Fight for the Steppe: The Russo-Ottoman Wars

When we think of 18th-century warfare, our minds usually jump to the fields of Flanders, the forests of North America, or the rolling hills of Central Europe. But while the Western powers were fighting over border forts and overseas colonies, a completely different scale of war was raging in the East.

Across the vast, unforgiving expanse of the Pontic Steppe, the Russian and Ottoman Empires were hurling hundreds of thousands of men at each other in a fight for control over the region that is modern-day Ukraine and southern Russia.

In this episode, Lee Gugino, Dr. Alex Burns, and Andrew Bamford turn their attention East to the monumental Russo-Turkish Wars of the mid-to-late 18th century. We are joined by historian and author Dave Watson, known on social media as "Balkan Dave", to discuss his fantastic new book covering these massive campaigns.

Together, we step away from Western Europe to explore the massive armies and economic systems that clashed in the East. We break down the contrasts in military doctrine, the logistical challenges of supplying an army across a sea of grass, and the brutal reality of fighting for the Steppe.

Topics Discussed:

• The Eastern Theater: The sheer scale and geography of the Pontic Steppe and how it effected the conflicts.
• The Russian War Machine: How the expanding Russian Empire learned from wars in the west and how it applied them in the east.
• The Ottoman Army: Breaking down the Order of Battle (OOB) for the Ottoman forces.
• Economic Warfare: The underlying financial and logistical systems that fueled these massive imperial collisions.

In the War Room (Uncut Episode): For our War Room members, the full unedited conversation includes:

• The Black Sea Fleets: A deep dive into the Russian and Ottoman navies. We discuss the massive shipbuilding efforts required by both empires to control the coastlines and the tactical realities of 18th-century naval combat in the East.
• The Ottoman Decline: The structural and doctrinal reasons why the Ottoman military machine began to falter in the latter half of the century. We look past the standard narrative to examine the specific institutional friction points that led to their battlefield setbacks.

Guest: Dave Watson ("Balkan Dave"), author and military historian specializing in the 18th-century Russo-Turkish conflicts.

Recommended Reading 

The Struggle for the Pontic Steppe: Russo-Ottoman Wars 1768-1792

By: Dave Watson

Ottoman Wars, 1700-1870: An Empire Besieged

By: Virginia Aksan

The Early Modern Ottomans: Remapping the Empire

By: Virginia Aksan & Daniel Goffman

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