Editing Wallachia (section)

===Russo-Turkish Wars and the Phanariotes===
{{Main|Russo-Turkish wars|Phanariotes}}
[[File:Balkans XV-XVIIth century.png|thumb|[[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Southeastern Europe]] (including the [[Balkans|Balkan peninsula]]) from the 15th to the 18th century]]

Wallachia became a target for [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg]] incursions during the last stages of the [[Great Turkish War]] around 1690, when the ruler [[Constantin Brâncoveanu]] secretly and unsuccessfully negotiated an anti-Ottoman coalition. Brâncoveanu's reign (1688–1714), noted for its late [[Renaissance]] cultural achievements (see [[Brâncovenesc style]]), also coincided with the rise of [[Imperial Russia]] under Tsar [[Peter the Great]]—he was approached by the latter during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1710–11)|Russo-Turkish War of 1710–11]], and lost his throne and life sometime after sultan [[Ahmed III]] caught news of the negotiations.<ref>Djuvara, pp. 31, 157, 336</ref> Despite his denunciation of Brâncoveanu's policies, [[Ștefan Cantacuzino]] attached himself to Habsburg projects and opened the country to the armies of [[Prince Eugene of Savoy]]; he was himself deposed and executed in 1716.<ref>Djuvara, pp. 31, 336</ref>

Immediately following the deposition of Prince Ștefan, the Ottomans renounced the purely nominal [[Elective monarchy|elective]] system (which had by then already witnessed the decrease in importance of the [[Sfatul boieresc|Boyar Divan]] over the sultan's decision), and princes of the two [[Danubian Principalities]] were appointed from the [[Phanariotes]] of [[Constantinople]]. Inaugurated by [[Nicholas Mavrocordatos]] in Moldavia after [[Dimitrie Cantemir]], Phanariote rule was brought to Wallachia in 1715 by the very same ruler.<ref>Djuvara, pp. 31–32</ref> The tense relations between boyars and princes brought a decrease in the number of taxed people (as a [[Privilege (legal ethics)|privilege]] gained by the former), a subsequent increase in total taxes,<ref>Djuvara, pp. 67–70</ref> and the enlarged powers of a boyar circle in the Divan.<ref>Djuvara, p. 124</ref>

[[File:Welcoming the Prince of Saxa-Coburg by the Metropolitan and boyars, 1789.jpg|thumb|left|Welcoming of the [[Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]] in Bucharest (1789)]]

In parallel, Wallachia became the battleground in a succession of wars between the Ottomans on one side and Russia or the Habsburg monarchy on the other. Mavrocordatos himself was deposed by a boyar rebellion, and arrested by Habsburg troops during the [[Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18]], as the Ottomans had to concede [[Oltenia]] to [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI of Austria]] (the [[Treaty of Passarowitz]]).<ref>Djuvara, pp. 48, 92; Giurescu, pp. 94–96</ref> The region, organized as the [[Banat of Craiova]] and subject to an [[Enlightened absolutism|enlightened absolutist]] rule that soon disenchanted local boyars, was returned to Wallachia in 1739 (the [[Treaty of Belgrade]], upon the close of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739)|Austro-Russian–Turkish War (1735–39)]]). Prince [[Constantine Mavrocordatos]], who oversaw the new change in borders, was also responsible for the effective abolition of [[serfdom]] in 1746 (which put a stop to the exodus of peasants into [[Transylvania]]);<ref>Djuvara, pp. 48, 68, 91–92, 227–228, 254–256; Giurescu, p. 93</ref> during this period, the [[Ban (title)|ban]] of Oltenia moved his residence from [[Craiova]] to [[Bucharest]], signalling, alongside Mavrocordatos' order to merge his personal [[treasury]] with that of the country, a move towards [[Centralized government|centralism]].<ref>Djuvara, pp. 59, 71; Giurescu, p. 93</ref>

[[File:Calafat iulie 1790 1305816656828128.jpg|thumb|Clash between Austrian and Ottoman troops near [[Calafat]] during the [[Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791)|Austro-Turkish War]], 1790]]
In 1768, during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–74)|Fifth Russo-Turkish War]], Wallachia was placed under its first Russian occupation (helped along by the rebellion of [[Pârvu Cantacuzino]]).<ref>Djuvara, p. 285; Giurescu, pp. 98–99</ref> The [[Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca]] (1774) allowed Russia to intervene in favour of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] Ottoman subjects, curtailing Ottoman pressures—including the decrease in sums owed as [[tribute]]<ref>Berza</ref>—and, in time, relatively increasing internal stability while opening Wallachia to more Russian interventions.<ref>Djuvara, p. 76</ref>

[[File:Rom1793-1812.png|thumb|The Principality of Wallachia, 1793–1812, highlighted in green]]

Habsburg troops, under [[Prince Josias of Coburg]], again entered the country during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1787–92)|Russo-Turkish-Austrian War]], deposing [[Nicholas Mavrogenes]] in 1789.<ref>Giurescu, pp. 105–106</ref> A period of crisis followed the Ottoman recovery: Oltenia was devastated by the expeditions of [[Osman Pazvantoğlu]], a powerful rebellious [[pasha]] whose raids even caused Prince [[Constantine Hangerli]] to lose his life on suspicion of treason (1799), and [[Alexander Mourousis]] to renounce his throne (1801).<ref>Djuvara, pp. 17–19, 282; Giurescu, p. 107</ref> In 1806, the [[Russo-Turkish War (1806–12)|Russo-Turkish War of 1806–12]] was partly instigated by the [[Sublime Porte|Porte]]'s deposition of [[Constantine Ypsilantis]] in Bucharest—in tune with the [[Napoleonic Wars]], it was instigated by the [[First French Empire|French Empire]], and also showed the impact of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (with its permissive attitude towards Russian political influence in the [[Danubian Principalities]]); the war brought the invasion of [[Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich]].<ref>Djuvara, pp. 284–286; Giurescu, pp. 107–109</ref> After the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1812)|Peace of Bucharest]], the rule of [[Jean Georges Caradja]], although remembered for a major [[Caragea's plague|plague epidemic]], was notable for its cultural and industrial ventures.<ref>Djuvara, pp. 165, 168–169; Giurescu, p. 252</ref> During the period, Wallachia increased its strategic importance for most European states interested in supervising Russian expansion; consulates were opened in Bucharest, having an indirect but major impact on Wallachian economy through the protection they extended to ''[[Sudiți]]'' traders (who soon competed successfully against local guilds).<ref>Djuvara, pp. 184–187; Giurescu, pp. 114, 115, 288</ref>