Toward the end of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was decaying and fracturing, riven by rising nationalism, ethnic tensions, and weak attempts to form a constitutional monarchy. Russia, meanwhile, wanted unfettered access to the Mediterranean (via Constantinople, present-day Istanbul) and also sought to “liberate” fellow slavs in Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. In 1877, war broke out. The main events of the conflict are provided here with contemporaneous editorials written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, from his A Writer’s Diary.
A rebellion breaks out against the Ottoman Empire in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On behalf of Austro-Hungary, Germany, and Russia, the Foreign Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire gives the Turkish sultan a plan of reforms designed to ease the plight of Christians living under the Ottoman Empire.
Rebellion spreads to Ottoman Bulgaria. The Serbo-Montenegrin War against the Ottomans is being fought. Russian General Chernyayev leads the Serbian army. Approximately 5,000 Russian volunteers head for the front. They collect money and medical supplies.
The Serbian army is defeated. Russia demands that the Ottoman Empire halt its advance on Serbia and convene a conference in Istanbul to resolve the situation.
And meanwhile, in the East, the third world idea – the Slavic idea, a new idea that is coming into being – has truly caught ablaze and has begun to cast a light that has never before been seen; it is, perhaps, the third future possibility for settling the destinies of Europe and of humanity. It is clear to everyone now that with the solution to the Eastern Question, a new element, a new phenomenon will enter into humanity, one that until now has lain passive and inert and that, in any case and at the very least, cannot but exert an extraordinarily powerful and decisive influence on the fate of the world.
The sultan gives Christians equal rights with Muslims, but refuses to adopt the other recommendations of the European powers.
Alexander II signs a manifesto declaring war.
But the People believe that they are ready for a great, new, and regenerating step. It is the People themselves who rose to go to war, with the tsar at their head. When the word of the tsar rang out, the People rushed into the churches, and this happened all over the Russian land. When they read the tsar’s manifesto the People crossed themselves and everyone congratulated each other on the war. We have seen this with our own eyes and heard it, and all this is happening even here in Petersburg. And once more the same activities have begun and the same facts come to light as last year: peasants in rural districts are donating money, as their means allow, and sending cards; and suddenly these thousands of people exclaim as one, “Donations and cards are little enough; we will all go off to fight!” Here in Petersburg we see people giving money for wounded and sick soldiers; they give sums of several thousand and ask that they be listed anonymously.
Russian forces enter Romania and cross the Danube. War begins in Bulgaria.
The Russians capture Shipka Pass, which holds critical strategic importance for the further prosecution of the war.
“Civilization!” I thought, “who dares to say a word against civilization? No, civilization truly does mean something: at least these children of ours who are peacefully strolling here on Nevsky Prospect will not see the skin flayed from their fathers, and their mothers will not have to watch these children being tossed into the air and caught on bayonets, as happened in Bulgaria. That bit of progress, at least, can be credited to civilization! And what if it does exist only in Europe, i.e., in one little corner of the globe, and in a corner which is rather small in comparison with the surface of the planet (a terrible thought!); but still, it is there, and though it may be only in some little corner, it exists; although the price we pay for it – flaying the skin from our own brothers who live somewhere off on the edge of civilization – is a high one, it exists among us, at least. Just think that in times past, and not that long ago, there was nothing of this sort in solid form even in Europe; and if it now does exist in Europe, then it is for the first time in the history of the planet. No, still, this is an accomplishment and, perhaps, one that will never be reversed; and that is a remarkably important consideration which enters one’s soul involuntarily; it is certainly not some small thing unworthy of attention, the more so that the world is still a mystery as before, despite civilization and its gains. God knows what things the world can still engender and what may subsequently happen, even in the very near future.”
And so, the moment I felt like exclaiming rapturously to myself: “Long live civilization!” I was suddenly overcome by doubt: “Have we, in fact, achieved even this much, even for these children of Nevsky Prospect? Isn’t this, perhaps, entirely a mirage, even here, and aren’t we merely deceiving ourselves?”
The Turkish commander Osman Pasha attempts to stop the Russian forces with an attack to their flank, but he is blocked outside Plevna.
The Russians storm Plevna three times with huge casualties but no success.
It may seem ridiculous to say it, but the four centuries of Turkish oppression in the East was, on the one hand, even beneficial to Christianity and Orthodoxy there – in a negative sense, of course, yet it worked to strengthen them and, most important, to unite them and make them one, in just the same way that the two centuries of Tatar domination also once worked to strengthen the church here in Russia. The oppressed and harassed Christian population of the East saw Christ and believe in him as their only consolation and the church as the single and final remnant of their national personality and particularity.
Russian forces begin the siege of Plevna.
Osman Pasha attempts to break out, but is forced to surrender along with a force of 43,000 men.
Yes, the Golden Horn and Constantinople – all that will be ours... and in the first place, it will happen of its own accord precisely because the time has come, and if the time has not yet arrived just now, then it is truly at hand, as all the signs indicate. This is a natural result; this is something decreed by Nature herself, as it were. If this has not happened before, it was simply because the time was not yet ripe.
Russian and Bulgarian forces endure brutal conditions while defending the Shipka Pass. The bitter cold contributes to staggering casualties. Approximately 10,000 soldiers die of hunger and disease.
We also need this war for ourselves; we rise up not only for our “brother Slavs” who have been suffering at the hands of the Turks, but for our own salvation as well: war will clear the air we breathe and in which we have been suffocating, helplessly decaying within our narrow spiritual horizons....
“But the bloodshed; we are talking of bloodshed after all,” the wise men kept repeating, and truly, all these official phrases about bloodshed are often nothing more than a collection of most insignificant, high-sounding words spoken with a definite purpose in mind. Stock-exchange operators, for instance, are extremely fond of talking about humaneness. And many of those who now talk of humaneness are nothing more than traders in it. And yet, even more blood might be shed without a war. Believe me, in some instances, if not in almost all instances (except in those of civil wars), war is the process precisely through which international peace is achieved with the least amount of bloodshed, the least amount of misery, the least expenditure of effort, and in which at least some approximation of normal relationships between nations are worked out. Of course, it’s a sad thing, but what can be done if such is the case? It’s better, after all, to draw the sword than to suffer endlessly. And in what way is the current peace among civilized nations better than war? On the contrary, it is not war but peace, a prolonged peace, that bestializes and hardens people. A prolonged peace always gives rise to cruelty, cowardice, and coarse, bloated egoism and, above all, to intellectual stagnation.
Russian troops and Bulgarian militia forces enter Sofia. The Turkish army is defeated outside Philipopolis (now Plovdiv, Bulgaria). Russian forces occupy Adrianopolis (now Edirne, Turkey) and San Stefano, a village outside Istanbul from which the dome of the Church of St. Sofia could be seen.
And here, suddenly, people will cry out (and not only Europeans, but many leading political thinkers in Russia as well) that should the Turks happen to die off as a state, then Constantinople must be reborn in no way other than as an “international” city, that is, as something intermediate, common, and free so that there should be no disputes over it. A more mistaken idea is impossible to invent.
First of all, there is the very fact that such a magnificent spot on the globe simply will not be allowed to become international, that is, to belong to no one; the English, say, would certainly appear at once with their fleet, in the capacity of friends, specifically to preserve and protect this very “internationality,” but in essence to gain possession of Constantinople for their own benefit. And once they’ve settled in a spot, it’s hard to get rid of them; they’re a tenacious lot. Moreover, Greeks, Slavs, and Moslems would call in the English themselves, fasten on to them with both hands, and not let them go, the reason being, once again, that same Russia: “They’ll defend us from Russia, our liberator,” they would say.
The Treaty of San Stefano is signed with terms highly favorable to Russia and the Balkans.
An international congress is convened in Berlin to re-examine the San Stefano treaty and revise it in ways that are detrimental to Russia. Bulgaria nonetheless preserves its independence, but with limitations.
Indeed, if we should be beaten, or if, after beating the enemy, we still were pressured by circumstances to come to terms cheaply – oh, then, of course the wise men would be triumphant. And what dreadful jeering and racket and cynicism we’d have for years to come; what a bacchanalia of self-contempt, face-slapping, and jeering at ourselves there would be again – and it would not be a summons to resurrection and strength but specifically to celebrate their own lack of honor, personality and strength. And a new nihilism would begin, absolutely the same as the old one, with a rejection of the Russian People and their independent view. And the main thing is that it would acquire such force and become so strong that it would certainly begin, even openly, to ride roughshod over Russia’s most sacred values. And young people would again spit upon their homes and families and flee from their elders, mindlessly repeating the endless platitudes and boring old words about the grandeur of Europe and our duty to be as lacking in personality as possible. And the main thing is – the same old song, the same old words, and nothing new for a long time! No, we need the war and the victory. With war and victory will come a new word, and a living life will begin, not merely the mind-numbing twaddle we used to hear – what do I mean, we used to hear? That we hear to this day, gentlemen!
Relations between Russia and Bulgaria deteriorate drastically. Bulgaria begins to increasingly align its foreign policy toward Germany and Austro-Hungary.
[Dostoyevsky extracts are from Volume 2 of Kenneth Lantz’s monumental translation of the entirety of Dostoyevsky’s A Writer’s Diary, published by Northwestern University Press (1994).]
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