Austro-Turkish War (1787-1791)

Emperor Joseph II was a personal friend and zealous ally of Catherine II . After the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia in 1787, he decided to support the ally, and in January 1788, Austria declared war on Turkey. However, a significant part of the Austrian army was scattered along a huge arc from the Dniester to the Adriatic to protect the borders of the empire. Only the army of Prince Saxe-Coburg should have been active against the Turks. Her immediate goal was the capture of the Khotin fortress, that is, the entry of Austria into the war had practically no effect on the main - Black Sea - theater of operations. Austria itself in 1788 suffered from epidemics, many soldiers were in hospitals. Near Caransebes, the Austrian soldiers even staged a drunken massacre , which grew into a massacre after false reports about the approach of the Turks.

In 1789, the Austrians decided to focus their efforts in Serbia and Croatia. To interact with the Russian troops in Moldova, a corps (18 thousand people) was allocated under the command of the Prince of Coburg. The combined Russian-Austrian army defeated the Turks in the battle of Focsani and in the battle of Rymnik . The impression made on the Turks by these victories allowed Field Marshal Laudon to expel the Turks from Banat and take Belgrade in late September. Prince of Coburg occupied Wallachia and entered Bucharest .

In the spring of 1790, the army of the Prince of Coburg seized the Turkish fortress of Orsovo , and then besieged the fortress of Zhurzhu , however, a successful attack by the Turks in June forced the Austrians to lift the siege. In June, the Austrians also defeated the Turks at Kalefat . However, after this, Prince Coburg received the news that the Turks were about to advance from Zhurzhi to Bucharest, and wrote Suvorov a letter asking for help.

Emperor Joseph II died in February 1790. Leopold II, who succeeded him on the throne, decided to begin separate peace talks with the Ottoman Empire, and concluded a truce with the Turks, putting Russian troops at risk. After long negotiations, the Sist peace was concluded in August 1791. Austria was forced to reckon with the threat from Prussia (a former ally of the Ottoman Empire), events in France drew attention to the western borders of the empire, so Austria's acquisitions as a result of the war were more than modest: the Orsovo fortress and two border towns in Croatia.

• Shirokorad A. B. Russian-Turkish War of 1676-1918 - M .: AST ; Mn .: Harvest , 2000. - ISBN 985-433-734-0
• The war of Joseph II against Turkey 1788-90