A Report to the Ottoman Court about the Russian Army and Navy in the 1730s–1740s.

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 18th century contradictions in Russian-Turkish relations were becoming more acute; the number and intensity of military conflicts between the two states was noticeably increasing, and their results were becoming more and more unsuccessful for the Ottoman Empire. In this regard, the Sultan’s government preparing for combat operations, had a growing need for information about the state of the Russian troops. One of the channels for obtaining such information were European diplomats who sought to use the weakening Turkish military machine to promote political interests of their own countries. This article deals with the report acquired by the Ottomans, which had been compiled by Woldemar von Löwendahl, a European military commander, lieutenant general of the Russian army in 1735–1743, and later (1747) Marshal of France. The text of the report, which according to its title, had been received from a Swedish ambassador, was translated into Ottoman-Turkish and placed in the document miscellany presumably compiled by the 18th century Ottoman financial official Kesbî (d. after 1798). Kesbî, the author of the historiographical work “İbretnümâyı Devlet” (“Edification of the State”), was at one time engaged in the work connected with preparation for the Russian-Turkish war of 1768–1774. The analysis of the mentioned events and dates allowed us to assume that the document was translated into Ottoman-Turkish in 1763. By that time, its information had already lost relevance. However, it could still give the Ottoman military command the idea of the organization and actions of the Russian army and navy during the war of 1735–1739. From academic point of view, the text is interesting as a source on the history of Turkey’s international relations as well as on the history of the Russian armed forces. In addition, its very presence among Kesbî’s documents is important for describing the personality of this Ottoman official and historiographer.