- Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (also spelled "Kuchuk Kainarji") was signed on
July 21 ,1774 , in Küçük Kaynarca,Dobruja (todayKaynardzha ,Silistra Province ,Bulgaria ) between theRussian Empire (represented by Field-Marshal Rumyantsev) and theOttoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774> cite book | title = Ord. Prof. Ömer Lütfi Barkan'a armağan | author = Ömer Lütfi Barkan | publisher = Istanbul University | year = 1985 | page = p.48 ] .The treaty was by far the most humiliating blow to the once-mighty Ottoman realm. The Ottomans ceded the part of the
Yedisan region between theDnieper andSouthern Bug rivers to Russia. This territory included the port ofKherson and gave the Russian Empire its first direct access to theBlack Sea . The treaty also gave Russia theCrimea n ports ofKerch andEnikale and theKabarda region in theCaucasus .The most significant aspect of this treaty to naval history is that it gave Russia access to
warm water port s and passage through theDardanelles .The Ottomans also lost the
Crimean Khanate , to which they were forced to grant independence. The Khanate, while nominally independent, was dependent on Russia and was formally annexed into the Russian Empire in1783 . The treaty also granted Russia several non-geographic items. It eliminated restrictions over Russian access to theAzov Sea (the1739 Treaty of Belgrade had given Russia territory adjacent to the Azov Sea but had prohibited it from fortifying the area or using the sea for shipping.)It also granted Russia some economic and political rights in the Ottoman Empire, such as allowing Ottoman Eastern Orthodox Christians to sail under the Russian flag and providing for the building of a
Russian Orthodox Church inIstanbul (which was never built). Russia also interpreted the treaty as giving them the right to protect Orthodox Christians in the Empire, notably using this prerogative in theDanubian Principalities (Moldavia andWallachia ) to intervene during the lastPhanariote rules and after theGreek War of Independence .The treaty also gave the OttomanCaliph the right to protect Muslims in Russia, such as those in Crimea. This was the first time the powers of the Ottoman caliph were exercised outside of Ottoman borders and ratified by a European power.ee also
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History of the Russo-Turkish Wars
*List of treaties References
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