TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Siege · 1877
The siege of Plevna or Pleven, was a major battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, fought by the joint army of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Romania against the Ottoman Empire. After the Russian army crossed the Danube at Svishtov, it began advancing towards the centre of modern Bulgaria, with the aim of crossing the Balkan Mountains to Constantinople, avoiding the fortified Turkish fortresses on the Black Sea coast. The Ottoman army led by Osman Pasha, returning from Serbia after a conflict with that country, was massed in the fortified city of Pleven, a city surrounded by numerous redoubts, located at an important road intersection.
| Date | 20 July – 10 December 1877 (4 months, 20 days), 20 Jul. – 1st Rus. assault, 30 Jul. – 2nd Rus. assault, 30 Aug. – Turkish sortie, 11–12 Sep. – Great Assault, 9–10 Dec. – Breakout attempt |
|---|---|
| Location | Plevnа, Ottoman Empire, (now Pleven, Bulgaria), |
| Result | Russian coalition victory · Ottoman victory – 1st Rus. assault · Ottoman victory – 2nd Rus. assault · Russian coalition victory – Turkish sortie · Russian coalition victory – Battle of Lovcha · Ottoman victory – Great Assault · Russian coalition victory – Battle of Gorni Dubnik · Russian coalition victory – Breakout attempt · Russian offensive into Balkans delayed, preventing the fall of Constantinople |
| Belligerents | Russian Empire Kingdom of Romania Bulgarian Volunteers | Ottoman Empire |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Tsar Alexander II Yuri Schilder-Schuldner (1st Rus. assault) Nikolay Kridener (2nd Rus. assault) Pavel Zotov (Great Assault) Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhail Skobelev Eduard Totleben (Breakout attempt) Iosif Gurko King Carol I of Romania Mihail Cerchez | Osman Nuri Pasha Edhem Pasha Sefë Kosharja Abdullah Pasha |
| Strength | 130,000 6,500 – 1st Rus. assault 30,000 – 2nd Rus. assault 95,000 – Great Assault | 67,000 5,000 – 1st Rus. assault 20,000 – 2nd Rus. assault 30,000 – Great Assault |
| Casualties | 50,000 killed, wounded and missing 3,000 – 1st Rus. assault 7,305 killed, wounded or missing – 2nd Rus. assault 20,600 killed, wounded or captured – Great Assault 2,000 – Breakout attempt | 25,000 killed or wounded 43,340 surrendered (including non-combatants) Total: 68,340 2,000 – 1st Rus. assault 2,000 killed or wounded – 2nd Rus. assault 5,000 – Great Assault 5,000 – Breakout attempt |
The siege of Plevna seriously delayed the main Russian advance into Bulgaria, but its end freed up Russian reinforcements, which were sent to General Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko, who then decisively defeated the Ottoman forces in the Fourth battle of Shipka Pass. The siege was widely reported and followed by the public in Europe and beyond. Although the declining Ottoman Empire was by this time often regarded as "the sick man of Europe", its five-month-long resistance against a much larger army earned a degree of admiration, which may have contributed to the unsympathetic treatment of Russia at the Congress of Berlin.
Took place during the reign of Abdulhamid II (1876–1909). Abdulhamid II
Open the reign of Abdulhamid II on the mapText: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), adapted for the atlas.