Editing Catherine the Great (section)

====Russo-Turkish Wars====
{{See also|Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)|Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)}}
[[File:Catherine II of Russia by Vigilius Eriksen - Конный портрет Екатерины Великой. - 1762.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Equestrian portrait of Catherine in the [[Preobrazhensky Regiment]]'s uniform, by [[Vigilius Eriksen]]]]

Peter the Great had gained a foothold in the south, on the edge of the Black Sea, during the [[Azov campaigns (1695–1696)|Azov campaigns]]. Catherine completed the conquest of the south, making Russia the dominant power in the [[Balkans]] following the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)|Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774]]. Russia inflicted some of the heaviest defeats ever suffered by the Ottoman Empire, including at the [[Battle of Chesma]] (5–7 July 1770) and the [[Battle of Kagul]] (21 July 1770). In 1769, a last major [[Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe|Crimean–Nogai slave raid]], which ravaged the [[New Serbia (historical province)|Russian held territories]] in Ukraine, saw the capture of up to 20,000 slaves for the [[Crimean slave trade]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Mikhail|last=Kizilov|author-link=Mikhail Kizilov|title=Slave Trade in the Early Modern Crimea From the Perspective of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources|url=https://www.academia.edu/2971600|journal=Oxford University|year=2007|volume=11|issue=1|pages=2–7|access-date=8 December 2019|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027021701/https://www.academia.edu/2971600|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>M. S. Anderson, ''The Eastern question, 1774–1923: A study in international relations'' (London: Macmillan, 1966) pp. 1–27.</ref>

Russia's victory brought the [[Yedisan]] between the rivers [[Southern Bug|Bug]] and [[Dnieper]], and [[Crimea]] into the Russian [[sphere of influence]]. Though a series of victories accrued by the Russian Empire led to substantial territorial conquests, including direct conquest over much of the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]], less Ottoman territory was directly annexed than might otherwise be expected due to a complex struggle within the European diplomatic system to maintain a [[Balance of power in international relations|balance of power]] that was acceptable to other European states and avoided direct Russian [[hegemony]] over Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Brian L. |title=The Russo-Turkish War, 1768–1774 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-47250801-0 |location=New York |page=248}}</ref> Nonetheless, Russia took advantage of the weakened Ottoman Empire, the end of the [[Seven Years' War]], and the withdrawal of [[Kingdom of France|France]] from Polish affairs to assert itself as one of the continent's primary military powers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schroeder |first=Paul W. |title=The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1994 |isbn=0-19822119-3 |location=New York |page=35}}</ref> The war left the Russian Empire in a strengthened position to expand its territory and maintain hegemony over the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], eventually leading to the [[First Partition of Poland]]. Turkish losses included diplomatic defeats which led to its decline as a threat to Europe, the loss of its exclusive control over the Orthodox [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet]], and the beginning of European bickering over the [[Eastern Question]] that would feature in European diplomacy until the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]] in the aftermath of [[World War I]].

The Russian victories procured access to the Black Sea and allowed Catherine's government to incorporate present-day southern Ukraine, where the Russians founded the new cities of [[Odessa]], [[Mykolaiv|Nikolayev]], [[Dnipro|Yekaterinoslav]] (literally: "the Glory of Catherine") and [[Kherson]]. The [[Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca]], signed 21 July 1774 (OS: 10 July 1774), gave the Russians territories at [[Azov]], [[Kerch]], [[Yeni-Kale|Yenikale]], [[Kinburn Peninsula|Kinburn]] and the small strip of Black Sea coast between the rivers [[Dnieper]] and [[Southern Bug|Bug]]. The treaty also removed restrictions on Russian naval and commercial traffic in the [[Sea of Azov|Azov Sea]], granted Russia the position of protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire and made Crimea a protectorate of Russia.<ref name="Fisher 1967 341–364">{{Cite journal |last=Fisher |first=Alan W. |date=1967 |title=Şahin Girey, the Reformer Khan, and the Russian Annexation of the Crimea |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41043307 |journal=Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=341–364 |jstor=41043307 |issn= |access-date=5 August 2020 |archive-date=10 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510152947/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41043307 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1770, Russia's State Council announced a policy in favour of eventual Crimean independence. Catherine named [[Şahin Giray]], a [[Crimean Tatars|Crimean Tatar]] leader, to head the Crimean state and maintain friendly relations with Russia. His period of rule proved disappointing after repeated effort to prop up his regime through military force and monetary aid. Finally, Catherine [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire|annexed Crimea]] in 1783. The palace of the [[Crimean Khanate]] passed into the hands of the Russians. In 1787, Catherine conducted a triumphal procession in the Crimea, which helped provoke the next Russo-Turkish War.<ref name="Fisher 1967 341–364"/>

[[File:Памятник Основателям Одессы.jpg|thumb|''[[Monument to the founders of Odessa]]'': Catherine and her companions [[José de Ribas]], [[François Sainte de Wollant]], Platon Zubov and Grigory Potemkin]]
[[File:1800_Novoros_gov.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire southward to absorb the [[Crimean Khanate]]]]
The Ottomans restarted hostilities with Russia in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)|Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792]]. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1787–1792, on 25 September 1789, a detachment of the [[Imperial Russian Army]] under [[Alexander Suvorov]] and [[Ivan Gudovich]], took [[Khadjibey]] and Yeni Dünya for the Russian Empire. In 1794, [[Odesa]] replaced Khadjibey by a decree of the Russian Empress [[Catherine the Great]]. Russia formally gained possession of the Sanjak of Özi ([[Ochakiv]] Oblast) in 1792 and it became a part of [[Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty]]. The Russian Empire retained full control of [[Crimea]], as well as land between the [[Southern Bug]] and the [[Dniester]].This war was another catastrophe for the Ottomans, ending with the [[Treaty of Jassy]] (1792).