The Siege of Plevna, 1877. Balkan Pan-Slavic Dream Stopped by Ottomans, but Planted Seeds for WWI.

Though the Ottomans fell at the end, their five-month stand shattered Russia’s momentum so completely that the road to Constantinople was never taken. The Tsar’s armies, bloodied and exhausted, were forced to settle for negotiation instead of conquest. The treaty that followed carved up what remained of European Turkey, stripping the empire of its Balkan dominions and accelerating its long, agonizing collapse. The siege had delayed defeat, but in doing so, it had also ensured that the Ottoman Empire would never recover.

Plevna. July 19 - December 10, 1877.
Russian Forces: 110,000 Men, 500 Cannon.
Turkish Forces: 40,000 Men, 77 Cannon.

Additional Reading and Episode Research:

• Stavrianos, L.S. The Balkans Since 1453.
• Shaw, Stanford. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey.
• Menning, Bruce. Bayonets Before Bullets: The Russian Imperial Army, 1861-1914.

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