Location of the treaty's signing.
The
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (also spelled
Kuchuk Kainarji) was signed on
July 21,
1774, in Küçük Kaynarca,
Dobruja (today
Kaynardzha,
Silistra Province,
Bulgaria) between the
Russian Empire (represented by Field-Marshal
Rumyantsev) and the
Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the
Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774[> ].
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 the
Dnieper and
Southern Bug rivers to Russia. This territory included the port of
Kherson and gave the Russian Empire its first direct access to the
Black Sea. The treaty also gave Russia the
Crimean ports of
Kerch and
Enikale and the
Kabarda region in the
Caucasus.
The most significant aspect of this treaty to naval history is that it gave Russia access to
warm water ports and passage through the
Dardanelles.
"Here at 10-21 July 1774 was signed the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca between the representative of Catherine the Great, Count Peter Rumyantsev and the representative of Sultan Abdul Hamid I, the Grand Vizier Musul Zade Mehmed Pasha. Clause 7 of this treaty reads as follows: The Sublime Porte promises permanent protection of the Christian religion and its churches."
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 in
1783. The treaty also granted Russia several non-geographic items. It eliminated restrictions over Russian access to the
Azov Sea (the
1739 Treaty of Nissa 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 in
Constantinople (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 the
Danubian Principalities (
Moldavia and
Wallachia) to intervene during the last
Phanariote rules and after the
Greek War of Independence.
The treaty also gave the Ottoman
Caliph 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.
See also
