of defeating the previous military occupation of the German army in 1944-45. Many of these countries had experienced a short period of independence (1918-1939) between the two World Wars, but before 1918 most of the territory had been within the three empires of Russia, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey. The Ottoman empire had expanded from Turkey into Europe during the 14th-15th centuries and retained control over some territories until 1918. The commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania was established in the 16th century and for two centuries ruled over the territories north of Hungary, while the Ottoman empire ruled over those to the south, but between 1721-1795 the Russian empire took control of the Baltic states and eastern Poland and during a similar period Austria-Hungary took control of southern Poland and the northern and western territories of the Ottoman empire.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine: Early Rebellions for Independence Khmelnytsky & Mazepa
    UDC 321 C. McGrath, PhD (student), Lecturer Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0003-1082-6466 UKRAINE: EARLY REBELLIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE KHMELNYTSKY & MAZEPA The purpose of the article is to highlight two pivotal events in Ukrainian history which contain archetypal figures for current Ukrainian national identity. The focus on telling the stories from the Ukrainian perspective and understanding the elements of the hero's journey within the stories, the archetypes at play, as well as the counter narrative adds a unique approach to understanding the complex history shaping Ukrainian identity and fueling the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and among the Ukrainian people. Understanding the main points of the stories from the Ukrainian perspective, and how they support Ukrainian national identity will help US policy makers in spotting and understanding the Russian counter narratives and how they are used to influence Russian, Ukrainian and western audiences. Keywords: Ukraine, Political Science, History, Master Narrative, Russia, Khmelnytsky and Mazepa. Introduction. Among the Ukrainian figures who stand out, there are but a few that have stood the test of time, or rather their stories have become transhistorical. Thus, today, they hold the status of heroes in Ukrainian history. To understand them we need to start back in the 9th and 10th centuries. My previous paper titled Ukrainian Political Figures in History: Kyivan Rus, told the story of the Viking founders of Ukraine Vladimir the Great and Yaroslav the Wise. After their kingdom Kyivan Rus succumbed to the invasion by the Mongols in 1240, the territory then came under the control of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.
    [Show full text]
  • The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries the Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage
    The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries The Ottoman Empire and its Heritage Politics, Society and Economy Edited by Suraiya Faroqhi, Halil İnalcık and Boğaç Ergene Advisory Board fikret adanir – antonis anastasopoulos – idris bostan palmira brummett – amnon cohen – jane hathaway klaus kreiser – hans georg majer – ahmet yaşar ocak abdeljelil temimi – gilles veinstein† VOLUME 53 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/oeh The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Edited by Gábor Kármán and Lovro Kunčević LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 Cover illustration: Portrait of the Ragusan tribute ambassador and nobleman Marojica Caboga, late 17th century, by an anonymous painter. Courtesy of Dubrovački muzeji (Dubrovnik Museums). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The European tributary states of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries / edited by Gábor Kármán and Lovro Kunčević. pages cm. — (The Ottoman Empire and its heritage, ISSN 1380-6076 ; volume 53) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-24606-5 (hardback : acid-free paper)—ISBN 978-90-04-25440-4 (e-book) 1. Turkey—History—Ottoman Empire, 1288–1918. 2. Europe, Eastern—Relations—Turkey. 3. Turkey—Relations—Europe, Eastern. 4. Europe, Eastern—Politics and government— 16th century. 5. Europe, Eastern—Politics and government—17th century. 6. Turkey—Politics and government—16th century. 7. Turkey—Politics and government—17th century. I. Kármán, Gábor. II. Kunčević, Lovro. DR511.E96 2013 947.0009’031—dc23 2013016824 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
    [Show full text]
  • Harvard Ukrainian Studies
    HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES Volume V Number 2 June 1981 Mi. Ukrainian Research Institute Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts Copyright 1981, by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved ISSN 0363-5570 Published by the Ukrainian Research Institute of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Printed by the Harvard University Printing Office Typography by Brevis Press, Cheshire, Conn. CONTENTS ARTICLES The Ottoman Crimea in the Sixteenth Century 135 ALAN FISHER Three Perspectives on the Cossack Past: Gogol’, evëenko, Kuli 171 GEORGE G. GRABOWICZ The Stefanyk Library of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences: A Treasury of Manuscript Collections in Lviv 195 PATRICIA KENNEDY GRIMSTED BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDIES Two Contributions to the Bibliography of Meletij Smotryc’kyj 230 ROBERT MATHIESEN DOCUMENTS A Contemporary’s Account of the Causes of the Khmel’nyts’kyi Uprising 245 FRANK E. SYSYN REVIEW ARTICLES The Book in Pre-Mongol Rus’ 258 EDWARD KASINEC Polish Problems in the Works of Mykhailo Drahomanov 263 IVAN L. RUDNYTSKY REVIEWS Ludoif MUller, ed., Handbuch zur Nestorchronik Donald Ostrowski 270 V. I. ynkaruk et al., trans. and eds., Feofan Prokopovyc: Fib sofs’ki Ivory v tr’ox tomax. Pereklad z latyns’koji, volume 1: Pro rytoryéne mystectvo James Cracraft 272 Xenia Gasiorowska, The Image of Peter the Great in Russian Fiction Karen Rosenberg 274 Peter J. Potichnyj, ed., Poland and Ukraine: Past and Present Bohdan Budurowycz 276 Jurij Borys, The Sovietization of Ukraine, 1917-1923: The Commu nist Doctrine and Practice of National Self-Determination Kazuo Nakai 278 Miroslawa Papierzyñska-Turek, Sprawa ukraiñska w Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej, 1922-1926 Alexander J.
    [Show full text]
  • The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
    The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Editors: Gábor Kármán and Lovro Kunčević The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire is the rst comprehensive overview of the empire’s relationship to its various European tributaries, Moldavia, Wallachia, Transylvania, Ragusa, the Crimean Khanate and the Cossack Hetmanate. The volume Pages: x, 450 pp. focuses on three fundamental aspects of the empire’s relationship Language: English with these polities: the various legal frameworks which determined their positions within the imperial system, the diplomatic contacts Subjects: Ottoman & Turkish through which they sought to inuence the imperial center, and Studies, Middle East and Islamic the military cooperation between them and the Porte. Bringing Studies, Early Modern History, together studies by eminent experts and presenting results of History, History of Warfare, several less-known historiographical traditions, this volume History, International Relations, contributes signicantly to a deeper understanding of Ottoman International Relations, History, power at the peripheries of the empire. Slavic and Eurasian Studies Publisher: Brill Readership Series: All interested in the history of early modern Southeastern and East The Ottoman Empire and its Central Europe, as well as the Ottoman Empire and its European Heritage, Volume: 53 peripheries. E-Book (PDF) Publication Date: 20 Jun 2013 For more information see brill.com ISBN: 978-90-04-25440-4 List price EUR €167.00 / USD $217.00 Order information: Order online at brill.com The Americas: 1 (860) 350 0041 | [email protected] Hardback Outside the Americas: 44 (0) 1767 604-954 | [email protected] Publication Date: 20 Jun 2013 Submission information: brill.com/authors ISBN: 978-90-04-24606-5 List price EUR €167.00 / USD $217.00.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine by Clifford J
    Grids & Datums Ukraine by Clifford J. Mugnier, C.P., C.M.S. Paleolithic remains have been found in the were for military purposes only. They did middle of each section. In continuous first- region, but the oldest dwelling in Kiev is nothing with respect to individual land own- order chains, the LaPlace stations are spaced from the 25th century B.C., about 4,500 years ership registration, and they preferred the every 10 triangles, and the accuracy of the ago. “Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic sazhen for their unit of measurement. (Para- azimuths is ±1.2". In second-order chains, state, Kievan Rus, which during the 10th and phrased from Poland, PE&RS, September LaPlace stations are located at baseline ter- 11th centuries was the largest and most pow- 2000). The existing classical triangulation net minals. The accuracy of baseline distance erful state in Europe. Weakened by is a dense mesh to the west along the bor- measurements is not less than 4×10-6. In internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, der with Poland, Hungary, România, and general, a single Ukraine map sheet at a scale Kievan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Moldova, primarily in the mountainous re- of 1:1,000,000 will contain about 35-70 Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the gion and extending as far east as Rivne, LaPlace station points and about 20-30 Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cul- Ternopil’, and Chernivtsi. A southern chain baselines. The average density of HSGN tural and religious legacy of Kievan Rus laid of figures reaches from the western city of points is 1 point in 30 km2, but this varies in the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism Izmayil, through Odessa and Kherson to the different regions.
    [Show full text]
  • HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES Volume X Number 3/4 December 1986
    HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES Volume X Number 3/4 December 1986 Concepts of Nationhood in Early Modern Eastern Europe Edited by IVO BANAC and FRANK E. SYSYN with the assistance of Uliana M. Pasicznyk Ukrainian Research Institute Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts Publication of this issue has been subsidized by the J. Kurdydyk Trust of the Ukrainian Studies Fund, Inc. and the American Council of Learned Societies The editors assume no responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by contributors. Copyright 1987, by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved ISSN 0363-5570 Published by the Ukrainian Research Institute of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Typography by the Computer Based Laboratory, Harvard University, and Chiron, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts. Printed by Cushing-Malloy Lithographers, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life. CONTENTS Preface vii Introduction, by Ivo Banac and Frank E. Sysyn 271 Kiev and All of Rus': The Fate of a Sacral Idea 279 OMELJAN PRITSAK The National Idea in Lithuania from the 16th to the First Half of the 19th Century: The Problem of Cultural-Linguistic Differentiation 301 JERZY OCHMAŃSKI Polish National Consciousness in the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century 316 JANUSZ TAZBIR Orthodox Slavic Heritage and National Consciousness: Aspects of the East Slavic and South Slavic National Revivals 336 HARVEY GOLDBLATT The Formation of a National Consciousness in Early Modern Russia 355 PAUL BUSHKOVITCH The National Consciousness of Ukrainian Nobles and Cossacks from the End of the Sixteenth to the Mid-Seventeenth Century 377 TERESA CHYNCZEWSKA-HENNEL Concepts of Nationhood in Ukrainian History Writing, 1620 -1690 393 FRANK E.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early Balkan Advances of the Muscovite State at the Age of Peter I
    Güney-Doğu Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi Yıl: 2015-2 Sayı: 28 S. 1-29 “UNTIL THE LAST DROP OF BLOOD”: THE EARLY BALKAN ADVANCES OF THE MUSCOVITE STATE AT THE AGE OF PETER I Valeriy Morkva* Abstract The tsardom of Muscovy, which throughout the reign of Peter I had been transforming into what later came to be known as the Russian Empire, since late 17th century began to take an increasing interest in the Balkan region. Drawing upon the original documentary sources of the epoch, this article attempts to look at the circumstances of the early Balkan advances of Muscovy and to shed light on the strategies elaborated and applied by the tsarist govern- ment to win the Balkan Christians over to its side. The analysis of the documents allows the author to conclude that the common Orthodox religion and the widespread pro-Muscovite sympathies on the part of the Balkan population objectively served as the most reliable and effective tool for the tsar to promote his interests in the area. It is worthy of note that at the age of Peter I the Balkan Orthodox peoples, despite the eventual failure of the tsar on the banks of Prut, for the first time appear to be directly involved in the strategic war planning of the tsarist authorities. Once discovered, the Balkan card would be kept in the sleeve and used by the Muscovite/Russian state over the course of the next two centuries. Keywords: Russian-Ottoman wars, Balkan Orthodox, Danube principalities, Peter I, Prut campaign, Muscovy, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Eastern question Since the second half of the 15th century, when on the one hand the millennium-old Byzantine Empire ceased to exist, and on the other hand Ivan III by gradually seizing the nearby territories began to gather the new Orthodox empire of his own, Moscow becomes a site for periodic visits of the Balkan peoples of all kinds.
    [Show full text]