The Ottoman Empire in the Face of the Russian Threat: Military Operations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Reactions of Istanbul (Summer 1704)

The paper analyses the reaction of the Ottoman Empire government to the challenges to its security resulting from the growing potential of the Russian state. The material is mainly based on the documents of Pyotr Tolstoy’s embassy, which are stored in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and highlight one of the bright pages of international diplomatic and political activity in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Since the diplomatic tension arose due to the events that took place on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in connection with the Great Northern War, the author of the paper examines the political situation in this state with an emphasis on the contacts of its representatives with the government officials of the Crimean Khanate and Turkey. At the same time, the main milestones of the political confrontation between Augustus II the Strong and Stanislaw I Leszczynski, the actions of Russian troops and the troops of Ivan Mazepa, and the multi-level political expectations of Peter I are mentioned in the paper. Next, the content is presented and materials from the reports of the Russian Embassy in Turkey are analyzed in chronological order. They gave the possibility to trace the initiative of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to seek support in Crimea and Turkey, the response of Bakhchisarai to this initiative, the joint appeal of representatives of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Khanate to the upper strata of the Empire, and influential figures in Turkey who supported this appeal. The Augustus II’s attempts to prove the legality of his actions to the Turks, which were contrary to the mentioned measures, are also described herein. An important part of the paper is the information about the negotiations between the Moscow ambassador and a representative of the Porte, which shows the official positions of the Russian and Turkish governments. Other materials, mostly not yet introduced into scientific use, are related to the orders of the Empire’s leaders, aimed at its protection from external threats. When analyzing the documents contained in the reports of the Russian embassy in Turkey, attention is focused on Moscow’s strategic plans presented therein, which provided for large-scale expansion in both the western and southern directions. These materials noted significant interest in the issue of power over Kamianets-Podilskyi. An assumption is made as to why this question particularly worried the leadership of the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the paper, the author analyzes the decisions of the Turkish government as a response to the appeal from Crimea and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.