Russo-Crimean Wars
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The Russo-Crimean Wars were fought between the forces of the Muscovy and the invading Tatars of the Crimean Khanate.
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[edit] History
The Crimean Tatars' invasions of Russia (Muscovy) began in 1507, after the death of Moscow's grand duke Ivan III, when the Crimean Khanate attacked the Russian towns of Belev and Kozelsk.
In the 16th century the border of the Wild Steppes was near the city of Ryazan, near the Oka River, a tributary of the Volga, and close to the Yelets river, a tributary of the Don river, near Sosna. The main path to Moscow was the Muravsky Trail, going from the Crimean Isthmus of Perekop up to Tula between the basins of the Dnieper and Severskiy Donets rivers. Penetrating for about 100–200 kilometers into Russian territory, the Tatars would turn back only after extensive looting and kidnapping. Captives were sent to the Crimean city of Caffa to be sold.
Every spring, Moscow mobilized up to 65 thousand soldiers for border service. The defensive lines consisted of a circuit of fortresses and cities.
To protect from invasions by the Nogai Horde in the region between the Volga and Irtysh rivers, the Volga cities of Samara (1586), Tsaritsyn (1589), and Saratov (1590) were founded.
The Russian population in the border regions suffered heavily from these invasions. This depopulation, in combination with the inability of Russian settlement in southern regions where the climate was more conducive to agriculture, hindered Muscovy's social and economic development.
The most dangerous invasions occurred in 1517, 1521 (supported by the Khanate of Kazan), 1537 (supported by the Khanate of Kazan, the Lithuanians, and the Turks), 1552, 1555, 1570–72 (supported by Sweden), 1589, 1593, 1640, 1666–67 (supported by Poland-Lithuania), 1671, and 1688.
[edit] 1570
In 1570 the Crimean Tatars horde terribly devastated the Ryazan borderland of Muscovy, only meeting weak resistance.
[edit] 1571
In May, 1571 the 120 thousand strong Crimean Tatar army, Big and Small Nogai Hordes bypassed the Serpukhov defensive fortifications on the river Oka, crossed the river Ugra and flanked the 6-thousand Russian army. The Russians sentries were crushed by the Tatars, and the surprise attack forced the main Russian army to retreat to Moscow. The rural population also sought refuge in the capital. The Tatars devastated the unprotected towns and villages around Moscow, and proceeded to fire the capital's suburbs. Within three hours Moscow was completely burned to the ground. The Tatars enslaved 150 thousand Russians, while some contemporary chroniclers claim the Tatar invasion caused 800 thousand victims.
[edit] 1572
After the burning of Moscow, the Crimean khan, Devlet Giray, supported by the Ottoman Empire, planned the full conquest of Russia. In 1572 the Tatars and the Turks again invades Russia, however, this time they were repelled in the Battle of Molodi. In July-August, the 120,000-strong horde of Devlet I Giray of Crimea was defeated by Russians led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky and Prince Dmitriy Khvorostinin.
[edit] After 1572
The Crimean Tatars continued to exact tribute from Russia till 1680. Later, the Russian expansion turned to the Black Sea region and Crimean khanate was invaded several times and finally conquered in late 18th century during the Russo-Turkish Wars.
[edit] Source
- Vasily Klyuchevsky, The Course of Russian History, Vol. 2.
- The Full Collection of Russian Annals. The Patriarchal Annals, vol.13, Moscow. 1965
