Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878)
Two conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Principality of Serbia from 1876 to 1878 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Serbian–Ottoman Wars (Serbian: Српско-османски ратови, romanized: Srpsko-osmanski ratovi), also known as the Serbian–Turkish Wars or Serbian Wars for Independence (Српски ратови за независност, Srpski ratovi za nezavisnost), were two consequent wars (1876–1877 and 1877–1878), fought between the Principality of Serbia and the Ottoman Empire. In conjunction with the Principality of Montenegro, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 30 June 1876. By the intervention of major European powers, ceasefire was concluded in autumn, and the Constantinople Conference was organized. Peace was signed on 28 February 1877 on the basis of status quo ante bellum. After a brief period of formal peace, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 11 December 1877. Renewed hostilities lasted until February 1878.
Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878) | |||||||||
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Part of the Great Eastern Crisis | |||||||||
Battle of Moravac | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
130,000 with 160 guns[1] | 153,000 with 192 guns[1] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
First Serbian-Ottoman War: 6,000 killed, 9,500 wounded[2] Second Serbian-Ottoman War: 5,410 dead and wounded[1] (708 killed, 1,534 died, missing 159, wounded 2,999)[3] |
First Serbian-Ottoman War: 1,000+ killed,[4] several thousand wounded[5] Second Serbian-Ottoman War: 1,750 taken prisoner[3] |
At the beginning of the conflict, the Serbian army was poorly trained and ill-equipped, unlike the troops of the Ottoman Empire. The offensive objectives the Serbian army sought to accomplish were overly ambitious for such a force, and they suffered a number of defeats that resulted from poor planning and chronically being spread too thin. This allowed Ottoman forces to repel the initial attacks of the Serbian army and drive them back. During the autumn of 1876, the Ottoman Empire continued their successful offensive which culminated in a victory on the heights above Đunis. During the second conflict, between 13 December 1877 and 5 February 1878, Serbian troops regrouped with help from Imperial Russia, who fought their own Russo-Turkish War. The Serbs formed five corps and attacked Ottoman troops to the south, taking the cities of Niš, Pirot, Leskovac and Vranje one after another. The war coincided with the Bulgarian uprising, the Montenegrin–Ottoman War and the Russo-Turkish War, which together are known as the Great Eastern Crisis of the Ottoman Empire.[6]