COUNTERSTROKE AT SOLTSY - Strategy & Tactics Press

The Turks
The Ottoman Turks were once the mightiest military power in Europe, but by the 18 th century
they had begun their long slide into eventual dissolution as an empire. The last real threat
the Turks posed to Europe was in their 1683 invasion that reached the gates of Vienna before
being driven back.
One reason for the Ottoman decline was the devolution of power from the central government
in Constantinople toward local feudal lords, the latter having their own interests that
were not necessarily those of the sultans. The Ottomans could no longer mobilize the kinds of
armies they once did for massive invasions. All that was happening at a time when the European
powers were becoming more centralized and their armies more professionalized.
The Ottoman military had traditionally been a combination of professionals, feudal levies
and auxiliaries. The professionals included the Janissaries, who were elite infantry, and
Sipahis (or Spahis), who provided regular cavalry. Ottoman nobles were required to provide
levies of troops, and some of those were good. Finally, there were numerous auxiliaries, such
as the infamous Bashi-bazouks, who came along for the loot. In the 18 th century, warlords
raised many of the empire’s armies, and while theycould often be effective in the field, they
did much to undermine the power of the government in Constantinople, since the local armies
were often used to maintain the nobles’ power.
On the battlefield, Ottoman tactics relied on mobility, perhaps too much so. Skirmishers
would snipe at the enemy while cavalry would maneuver to envelop a flank. The Ottomans
brought along large numbers of artillery to provide a base of fire. What the Ottoman system
lacked was well disciplined infantry capable of firing in ranks. Instead, skirmishing was the
order of the day. Even the Janissaries tended to fight in loose formations emphasizing individual
action. By tradition, each Janissary could choose his own weapon from the Ottoman
arsenals before going on campaign. Indeed, there is a certain irony there, for while European
armies of the 18 th century are sometimes criticized for being too rigid and neglecting their own
light troops, in the Ottoman military the situation was the opposite.
There were men in the Ottoman Empire who tried to organize European-style army units, with well disciplined volley fire
by the troops. But the innovators were resisted by traditionalists who saw nothing wrong with the system, or, believed if there
was something wrong it was that traditional methods were no longer being fully applied. Too much change would undermine the
traditional power bases of the empire, especially those like the Janissaries who had a vested interest in keeping affairs, especially
military affairs, the way they were. In the end, the Ottomans would pay for that lack of foresight with defeat in a long and dreary
series of wars with Austria and Russia.
Catherine expanded Russia’s borders to absorb eastern
Poland, the Crimea and Black Sea littoral, and the
western Ukraine.
Catherine also decided to reverse the Turkish conquests
of the last several centuries by invading the Ottoman
Empire. To that end, she supported Greek rebels
and even sent a fleet to the eastern Mediterranean. That
was an impressive feat for the day, given the general
Russian inexperience in naval matters. The Russian
fleet defeated the Turks in June 1788 in the Aegean.
That victory, in conjunction with Russian and Austrian
land advances in the Balkans, could have brought
the Ottomans to their knees, but the Turks were saved
when the other European powers intervened in order
to maintain the balance of power. Still, Russian naval
operations were an impressive display of military
power.
One of Catherine’s great triumphs was the partition
of Poland. It was actually a series of land grabs by
Russia, Austria and Prussia, working together in 1772,
1793 and 1795. The result was the Polish state, once
one of the most powerful in Europe, disappeared from
the map and did not re-emerge until the chaos following
World War I in 1918. While that seemed to be a
violation of the balance of power, it was a special case
in which the three great powers of eastern Europe were
united in their objectives. More, Poland was located in
the center of the three and on the front of their geopolitical
lines of expansion. Another reason the great powers
could partition the country was the Poles were fighting
among themselves and were unable to offer a united resistance.
Domestically, Catherine was in the same predicament
as other Enlightenment monarchs. While advocating reform,
too much reform would undermine her own power
and that of the aristocracy who supported her. Inevitably,
her reforms strengthened the power of the state by increasing
revenues and reinforcing the military.
The extent of Catherine’s accomplishments can be
seen by looking at the map. The territory she gained for
Russia exceeded in extent that of the entire Prussian kingdom.
The effectiveness of the system she left to her descendants
on the throne could be seen in the following
decades, when Russia provided the wherewithal to defeat
the forces of the French Revolution and Napoleon.
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