40
Volga rivers.
87
The opening of peace treaties between Venice, Austria,
Poland and the Ottoman Empire destroyed Peter’s plans. In 1699, although
the Treaty of Karlowitz was signed with the participation of Russia, the final
agreement couldn’t be made, because the Ottoman Empire was still holding
the Straits of Kerch. Peter, who understood that he could not carry on the
battle against the Ottoman Empire by himself and move to the Black Sea,
decided to declare war to Sweden and to seize the Gulf of Fin and Riga from
them. So, in the beginning of the 18
th
century, the “Great Northern War”
with Swedish King Charles XII started and lasted 21 years. Thus, Russia was
comprehended to be a great power. Also the Ottoman acceptance of a
constant Russian ambassador in Istanbul can be considered as the Russian
recognition as one of the great powers in Europe. It was mentioned that
previously the Ottoman Empire didn’t send an ambassador to Russia in
response for their ambassador Pleshchev. At the end of the war with
Sweden, the Swedish King Charles XII had to take shelter in the Ottoman
Empire. After conquering Estonia and Lithuania in the Baltic, Russia turned
to the Ottoman Empire, which was in alliance with Sweden, and declared
war to it in 1711. Thus the Pruth War started, which ended with Russia’s
defeat. Russia was cautious of a conflict with the Ottoman Empire. In 1712,
Russia gave the castle in Azov back to the Ottomans, destroyed the castle in
Taganrog (Taygan), where the Russian fleet was anchored and the fleet was
abolished.
87
However, this project could only be finalized by the USSR, in 1952.
41
On the other hand, Peter the Great expanded Russian conquests to
the Caspian shores and – with the Ottoman support – they declared war on
Iran. At the end of the war, Derbend, Baku, Geylan, Mazenderan and
Astrabad were left to Russia in 1722. Consequently, Russia moved to the
south of Caucasia. When Peter the Great, who was interested in the
khanates in Turkistan as well, was informed that there were great gold
mines in the vicinity of the city of Yarkent in Eastern Turkistan, he sent
there a military expedition to Central Asia in 1715. But that attack proved to
be unsuccessful.
88
Definitely, another reason for this expedition was Peter’s
perception of these khanates as the gate to the Indian Ocean.
89
At the time of Peter the Great, there were some developments in the
Far East as well. In 1697, Russia by using the Cossacks as before expanded
her borders in Siberia to the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kanuch River. In
consequence of these, they established relations with Japan. As a result of
the conquest of Siberia, which was initiated at Ivan the Terrible’s time and
finalized at Fedor Ivanovich’s reign, the Russian expansion came to an end
by the Chinese forces and in 1689 the Treaty of Nerchinsk was signed
between China and Russia. Thus, Russia couldn’t reach the Okhotsk Sea, but
established commercial relations with the Qing Dynasty. There have been
many Russian envoys visiting China before this agreement as well.
90
88
Kurat, op. cit., in note 56, pp. 262-263.
89
MacKenzie, op. cit., in note 11, p. 179.
90
Bartold, op. cit., in note 4, pp. 383-384.
42
At the time of Peter the Great, these battles and conquests increased
the pace of Russia’s commercial and diplomatic relations with the East.
Before Peter the Great, the attempts to advance to the waste territories of
Siberia and the land left by the Golden Horde was not successful in
confronting Russia with great Eastern powers or civilizations. But during the
period of Peter the Great, both relations with the Ottoman Empire and Iran
and the Far East created direct contacts between Russia and powerful
foreign states. The development of diplomatic relations resulted in changing
Russia’s attitude towards the East by increasing her knowledge about that
part of the world. All those issues opened the way to learn all kinds of
scientific inquiries in an organic integrity, through systematical study of the
East, collecting works of historical documents and material culture, learning
Eastern languages, history, religious culture and life style.
91
As it has already been mentioned, the translators of the Russian state
in their relations with Central Asia, Caucasia, Iran and even with further
regions were the Tatars. The change initiated by Peter the Great in
diplomatic, administrative and educational activities resulted in the
decreasing of the Tatar hegemony in international relations. He decided to
deepen the relations with the East, in order to obtain more persistent
knowledge, and he sent with the ukas
92
of 1700 two or three monks to
91
Smirnov, op. cit., in note 28, p. 25.
92
In English ukas means “decree”.
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