Written by Memli S. H. Krasniqi. Translated by Petrit Latifi.

Background

The historical period 1774-1856 for the past of the Albanian people represents the time of its factorization within the Ottoman Empire and beyond, in the international arena. The Ottomanized Albanian elite, taking advantage of the weakening of the imperial central apparatus, during the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, created vassals, which they would rule almost independently from the High Gate, the power of which was only nominal. However, on the other hand, the Peace Treaty of 1774, according to which Tsarist Russia had the right to protect the Orthodox believers in the Ottoman Empire, would mark the beginning of the intervention of this new political and military power in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire.

This peace agreement will end only after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, respectively with the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.
The Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century was a global power, with a powerful naval presence in the Mediterranean. Tsarist Russia in the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea had strengthened its influence in the sea port of Kotor, as well as in the Ionian Islands.

Petersburg, as the protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, had acquired a kind of right of sovereignty over Greece. In the same way, the Russian Empire also enjoyed the right to collect mercenaries in Albania and Greece, a right recognized in the Treaties of the High Gate with Great Britain.

Moreover, Moscow was also the protector of the Kingdom of Naples, which doubtless saw the occupation of the two Sicilies by Great Britain. The High Port, meanwhile, was in good relations with Great Britain, as were the pirate sea fleets of North Africa. However, it would be the 18th century, more precisely the French Revolution of 1789, as well as the Agreement of Kuçuk Kainarxhi, of 1774, between Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire, which would determine the turning points, unfortunately for the worse, both for the High Gate and for the Albanians.

Thus, at the time when the Renaissance, reform, new national ideas, constitutionalism and modern trade laid the foundations of Modern Europe, the Islamic world and especially the Ottoman Empire remained indifferent to these changes or were completely unprepared. This was the even bigger disaster, the Ottoman ruling elite was afraid that these new values ​​would destroy its social structure and way of life.

This rigidity and laziness encountered in the Ottoman Empire, would also help to a great extent to create the impression that Islam was backward and in ruins. This, of course, could not help but be reflected in the views of foreigners about the Albanians, the largest number of whom were Islamized, but who lacked the minimum religious institutional foundation, this foundation which would probably be helped to build the modern foundations of the Albanian nation, always according to the new norms imposed by modern Europe, as it helped the Serbs, Bulgarians and Greeks at that time.

In other words, at the time of great, almost radical changes, in the world view on power and the state, the relationship between the government and the people, as well as the political and ideological struggle regarding the question of who is the sovereign, the people or the king, Albanians were at the peak of their political and military power. So, while the French Bourgeois Revolution (1789) brought the confrontation of religious ideology with the new civic ideology, at the center of which was the national state based on the rights and guaranteed civil liberties, in the Ottoman Empire such a social confrontation did not happened, on the contrary, it led to the strengthening of conservative religious worldviews and a great resistance to new European values.

The birth and spread of this new modern civic ideology, at the same time nationalist, would ultimately destroy the foundations of religious tolerance in the Ottoman Empire, initially dividing the population into two opposing camps; in the backward Muslim ruling elite and in the new Christian intellectual and merchant class. However, the new nationalist spirit that came from Europe would also confront Christian pan-orthodoxy with the elites of the various Orthodox populations that lived in the Ottoman Balkans.

Consequently, the Serbian uprising in 1804 and the Greek uprising in 1821 accelerated the transformation of the Orthodox communities of the Ottoman Empire into modern nations. This simultaneously brought about the transformation of the Orthodox churches and the priestly strata of these peoples into the strata and organs of the new national governments, thus being separated from the universal Orthodox Church centered in Constantinople.

During the XVII-XVIII centuries, another intense and dynamic process was the process of Islamization of the Balkan populations. The phenomenon of mass conversion of the Christian inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire can best be understood by taking as an example Crete, which was conquered by this empire in 1647. In this newly conquered island, within a very short time, a a large number of its highlanders converted to Islam.

The reasons for such a phenomenon, among others, was also the fact that in the mountainous areas of this island, no civilization had been able to establish strong cultural, religious and political foundations. So, it was not a question of an Islamization of violently of these residents, but for a process from which they had social and economic benefits and numerous employment opportunities in the administrative and military apparatus of the Ottoman Empire.

Even the Ottoman Empire, for the time circumstances of the XVII-XVIII centuries, continued to be a relatively tolerant society, where, although not completely equal, different religious communities could coexist. In contrast to this empire, Europe during these centuries, not only did not ensure freedom of belief, but also did not tolerate coexistence between Protestant and Catholic Christians.

Another advantage of the Ottoman Empire was its large territorial extent, which allowed for an abundance of livestock and agricultural products, which, even at the end of the 18th century, were the main products traded. The lack of basic food products continued to be a destabilizing element in many European monarchies. So the flow that is, economic power belonged to the state that had large land areas in this case the Ottoman Empire, which, although it had begun to experience decline, continued to be a medieval global power dangerous to the rising states of Europe.

However, on the other hand, with the union of two powerful Catholic families, that of the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, a compactness of Catholic countries ruled by these two families was being created in Europe, thus directly infringing the interests of Protestant England. Under such conditions, England would connect with Tsarist Russia, opening its ports to the Russian fleet, to supply them with the necessary goods, and at the same time to train Russian sailors.

As a result of this fruitful cooperation, a skilled Russian military fleet would be created, which would hit the Ottoman Empire hard, sailing almost freely to the coastal areas inhabited by Albanians. But this pro-Russian policy of Great Britain would change very quickly. London would become a mediator between the conflicting parties, Russia and the Habsburg Empire, on one side, and Prussia, Poland, Sweden and the High Porte, on the other.

Consequently, in 1790, the “Chester Chronicle” newspaper would inform the English public opinion that the Viennese imperial court would accept the mediation of Great Britain, provided that Berlin also accepted Spain as a mediator. Vienna agreed to return Moldavia and Wallachia to the High Porte, except for Transylvania and, in the south, the border would be the Morava River, which meant that Belgrade and Serbia included were part of the Habsburg Empire. At the same time, Vienna demanded that the High Gate allow the free passage of Hungarian goods to export them to the Black Sea.

That the Albanians were constantly an important factor, both within the Ottoman Empire and in the international arena, is evidenced by the numerous articles published in the English dailies of the 18th century. In these writings, the Albanians are mentioned as a special people and different from the Greeks, Slavs and Turks. However, it must be said that in the spirit of the time, when the religious definition was above the ethnic one, English newspapers with the term “Albanians” many times meant only Albanians of the Christian faith, while with “Arnaut” they meant not only Albanians in the Ottoman military service , but also the Islamicized Albanian population.

In any case, in both cases, it is clear that the same population is involved. Regarding the issue of uniting faith with ethnicity: “Turkish” and “Greek”, Prof. dr. Pigeon Xhufi in his book Arbërit e Joni. Thus, among other things, Prof. Xhufi takes as an example a letter from Shkodra merchants, who, on November 26, 1702, among other things, wrote to Venice: “We Shkodra Albanians, the undersigned, Turks and Christians”. This data made us understand that they were aware of their common belonging.

Chapter 1: Albanians in Ottoman Balkan (1768-1798)

From the beginning of modern English journalism, Albanians and the Ottoman Empire were at the center of attention of English public opinion. The Albanians, in this historical period, were undoubtedly determining factors not only in the policy-making of the Ottoman Empire, but also factors of international importance.13 Thus, in 1764 the English press would announce that Ismail Pasha of Berat (Belgrade Albanian), who had forcibly entered the city of Vlora, was suddenly attacked by the inhabitants of the city, being massacred together with his followers.

While, according to the English newspapers, on October 4, 1769, the leader of the Montenegrins , Stefani, had defeated the Ottomans and “conquered” the coastal cities of Antivar (Tivar) and Ulqin, as well as several other places in Albania. English newspapers also reported that based on a letter sent from Istanbul on December 14, 1769, the death of Sultan Mustafa III was denied, who had taken all the necessary measures to ensure against any unexpected events.

While in the bay of Gibraltar, despite frequent sea storms, the ships of the Spanish navy continued to patrol, which carefully followed the movements of the Russian fleet. European public opinion continued to guess what the objectives of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean were, stressing that the greatest possibility was that it would try to block Istanbul on both sides of the Bosphorus.

In 1769 the English newspaper “Caledonian Mercury” wrote that in the Ukrainian town of Hoti, along the Dniester River, Kahraman Pasha had commanded 2,000 Albanians, of whom only 100 had been able to escape.16 English newspapers, in 1769, wrote that it was assumed that the Montenegrins, who from time to time they organized looting attacks in Albanian areas, they had received weapons and ammunition from Tsarist Russia.

At the same time, Catherine the Great of Czarist Russia refused the request of the Polish parliament for the withdrawal of the Russian army, on the grounds that they and others should join Russia in opposing the enemies of Christianity, which was alluded to in the Ottoman Empire. .17 In 1770, the Scottish newspaper “The Scots Magazine” wrote that the Epirotes and Ottomans, who continued the massacre and destruction of the city of Patra in More, 4,000 mainotes, residents of Mani in More, who were considered descendants of the Dorians, hence also the Spartans marched towards the city of Achaia.

In their confrontation (the residents of Patras) with the Ottoman forces, they suffered a deep loss, leaving around 2,000 people killed. With this victory, the entire area, the capital of which was Patra, fell back into the hands of the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, new Ottoman military forces of about 60,000 troops were headed for More. The news reaching Verona, Italy testified that after the massacre in Patra, great destruction was taking place on the peninsula of Morea.

The anti-Ottoman hatred had driven the Orthodox Christians to revenge, which the Ottomans retaliated by putting to the fire and to the sword everything that was “Greek” or other insurgent Christians. From the letters that reached Otranto from the other side of the Adriatic, it was said that the Ottomans, having heard that several Russian ships, which were under the command of Count Alexis Orlow, were approaching the city of Patras and that many others had headed for the coast of Albania, had withdrawn from the city of Patras to go to Lepant of Albania.

While the letters coming from Morea showed that the massacre in the city of Patras had lasted 20 hours and that all the inhabitants had been killed, with the exception of three men as well as of 160 women’s children. Naturally, this had increased the hatred of the Russians, who had sacked the town of Korona, while Prince Dolgoruski sacked Navarino.

In the meantime, General Low had marched towards Corinth. The Russian fleet engaged in the Sea consisted of 15 or 16 ships, as well as other ships purchased and equipped by Admiral Spiritov. The military defeats had pushed the Ottoman Divan to try to convince the Sultan to make peace with Petersburg. However, this effort had passed without any success, because the Sultan still believed in the Ottoman military power.

On the other hand, Tsarist Russia, now a world power, did not sit idly by. The Russian Empire had managed to conclude a Treaty of Amity with Persia, one clause of which required the immediate entry of the old Ottoman rival into war against it. The successes of Russian diplomacy during this century were impressive. In Eastern Europe, Russia had become master of most of Poland, and had established close relations with the leaders of the Polish Confederation. Meanwhile, in Krakow, which had become part of Russia and which was commanded by Colonel Drewitz, the Marshal of the Polish Confederation, Bierzhinski, had arrived with 400 soldiers, not as enemy, but as a friend of the Russians. The other leader of the confederation, Trzebinski, had acted in the same way. The Russian Imperial Guards that were scattered all over Poland were not attacked by the forces of the Polish confederation, which was a good sign for public tranquility. The only Polish leader who fought the Russians was Pulavski, who entered the battle with the religious song “Te Deum” by Niket Dardan. 19 The king of the Polish Confederation complained to the state of the Netherlands about the unjust division of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria. Prince Czartoryski, the father of Adam Czartoryski, had also traveled there to secure the support of Great Britain for the Polish cause. 20 Meanwhile, to secure support in Paris, Count Marousky, the marshal of the army of the Polish confederation, had gone to Paris and returned to homeland at the time of the truce between the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia. Count Marousky had also published a Manifesto, in which he wrote that the High Gate had supported the Polish Confederation, therefore he called for their harmony and resistance, for which, together with a group, he had gone to Lithuania.21
In 1770, uprisings also broke out in Epirus (Lower Albania). 24,000 inhabitants had taken up arms and the retreating Ottomans had destroyed several settlements.22 On May 17 of the same year, early in the morning, the Ottomans and Albanians, by surprise, attacked the local inhabitants and the Russians, who had surrounded Modona, as the Venetians called Methon in More. Caught by surprise, the “Greeks” (the Orthodox Christian population of Albanian and Greek ethnicity) retreated, but not the Russians, who continued their resistance until the moment when the Ottoman garrison came out of the besieged castle. Caught by surprise and attacked from both sides, the Russian army retreated, leaving 20 cannons on the battlefield. In this battle, Prince Dolgoruky and Count Orlow were wounded and 2,000 “Greeks” or Orthodox Christians, Albanians and Greeks, were killed. Meanwhile, with the landing of another 400 troops, the Russians again attacked the Ottomans and the Albanians, who, distracted, had indulged in looting the military camp of the Russians. This had caused the Ottoman and Albanian sides to withdraw, while the Russians continued with the siege of the coastal fortress.23 This means that the foreigners considered the Peloponnese or the Morena as a part inhabited by Albanians. However, with the outbreak of the anti-Ottoman uprisings, this population began to be identified as “Greek” in the English public opinion, thus equating religion with ethnicity, even though a large number of the insurgents were Albanians of the Orthodox Christian faith. English newspapers, likewise, in many cases, identified all Muslim residents as “Turks”.

During the year 1771, as long as the Russian-Ottoman war had covered a wide area, even in the northeastern areas of the Mediterranean, the Russian fleet had managed to land in the province of Karamania in Anatolia. Six ships of the Russian navy had landed on the shores of this province, occupying several small settlements. This fleet also followed two Albanian merchant ships, which had been carrying material goods from Alexandria. The Albanians would sooner agree to set fire to the ships than to fall into the hands of the enemies.

Even in 1772, the Russo-Ottoman war would continue, albeit withdrawn; the Russian army in the winter camps of Moldavia and Wallachia, while the Ottoman army in the mountains of Northern Bulgaria. All the measures taken indicated that the High Gate was preparing for a fierce land and sea war against Petersburg.

In the meantime, the withdrawal of a part of the Russian naval fleet to the ports of Italy had enabled the reopening of the Dardanelles strait for the passage of English merchant ships, which exported their manufacturing products, while in return they brought back agricultural products, such as: coffee, rice and wheat.25 In December 1771, according to the English newspaper “Northampton Mercury”, in Istanbul, Muhsinzade Mehmet Pasha was elected Grand Vizier, who had gathered an army of 20,000 troops, as well as 35,000 Albanian soldiers, Bosnians and other troops from the European part of the Ottoman Empire.

These areas of the Ottoman Empire had until then remained detached, as a result of military defeats by Tsarist Russia. While the armed conflicts continued in Southeast Europe, economic issues were discussed in England, which would bring benefits not only to the rich, but also to the poor population. Therefore, the demands that English ports be opened for American wheat were strongly argued, because it would affect the reduction of its price, thus making food cheap even for the poor. With these measures, England could simultaneously become the hangar of Europe. Unfortunately, continued the “Northampton Mercury” newspaper, the policy of the closed market for wheat benefits only a limited number of land owners and horse traders.26 How Albanians were a determining factor in the Ottoman fleet is also shown by the data from the “Kentish Gazette” newspaper of 1771, according to which, out of 10,000 sailors commanded by Kapedan Pasha, 5,000 were Albanians.

According to the reports circulating in the Levant, during 1772, the High Gate had ordered that 12,000 soldiers be sent from Albania as reinforcements to Egypt, where it was suspected that the Russian army could land, as help for their favorite, Ali Beun. However, according to the English newspaper “Salisbury and Winchester Journal”, such an enterprise would be very dangerous when considering the presence of the powerful Russian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.

How great was the fear of the High Gate from a possible invasion of Istanbul by the Russians, is also evidenced by the data according to which a large Ottoman army consisting of 120,000 soldiers and 20,000 had gathered in the vicinity of this city. the inhabitants of the city, who had taken up arms to defend Istanbul from any surprise attack by the Russians.

In the meantime, 12 Russian ships had landed in More, adding several settlements.29 Regarding the plans to send an army composed of Albanians to Egypt, in November 1772, another English newspaper “Hampshire Chronicle” will also write. According to this newspaper, the Republic of Ragusa was under pressure from the High Porte to provide 50 transport ships to send an army recruited in Albania to Syria and Cairo, Egypt.

The Republic of Ragusa was in doubt, on the one hand, because it had material benefits, and on the other hand, its involvement would cause great dissatisfaction on the Russian side. Such a justification for inaction was not accepted by the Pasha of Albania, Mehmet Pashë Bushatliu, who was threatened that if the requested ships were not provided, he would attack the Republic of Ragusa, killing and destroying everything.

In this way, Ragusa was between two fires, the risk of land invasion by the Albanian Pasha or the sea landing of the Russian fleet. In the meantime, in 1772, a peace agreement was reached between Istanbul and Petersburg. The newspaper also reported on the outbreak of the plague in different parts of the Ottoman Empire.30 So there they talked about the public goods that would be at the service of the people, while in the Old Continent, the elitist mentality continued to dominate. that took care only of the interests of a narrow social stratum.

In 1773, the Scottish newspaper “Caledonian Mercury”, announced that Czarist Russia, after successive military successes against the Ottoman Empire, would continue the war against the High Gate until the conquest of Constantinople – Istanbul. According to this newspaper, the Ottoman Empire was heading towards disintegration, especially its European part.

Such a conclusion was highly likely to be realized, according to this writing, if the ruling house in Austria, the Habsburgs, decides to go to war against the High Porte to return all the provinces that are on the side other of Belgrade, which formally belonged to it, but which were taken by force from the Ottoman Empire. Consequently, only the disagreements between the three European powers regarding the division of Poland could save the Ottoman Empire from disintegration.

While among the Ottoman elite, a prophecy had spread according to which their empire would be destroyed by Czarist Russia. Perhaps part of this prophecy was the fact that the Russian army had managed to break the Ottoman military spirit. Proof of this weakness of the Ottoman Empire was also the fact that the “High Gate” had asked Mr. D’Obrescow, the “Plenipotentiary” Minister of her Majesty, Catherine the Great (the Russian empress) , whose residence was not in Istanbul, but in the city of Jassy, ​​to inform the Russian empress that the Sultan was ready for a new peace agreement and, in advance, for a cessation of military actions.

The “all-powerful” minister had replied that the empress was not interested in any other peaceful agreement, that she would not withdraw from the points of the two previous agreements and that the war would continue until the defeat of one side to end with the acceptance of preliminary peaceful conditions on the part of the Sultan.

Likewise, this English newspaper announced that the two European diplomatic representatives accredited in Istanbul, Baron Tugut of the German Holy Roman Empire and Baron Zeglin of the Prussian Kingdom had requested a meeting with the Divan in order to convey the positions of their states. , as well as to notify the “High Gate” regarding the decisions of the Polish parliament. Since their request for admission was rejected by the Upper Gate.

Well, they had left Istanbul. At the same time, while the war continued, the Russian military fleet had stopped two Dutch merchant ships in the Mediterranean on the grounds that they were supplying the Ottoman Empire with military materials. In another letter from Istanbul, dated June 20, 1773 , published in the newspaper “Hibernian Journal”, it was about the landing of 10,000 Russian soldiers in Ulcinj, who, besides this city, had also occupied Lezha, Durres and Kruja.

In the city of Kruja, the Russians encountered strong resistance from 3,400 janissaries, of which only 500 were able to escape. The survivors of Kruja then brought this news to Istanbul. At this time, on the other side of the continent, in North America, a conflict was taking place that had a completely different character compared to developments in Europe and Asia.

A war between the British and the American colonists, a war that basically had the opposition of local residents to pay taxes to the British Kingdom and the achievement of the creation of a confederate state based on the principles of human rights, democracy and separation of powers. This meant that the concept of a more just political and social order was entering the historical arena, where existing elites and empires could no longer rely on customary and historical rights to justify their arbitrary powers.

Although Great Britain was a constitutional kingdom, it considered its possessions a source of tax collection and limited freedom for settlers in America. In this spirit was also the approval of several legal acts of the British parliament during 1773, which were related to the increase of taxes in its colony across the ocean. Thus, they proposed that these decisions be implemented with the help of military force, which was a way of intimidation and breaking every sense of freedom of the colonialists.

So in Europe, the policy of the strongest and of drastic measures against the conquered continued to dominate. Thus the Prussian king, Frederick the Great, after the second partition of Poland, in 1773, between his kingdom, the Habsburgs, and Tsarist Russia, apart from having broken by force of arms any kind of resistance of the Poles, he also took measures other drastic ones, for which the janissaries of the Ottoman Empire were mostly accused and called barbarians.

Indeed, this German and mainly Protestant Christian kingdom had brought about the decision to force marriages between Polish Catholic Christian girls and Prussian soldiers. So this was a new policy, which basically had the nationality and process of Germanization of violently of another ethnic and religious group.

From a letter dated July 14, 1773, we learn that in Moldavia the Russian army consisting of 80,000-90,000 soldiers and commanded by Count de Romanzow was crossing the Danube River. The rest of the Russian army commanded by Prince Vasily Mikhailovich Dolgorukov (1722-1782), which until that time was in Ukraine and in New Serbia, was ordered to gather part of it to defend the Crimea, newly conquered, while the rest surrounded the city of Ozhakov in Ukraine.

The “Hampshire Chronicle” newspaper had also published a copy of the letter of Count de Romanzow dated June 9, 1773, where, among other things, he would write about the war against the Ottoman Empire in its northeastern borders. General Weissman was engaged in that battle zone, who, on the morning of May 27, 1773, in Karasan, Crimea, attacked the camp of the Ottoman army consisting of 12,000 soldiers, which was commanded by the Khan of Crimea, Geraylar- i, Abdulla Pasha (Arnauti) and Hasan Çerkezi.

Ottoman losses from the Russian army were: 1,500 killed, 100 captured, 16 cannons and other equipment confiscated. The Ottoman army had withdrawn to Bazardzhik of Dobrudja. When we are talking about these political and military developments, I think we should remember that the area known as New Serbia was a military area of ​​the Russian imperial border, established in Ukraine in 1752 by Serbs who immigrated from the Habsburg military area.

So, these Serbs settled in the Russian Empire did not come from the territory of the Ottoman Empire or the areas of Sanjak of Vučiterna and Dukagjin. In 1757, this province, i.e. the new Serbia, had 5,482 inhabitants, of whom 75% were Moldavians, 12% Serbs and 13% others.35 This means that it was a question of a Serbian population of 600 inhabitants, the migration whose population structure in this part of Ukraine had not changed.

In the second half of 1773, the Russian army commanded by generals: Suwalow, Potemkin, Stupuchin, Wiesinan and Romanzow had crossed the Danube River. The Russian army, commanded by General Suwalow, crossing this river, near the fortress Tutarcow (Tutrakan, a city in Bulgaria) was attacked by Sari Ali Pasha (from Bosnia), who commanded an army of 3,000 Bulgarians. , 3,000 Bosniaks, 3,000 Ottomans and Tatars.

The beginning of the battle had given signs of an Ottoman victory, but after the Russian general ordered their battalions to target only Ottoman officers, the battle had taken a different direction. This led to the assassination of the commander of the Ottoman army, which caused great confusion in the ranks of the Ottoman army and ultimately led to the victory of the Russian army.

So this was a military tactic also tried by Alexander the Great, who whenever in battles attacked the part where the command of the enemy army was. General Potemkin had attacked the city of Ruse in Bulgaria, but he had succeeded in inflicting losses on the Ottoman army, which had left heavy weapons and other means of war on the battlefield. General Romanzow had also crossed the Danube River at the head of 50,000 soldiers.

General Potemkin had moved towards the next Bulgarian city, Silistra, whose garrison consisted of 3,000 soldiers, who fought bravely to the end. On the other hand, a disobedient group of Russians, Cossacks and Tatars had come together in the Crimea, who had joined the Ottoman army against the Russian army. Crimea was now fortified by the Ottomans and a large Russian force was needed to take it back.36 It must be said that the Albanians in Silistar left their mark, not only as soldiers, but also as contributors to the cultural and spiritual life of this city.

Thus, Ottoman sources mention Hysen Agë Arnaut, who in 1761 (1175 Ra 29) built a mosque in the city of Silistra.37At the beginning of 1774, the Republic of Venice and the royal court of Petersburg made an agreement, according to which the Russian fleet would be joined by 19 warships from this maritime republic. Venice hoped that in alliance with Tsarist Russia, it would recover its lost possessions, Morena and other islands, which had recently been conquered by the High Gate.

Meanwhile, France, in an effort to maintain the political and military balance in Europe, through its ambassador in The Hague, the Marquis de Noailles, encouraged the Netherlands not to remain indifferent to the policies of Vienna, Petersburg and Berlin, which aimed at fragmentation and the elimination of Poland from the map of Europe. This request was not made for reasons of principle, but because in addition to the territorial reduction of these states jeopardized the political and military interests not only of France, but also of the Netherlands.

In the first half of 1776, Mustafa Pasha Bushatliu had sent a frigate with 40 cannons to the port of Ragusa to be prepared with sails. This ship had to be ready in case the pasha had to leave together with his family and wealth. According to reports, this Pasha, on March 15, 1776, had inspected this ship in Sputh, in Upper Albania, at the time when he was making preparations to attack the Pasha of Berat.

While on the American continent George (George) Washington’s army was preparing to attack the British forces in Quebec, Canada,39 the Russian-Ottoman conflict had continued in 1774 and, according to the “Derby Mercury” newspaper, the Russian commander, Count De Romanzow , announced that the army commanded by the prime minister was blocked in the country of Szumla (in Bulgaria) and that all communication routes with Adrianople had been cut off. As a result, the prime minister had sent Count De Romanzow the proposal for starting negotiations for the cessation of hostilities or for an armistice. The Russian marshal had rejected both proposals, demanding that the peace agreement be made immediately and under
38 BL, BNA, Shewsbury Chronicle (England), vol. III, no. 61, Saturday, March 05, 1774, 1.
39 BL, BNA, Oxford Journal (Oxfordshire, England), Saturday, June 22, 1776. It should be clarified that this newspaper mistakenly stated that the conflict was between Mustafa Pasha Bushatli and Ismajl Pasha Velebishti, killed in 1764, in the city of Vlora . In fact, the Bushatli had a military confrontation with Ahmet Kurt Pasha of Berat.

The conditions he would propose to the Ottoman side, otherwise he would continue military operations. Meanwhile, this English newspaper continued to describe the sad atmosphere that previously reigned in Istanbul. Initially, an army commanded by Ali Pasha of Dagestani and Mehmet Pasha of Circassian were defeated by a Russian army of 12,000 soldiers.

The Prime Minister then sent 70,000 more troops commanded by AbdylRefik Reis Efendiu and Aga of the Janissaries, who on June 23 met the Russian army near Kostlugja. The Albanian troops had fought bravely, but after being abandoned by the cavalry, they and the rest of the Ottoman army were defeated, leaving a large number of dead. In addition, the Ottoman capital was engulfed in fire in May, which completely destroyed 1,000 houses and shops.

The same newspaper, from Warsaw, would announce that, in 1777, Russia had fulfilled every point of the pre-Pak agreement with the High Porte, but after the latter, from time to time, it had not adhered to all the points of agreement, Russia had decided to send its plenipotentiary ambassador to Constantinople to ask for a positive answer and on which, obviously, it would depend whether there would be war or peace with the Ottoman Empire.

In the meantime, Russia was very prepared to start military operations in the event of a break-up. At the same time, this same newspaper reported, the third division of Hessian troops had been ordered to be ready to travel to America. 40 The Hessians were citizens of the Kingdom of Hesse (in Germany), from which Great Britain had recruit 30,000 soldiers to fight against the American Revolution.

In 1778, the “Caledonian Mercury” newspaper wrote about two villages of the Kelmendas in Hungary (Szirmie district?), who spoke a language other than the Slavic one, German, Hungarian, Vlach and “Turkish”. The newspaper emphasized that they were from the border areas between Serbia and Upper Albania and that they lived in the spaces between the Cem and Lumëbardh rivers.

It must be said that even in war conditions, as always, trade between the parties was not completely interrupted. Thus, according to Austrian records, in the years 1770-1775, there were about 150 Ottoman citizens in the area of ​​Srem, of which 20 were from Bosnia and Serbia, while the others were from the ancient province of Macedonia. Most of these Ottoman citizens were traders and partly artisans.

Thus Nikolovic Muqallovic Mihajli, although he had a Slavic name, his Albanian affiliation was noted in the register. And Jovan Grabovani from Elbasan, according to this registration, worked as a painter in the Austrian areas. The city of Elbasan (formerly known as Konjuc) was founded in 1466 by Sultan Mehmed Fatihu, who had ordered the relocation of some Orthodox Christian families from Ohrid and Skopje to populate the new city. For more see: Machiel Kiel, Ottoman Architecture in Albania (1385-1912), (Istanbul: Research Center for History).

These data let us understand again that not all those registered with Slavic names, whether in the Ottoman or church registers, were necessarily Slavs.

In 1784, the plague epidemic had broken out in the Ottoman capital, still, in Istanbul, the collection of troops continued to be sent against the insurgents in Albania. This chaotic situation that the Ottoman Empire was going through, tsarist Russia would certainly exploit it, which from Vienna published a political manifesto, through which it called on the Greeks in the Aegean archipelago to revolt.

In such circumstances, religious affiliation will be introduced as another dividing element in this oriental empire, which would bring negative consequences to inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations between different communities in the Ottoman state. While Western military superiority continued to dominate, despite the old Ottoman military structure, at the same time, another internal transformation was taking place in European societies that made them even more dynamic.

Thus, in the province of Austria, in the stronghold of the Habsburgs, although an area with a Catholic population, the activity of the Protestant Calvinist and Lutheran churches was tolerated. Although these religious communities were obliged to pay an annual amount to the state treasury, this tax did not reach the amount needed for the construction of a monastery.

On the other hand, news came from Frankfurt that negotiations continued between the High Porte and Petersbug for a commercial agreement, which would provide the Sultan with much-needed peace, while Catherine the Great received commercial benefits. In these negotiations the High Porte agreed to allow free passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean for Russian merchant ships, provided they did not carry military material.

Istanbul also agreed that these ships also transport food products such as rice and coffee, but not to be loaded in the vicinity and in the Ottoman capital. The High Port, likewise, agreed to protect Russian merchant ships in its areas, but Petersburg also demanded the additional guarantee that their ships would not be attacked by pirates and, in case they were attacked, that Istanbul would compensate the damages.

Catherine the Great had set July 15, 1783 as the deadline for signing the agreement, otherwise war would be declared against the Supreme Porte. In September 1785, the Habsburg monarch had asked his representative in Istanbul to insist on the High Gate to accept the definition of the border line, otherwise the Habsburg emperor would act forcefully to recover the areas claimed by him. Such a chaotic situation reigned everywhere in Europe and America.

Thus, the Netherlands was in crisis, the Russians continued to have problems in the Crimea, while anarchy, violence, tyranny and disintegration reigned almost throughout the Ottoman Empire. Spain was getting rid of the black olives with the pirates. England itself also had problems with Ireland, which refused a trade agreement with London.

This newspaper saw the reasons for this situation in the fact that people are impatient to achieve something in life and that they do not have clear objectives and plans, which affects the motivation of their actions.
At the same time, the other English newspaper “Saunders’s News-Letter and Daily Advertiser”, in October 1785, reported on the provocations that the Ottoman Empire made in the border areas with Venice and that it was not far from the moment of the beginning of a fierce war in which the Holy German Empire as well as the Republic of Ragusa would be included.

Subsequently, the English public was informed that Dalmatia was a border province ruled by the Venetians and the Ottoman Empire and that Albania was an integral part of this empire from where it had started the last military expedition. The article continued with the data on the massacre that the Ottoman armies had carried out against the population they called “Morlachi” or Slavonians.

These inhabitants were Romanized nomads who lived in the mountainous areas of the Dinaric Alps and who during the summer went down to the coastal areas. . So it was about the area that today is known as Herzegovina.

Another English newspaper, “Chelmsford Chronicle”, based on a letter dated July 1, 1785, sent from Montenegro, wrote about the war between the Montenegrin tribes and the Albanians of the Pashallek of Shkodra. The newspaper wrote that after the three provinces with Montenegrins revolted, an army of 30,000-40,000 soldiers from Albania, Rumelia and Bosnia had attacked them.

Jovan Radonjiqi, the leader of the insurgents, had ordered that the command of the insurgent army be given to Jovan Petrovic and Vukotić. Together with these two commanders, on the night of June 18, 1785, he had attacked the Ottoman troops, causing them great losses. The war lasted until June 20, 1785, when they, due to the lack of ammunition and the numerical superiority of the Albanian and Bosnian troops who had attacked from both directions of the Cernojević River, were forced to retreat.

Their defeat was made possible by the betrayal of two Montenegrin voivodes: Martinović of Cetina and Millić of Bjelina. Not only had they deserted from the war, but their forces had joined the Ottoman army by entering and destroying Cetina.

Another area of ​​interest to the English public was trade in the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the newspaper “Saunder’s News-Letter” of 1786 talked about English long-term plans to restore and strengthen its trade relations with the High Porte. The newspaper pointed out that England had lost a lot of trade with this eastern empire, because the French manufacturing industry had been more competitive and of better quality than the British one.

The total annual amount of export and import between France and the Ottoman Empire during this period was worth 20 million Ottoman prestas (gurus). France exported cotton and silk clothing, paper, sugar,
color, gold, cotton or silk laces, various ornaments, etc. On the other hand, France imported from the Ottoman Empire: coffee, cotton, wool, silk, goat hair, etc.

So, in general, raw materials were imported, while final products were exported. The French exported three types of cloth of different quality, which had much lower prices than the English ones, and the colors of the French textile were varied and more acceptable to the Ottoman buyer. French merchants were present in all parts of the empire. The competition between them was regulated by the French consul or ambassador, thus making it possible to avoid disputes and trade war between them.

The sum of 20 million Ottoman piestars of export and import through these two Mediterranean powers is equal to 2,880,000 pounds. British pounds according to the exchange rate of 1709, according to which 128 gurus were equal to the value of 18 pounds sterling.52 Whereas, if this value of 2,880,000 pounds sterling is calculated in the value of 2016, it would have the value between 309,900,000 and 26,190,000,000 pounds sterling.

In the conditions of the 18th century, this was a significant sum worth fighting for. Evidence of such a political mood are also the data according to which English trade at this time was also hit by the secession of its colony in North America, the creation of
the USA, which established friendly relations with France, England’s commercial and political rival.

On the other hand, Tsarist Russia, which was trying to become a naval power and which was planning the conquest of the European part of the Ottoman Empire and its dominance in the trade of the Levant, presented a threat to the strategic and commercial interests of Great Britain. and. As a result of these international circumstances, Great Britain created an alliance with Prussia, as a counterweight to the other two powers, France and Tsarist Russia.

However, in the war between Russia and the High Port, Great Britain, contrary to its political and commercial interests, had allowed the passage of the Russian naval fleet through the Bay of Gibraltar, which, thanks to Russian sailors of English origin, was victorious over the Ottoman fleet. This strategic mistake of Great Britain was a consequence of the policy of military neutrality and Christian sympathy against the Islamic enemy, although in the meantime the British government had issued the decree by which British sailors were prohibited from entering the Russian naval service.

How important the Mediterranean Sea and the Ottoman Empire were for world trade is also proven by the letter of the captain of the US army, William Tate, sent on August 3, 1789 to George Washington. In this letter, this military man emphasized that US trade with the Ottoman Empire would be to the benefit of Americans, unlike trade with developed European countries.

Some of the products that could be exported from the US to the Ottoman Empire were wood, as a raw material for shipbuilding and construction, or even as fuel, then wheat, corn, meat, fish and tobacco. In this international trade, the Albanian areas of the Ottoman Empire were also included, from where they were exported, in addition to raw materials such as: wood, olives, wheat and textiles from silk, cotton, as well as handicrafts from silver.

On the other side of the world, the English newspaper “Chelmsford Chronicle”, in April 1788, would write about an unpleasant event that had happened to the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of Germany, Joseph II (1741-1790), who, while he had been in his royal carriage, not far from Trieste, was suddenly stopped by the Ottoman cavalry, whose commander, not knowing the emperor, had asked where he could find the German emperor, because he had to was handing in a letter.

Although a little confused, Joseph II had replied that the emperor would stay that night 40 km away from Trieste. Later, the Ottoman envoy was quite surprised when Joseph II was introduced to him as the emperor himself. This incident without consequences for Joseph II testified to a deficiency in the organization of his personal protection, but also to an efficient Ottoman spy service, although not completely accurate.

On the other hand, they tried to strengthen their trade and local economy with legal measures. Thus Vienna had decided that all those who owned property in the Habsburg possessions and that the income from these lands were spent on foreign countries would be forced to pay double the taxes on those properties.

In May 1787, the Pasha of Bosnia in the city of Travnik, had gathered a large army, which, according to the orders of the High Gate, would attack the forces of Kara Mahmud Bushatli in Albania. 62 Reports of the Pasha of Shkodra with Vienna will become the subject of writing in the “Hampshire Chronicle” newspaper, which in September 1788 would publish an interesting article.

In it, it was written that the Pasha of Shkodra, Kara Mahmud Bushatliu, had for a long time developed an independent policy from the High Gate and that Istanbul’s attempts to subjugate him with promises or threats had been futile. Reports from Vienna indicated that this pasha had great support from his residents, whose sympathy he had won by taking some decisions in their interest, such as the decision to remove some taxes, which were collected until then for the High Gate.

Another example of the support that Kara Mahmud Bushatliu had in his residents was the case when, in July 1787, by order of the Sultan, the armies of three other pashalars had entered Shkoder, with the aim of subduing the rebellious pasha. After a siege that lasted for five consecutive months and the information he had about the distraction of the military camp of his opponents, Kara Mahmud Pasha would come out of the fortress attacking these forces in coordination with the local residents, thus defeating the Pasha of Rumelia and Kruja, to which 2,000 soldiers were killed.

His victory was complete, which had the effect of strengthening his position, all the more considering that the High Gate was at war with Russia, and from moment to moment Vienna was also expected to enter the war against it. Under very favorable conditions for him, Kara Mahmud Bushatliu will send emissaries to Vienna with the message that his independence was already secured and that even the High Porte had made several proposals to recognize him as an independent Pasha, offering , at the same time commanding a large army, an offer which he had not accepted.

Therefore, Kara Mahmud Bushatliu asked the Habsburg imperial court to send their representatives to Shkodër for more essential talks. In the circumstances when Vienna was planning the start of military operations against the Ottoman Empire and when Pasha Shkodra promised to enter Bosnia, the Habsburgs sent their delegates to Shkodra.

The delegation of three people was headed by Mr. Brognart, an official of the royal chancellery, and by two soldiers, officers Pernet and Schensluch, who had brought a considerable amount of money and ammunition as gifts. Kara Mahmud Bushatliu had received them with great respect and in conversations with them he had talked about the importance of independence for him, for which he was ready to give his life.

For many months, while they stayed in Shkodër, he was very well taken care of and there was no warning sign of any possible deception and betrayal on the part of Kara Mahmud Bushatli. On June 18, 1788, this delegation left Shkodra with the order that the Pasha of Shkodra would adhere to his promises and obligations arising from the agreement.

Among them. Therefore, as a sign of respect for them, he provided them with a military escort to Montenegro. They had reached the Montenegrin part by sailing with three ships through the lake of Shkodra. Upon landing on the Montenegrin side, all the Viennese envoys and their servants had been killed and, according to the Montenegrins, who sent this information to the Austrians, Kara Mahmud Bushatliu had sent their severed heads to the Grand Vizier in Sofia.

This determined action, according to the “Norfolk Chronicle” newspaper, had prompted the Habsburg emperor to include as one of the conditions of the peace agreement with the High Gate the request for the punishment of Kara Mahmud Bushatli. On the other hand, according to the same newspaper, the Ottoman prime minister had returned the severed heads to Kara Mahmud Bushatli, with the order that such acts of faith show the treacherous and unstable nature of the Albanian Pasha, for which, one day, he will be punished. At the same time, the Montenegrins, who had sworn to cooperate, had also taken advantage of this opportunity.

It must be said that in these sources we come across some inaccuracies, first of all regarding the names of the Habsburg representatives and the length of their stay in Shkodër. Thus, in the author Hamdi Bushati’s book, “Bushatllinjë”, it is emphasized that the Habsburg delegation, on June 14, 1788, continued its journey from Cetina to Shkodër, where it stayed for several days.

While the Hampshire Chronicle newspaper had published, since September 1, 1788, the entire history of the Habsburg mission, which, according to these sources, had started months earlier and had left Shkodra on June 18, 1788. Also, there are inconsistencies regarding the names of the Habsburg emissaries: De Bronjarin, Captain Perneth, doctor Pikler and lieutenant Schonpflug.

In the English newspapers I write about: Brognart, officers Pernet and Schensluch. However, it must be said that despite these inaccuracies, these two sources complement each other with the Habsburgs in the war against the Pasha of Shkodra, until his complete destruction and the subjugation of Albania. This newspaper also reported that Spain had mediated in efforts to end hostilities between the Russian Empire of the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire of Sweden on the other side.

In fact, it was reported that the Russians had managed to sow the seeds of discord in the high Swedish military circles, making it very difficult to conduct military operations.64 So, from this time on, the Russians began to show their efficiency even in the field of destabilization of societies, which were contrary to Russian strategic interests.

So, from this time on, the Russians began to show their efficiency also in the field of destabilizing societies, which were contrary to Russian strategic interests.

Of interest to Albanian history is also the coverage of the murder of the Habsburg envoys in the English press. This monstrous crime, surely, if analyzed with the reason of arguments and logic, it is more likely that it is the work of paid mercenaries of the High Gate or of the Montenegrins themselves, who did not like the approach of Vienna with Shkodra.

Second, Kara Mahmud Bushatli’s military victory had strengthened his position vis-à-vis Istanbul, from which he could seek favors without the need for any agreement with the Habsburgs, whose delegates he would then allegedly kill. to win the trust of the Sultan. Ottoman archival sources also testify to the cooperation of the Habsburgs and the Montenegrins with Mahmud Pasha.

According to these sources, 400 Habsburg soldiers helped the Montenegrins in their attack against the province of Bosnia. Meanwhile, in Ragusa (Dubrovnik), the Habsburg representatives met with the officers and Mahmud Pasha, with whom they then traveled to Shkodra. Regarding the course of this war and its consequences, the English ambassador in Istanbul had also reported.

Despite the doubts about the behind-the-scenes murder of the Habsburg envoys, Ottoman sources reiterate that Vienna, for this crime, directly accused the Albanians commanded by Kara Mahmud Bushatliu.
In the meantime, in the Ottoman imperial palace, as a result of the Sultan’s illness, Prince Selim was not allowed to go together with the Grand Vizier at the head of 80,000 soldiers in defense of Belgrade.

As a result of the war with Russia, the High Gate had imprisoned the Russian ambassador, Bulgakow, in the seven towers, but had allowed the rest of his staff to leave. The losses of the Viennese near Belgrade had been very great, for which Petersburg had set out for the Mediterranean three large ships with 100 guns each, eight ships with 74 guns, four with 64 guns, six frigates, eight small ships with three masts, two two-masted mortar ships. Besides these, 12 galley ships of Russia would circulate in the Mediterranean.

On the other hand, in Warsaw, efforts were made to bring Petersburg and Constantinople closer together, which was in the direct interest of the Polish Confederation. According to these news, Kara Mahmud Bushatliu had become master of Ulcinj, Durrës and almost all of Albania. The Pasha of Shkodra, in the English public information media, continued to be treated as a negative man, who could not be trusted, although it was admitted that he had the support of the inhabitants of his pashalik, with whom he had raised an army of 20,000 people.

Likewise, Kara Mahmud Bushatliu had appointed a Christian, Father Erasmin, as the head of his chancellery.67 Such independent actions of the Shkodran Pasha had become a burden for both the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire. Consequently, the High Gate had begun to discuss the fate of the Albanians and this “rebellious pasha” with the ambassador of Hindustan (India).

In the meantime, Russia in the summer of 1788, in its expansionist policy, was forced to fight on two fronts, in the southeast against the Ottoman Empire and in the north against Sweden. Therefore, Petersburg had sent 11 infantry regiments, 4 cavalry regiments, 25 battalions from military garrisons, 3,000 grenadiers or bomb-throwers, as well as the Kalmyk tribes from the Caucasus to invade Sweden’s Finland.

Meanwhile, in Poland, with the secret support of Sweden and the High Gate, a pamphlet was circulated calling for the restoration of the Polish state before the partition. Pamphlets of this nature the Russian imperial power tried to destroy. The Kingdom of Sweden, through the mediation of the British representative in Petersburg, had sent a diplomatic note that had to be delivered to the Russian Empress, Catherine the Great.

In this note, the reasons for the declaration of war and the conditions for a peace agreement were explained. Those conditions were as follows:

1. In order to prevent a diplomatic representative from interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign state in the future, it is necessary that Count Resomousky, ambassador of Catherine the Great in the Kingdom of Sweden, is exemplary for inciting riots aimed at disrupting peace and harmony in Sweden.

2. Catherine the Great to pay compensation for the expenses that Sweden had made in preparing for war, returning as compensation the parts of Finland and Karelia that she had received from Sweden with the agreement in Nystand (1721) and Abo (the city of Turku in the Suomi language or Finnish- lit).

3. The Russian Empress to accept the mediation of Sweden to restore peace between her and the High Porte, and that she restore the Crimea to the Ottoman Empire and adhere to the same restrictions as provided for in the Küçük Kaynardzhi agreement of 1774. If Petersburg does not fulfills the conditions of the High Gate, the Swedish king proposes that the borders between the two empires be established in the preliminary state before the war of 1768.

At the end of this diplomatic note, the Swedish king emphasized that he expected a definite answer: yes or no from Tsarist Russia and that there was no possibility of changing the agreement offer. Count De Bruce, the British representative in Petersburg, had informed the Swedish secretary in this city, that he should release Russia as soon as possible.

So the offer for a peace agreement was rejected by Tsarist Russia.
At the same time, the Republic of Venice had firmly opposed the presence of the Russian naval fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, the High Gate planned to send an army of 20,000 soldiers against Trieste, the seaport of the Habsburg Empire. This news had worried the population of Lombardy in Northern Italy.

While from the city of Lemberg (the German name) or Lwów (the Polish name of the city), the English newspaper “Chelmsford Chronicle” wrote that, on March 21, 1788, the Habsburg and Russian armies had joined in the campaign to conquer the city of Choczim in Moldavia, for the defense whose High Gate had sent 40,000 soldiers. On the southern front, the Habsburgs had begun the siege of Belgrade and at the same time had made an agreement with the Prussians against Poland.

The Ottoman-Austrian conflict continued in the second half of 1788, and according to the articles in the British newspapers, one gets the impression of their propaganda war, not accepting the defeats or victories of the other side. The newspaper “Hampshire Chronicle” informed the English public opinion on the development of events from the South-East European front.

In an article of this newspaper, it was about the battle fought on the night of September 21, 1788 between these two powers of the time, in which, despite the high discipline, the Austrian army had suffered a heavy defeat. The Ottoman army had not only been helped by the element of surprise and the element of night, but and the well-thought-out military strategy of the Ottoman commander.

The course of these events was also explained in a letter by an influential person in Vienna. He assumed that the Ottoman side, with the help of spies, had learned the route of retreat of the Austrian army and had organized numerous ambushes, which had caused significant losses in soldiers and military equipment.

The Ottoman military strategy in this battle was to attack the vanguard of one column of the Austrian army and quickly retreat. In the conditions of night and confusion, two columns of the Austrian army clashed with each other, charging the other flank as enemy parties. In the meantime, an interesting game was being played out in international diplomacy: Prussia informed the Polish Confederation that Berlin had established an alliance with the High Gate and friendship with the Habsburg Empire and Tsarist Russia, which had ambitious plans regarding Poland and the Empire. Osmane.

In the first half of 1789, another English newspaper “Saunder’s News-Letter” wrote about the arrival in Bosnia of an army composed of Albanians commanded by the Pasha of Gjakova and that of Novi Pazar. However, instead of focusing on the defense of this province, they had tried to forcefully discipline them and at the same time they had looted the monastery of Studenica, killing eight monks.

At the same time, it was announced from Trieste that the commander of the Habsburg fleet, Williams, had reached this Adriatic port to recruit sailors for the fleet, which would have Albania as its primary destination. This fleet that would consist of 51 ships with 5,500 sailors and that would served not only to protect the Habsburg coast, but also to completely eliminate the Ottoman fleet, together with the Russian navy. It was planned that this fleet would land in Ulcinj and from there attack Pasha of Shkoder.

The author of the first mevlud73 in the Albanian language (with Arabic letters), Hasan Zyko Kamberi, also took part in this war. He dedicated the poem “Seferi Humayun” (Royal War) to this war, where he describes his sufferings during this war.74 Other English weekly newspapers, such as “Kentish Gazette”, which published a letter from a soldier participating in the war, who testified that General Graf von Clerfayt (1733-1798), after being informed that a “Turkish” army, as the newspapers called it, was concentrated in the town of Mehadia in Wallachia English the Ottoman army, of 5,000-6,000 people, he had ordered the Habsburg army to march towards that city.

On the mountain of Jabllanica they had encountered 600 Ottoman spahi and on that occasion the rest of the Ottoman army had also left the city, which was a great advantage for the Habsburg artillery, which had quickly neutralized the scarce artillery. Ottoman. Under such conditions, she would withdraw from the city of Mehadi. A relief for the retreating Ottoman army was the continuous rain, making the fast advance of the Habsburg army impossible.

Thus another problem for the Austrian army was the insufficient supplies, which were mainly transported by small ships. For the same reasons, the Ottoman army was withdrawn to Kladovo.

In October 1789, the same English newspaper also wrote about the progress of the fighting in Belgrade. Thus, it was announced that the Ottoman fortress was bombarded by overheated guns, which caused the explosion of fire in the besieged city. While Seraskeri Abdi Pasha stayed in his military camp in Çupri, at the same time in Jagodina (Serbia), another Ottoman army composed of Muslims and Christians was on standby.

On September 22, 1789, General Mayersheim von Ehrenreih announced that in Wallachia he had encountered a part of the Ottoman army of 700 people, of which 500 were Albanians. In this confrontation, the Ottoman side had 60 killed and 16 captured, while the opposing side had only two killed.

At the height of the anti-Ottoman wars, the Spanish royal court and the High Gate would establish direct connections through couriers, who crossed the Madrid-Istanbul route every two weeks, on the route Ancona and Bologna in Italy, then the sea route to Shkodër in Albania and Spalato (Split) in Dalmatia, to continue on to the Ottoman capital .

English public opinion feared that a large-scale conflict between the Republic of Venice, Ragusa and the Holy Roman-German Empire on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire on the other would bring great bloodshed to the old continent, as well as to incite a wave of political revolutions.

And, while a chaotic and conflictual situation continued to reign in Southeast Europe, trade, production, culture and education flourished in the Protestant part of this continent. Thus, in the same public informant, we come across data on the negotiations that took place between the governments of the Netherlands and Great Britain regarding their trade in the “Orient”, as well as on the discovery of a silver mine in New York, USA, but that the costs of exploiting that mine exceeded the value of the final product, i.e. silver.

At the same time, the public was also informed about new technical discoveries that were at the service of facilitating navigation at sea, such as the instrument for determining longitudes during navigation, which instrument was presented before the Council of Longitudes of the Admiralty by Mr. Vice, of the city of Truro.

Also, from this newspaper we understand what were the main products that were traded at that time. We learn that in 1783, the following products were exported from England alone to the western islands of the English Indies: 10,526 barrels of beef; 5,188 pieces of ham; 2,559 small barrels with animal entrails; 17,900 barrels of smoked and pickled herring fish; 3,195 small casks of Irish butter; 522 small casks of English butter; 4,475 small barrels of English cheese as well as 3,170 tons of beer.

In the meantime, on the other side of the continent, that is, in America, a fierce trade war was taking place between France and Great Britain regarding the protection of the commercial space for the sale of alcoholic beverages, and rum in particular. France had managed to secure the market of the United States of America, which at that time had 2,574,000 inhabitants.

From these data, we see that still, even at the end of the 18th century, the main products traded were agricultural products. The lack of basic food products continued to be a destabilizing element of many European monarchies. Thus, one of the causes of unrest in France, in 1770, had been the lack of wheat, a lack that had caused famine in many French provinces.

This bread crisis had forced the royal government to stop the export of this agricultural product and at the same time the urgent import of wheat. Economically powerful were the states that had a greater geographical extent, that is, that had larger areas. of agricultural lands. Seen from this perspective, the Ottoman Empire, even though it was declining in its influence, continued to be a global medieval power dangerous to the rising states of Europe. The evidence that the military strength is greater in those states that were also powerful in the economy, were also the military victories of the High Gate against Tsarist Russia and Georgia sides in the Caucasus, in 1770, the results of which were officially announced to all diplomatic missions in Istanbul.

However, on the other hand, with the union of two powerful Catholic families, that of the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, a compactness of Catholic countries ruled by these two families was created in Europe, thus directly infringing the interests of England. protestant. Under these conditions, England connects with Tsarist Russia, opening its ports to the Russian fleet, supplying them with the necessary goods, as well as training Russian sailors.

And, as a product of this fruitful cooperation, mother, a skilled Russian military fleet would be created, which would hit the Ottoman Empire hard, sailing almost freely to the coastal areas inhabited by Albanians.
But this pro-Russian policy of Great Britain would change very quickly. London would become a mediator between the conflicting parties, Russia and the Habsburg Empire on one side and Prussia, Poland, Sweden and the High Porte on the other.

Consequently, in 1790, the “Chester Chronicle” newspaper informed the English public opinion that the Viennese imperial court accepted the mediation of Great Britain, provided that Berlin also accepted Spain as a mediator. Vienna agreed to return Moldavia and Wallachia to the High Porte, in addition to Transylvania, and agreed that the border in the south was the Morava River, which means Belgrade and Serbia were included within the Habsburg Empire.

At the same time, Vienna demanded that the High Gate to allow the free passage of Hungarian goods, which were exported through the Black Sea. Whereas Russia had to accept the sovereignty of Sweden, return the province of Bessarabia to the High Porte, but keep Crimea, Georgia and the cities: Ozhakov and Akirman. In the meantime, Spain continued to arm itself in response to the agreement between Prussia and the Ottoman Empire, according to which Berlin assumed the obligation to declare war against the imperial court of Vienna and Petersburg if they threatened the High Gate.

The alliance of the six between the High Porte, Prussia, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and Great Britain would undoubtedly break the Vienna-Petersburg axis and with it the political balance in Europe. This was also the reason for the beginning of the increased armament of Spain as well as the engagement of its fleet against British interests in America.

As a result of all this, in 1790, London would stop the free passage of Russian ships in the Thames River and the enlistment of its citizens in the service of foreign powers. These stops had caused great dissatisfaction on the Russian side. However, Prussia, in cooperation with Austria, had managed to reduce the influence of Peterburg in Poland.

This had forced the Russian Tsar to a peace agreement with his sworn enemy, Sweden, which had given Russia time to restore its influence in Poland, while at the same time minimizing that of Berlin, which, in the new circumstances of created, it was possible to take the cities of Thorn and Danzig only by war. The possibility of a military confrontation between them increased even more because of Prussia’s interference in Petersburg’s relations with Istanbul.

The royal court of Berlin had entered into an alliance of mutual aid with the High Porte, and, under such conditions, Tsarist Russia had either to yield to Prussian demands or face their military might, which together she could not afford. was opposed. So, Russia, neither then nor later, has not fought on two fronts at the same time, thus proving that any single country, no matter how powerful it is, if attacked by two other allied countries, can be defeated.

In continuation of her vindictive policy against Great Britain, Catherine the Great tried to foment confusion in London’s relations with Denmark and Sweden, as well as to create an anti-British alliance with Spain. The latter even tried to antagonize the Netherlands with Great Britain, but without success. Unfortunately, Poland had passed into complete dependence on Russia.

In the new diplomatic game being played on the old continent, the Ottoman Empire, from this time on, did not accept any conditions for negotiations with the Russian side without the presence of a naval power. Therefore, the Upper Gate also welcomed the arrival of the Prussian representative in Bucharest, before continuing the peace talks with Tsarist Russia.

In 1794, the newspaper “Caledonian Mercury” reported on the negotiations between the minister plenipotentiary of Tsarist Russia in Istanbul dto the High Porte regarding the demands of the Russian side, that the agricultural goods of their traders be exempted from Ottoman customs taxes in accordance with the agreements of their last peaceful retreat.

Also, the representative of St. Petersburg requested from Reis Efendiu that the High Gate identify merchants with Russian citizenship, in order to avoid misunderstandings, because there were cases when the goods of their merchants were confiscated, which was the cause of the during the last war between these two world powers. The Russian minister plenipotentiary was instructed by his sovereign to ask questions such as:

II. Would the High Gate intervene in the Polish issue?

III. A firm answer was required from the Ottoman Empire regarding the request for the free passage of the Russian naval fleet from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean in order to protect Russian commercial interests.

IV. That it is in the absolute interest of Tsarist Russia that French ships are not allowed in Ottoman waters, and especially not in the Aegean Sea.

V. Since the Moldavians and Vlachs (Romanians) as well as their princes belonged to the orthodox faith, to be better treated and enjoy the protection of the High Gate, as they had agreed in their last peace treaty.

Regarding these requests, the High Gate replied that as far as the Polish issue is concerned, the Sultan will act in accordance with the circumstances and interests of the Ottoman Empire.

As for the customs fees, the High Gate will respect the agreements signed between the two parties, and as for the other request, for the free passage of the Russian naval fleet, Reis Efendiu answered that only the passage will be allowed free of commercial ships, but not of armed ones. In the request subsequent to the ban on the movement of French ships in Ottoman waters, it was said that this would be contrary to the policy of neutrality that the High Porte had announced.

It was also made clear to the Tsarist representative that Moldavia and Wallachia were tributary provinces of the Empire, and that the High Porte would not permit the interference of any foreign power in its internal affairs. These answers of Reis Efendi, which were unconvincing and vague, and which did not meet the Russian expectation, encouraged the latter to concentrate military troops on the borders of the Ottoman Empire.

According to this newspaper, for the fate of this potential conflict between these two powers, the timely reaction of the Ottoman navy will be decisive. In the meantime, Great Britain had cleared the Mediterranean Sea of ​​the presence of the French naval fleet, which with great sacrifices was barely able to secure the transport of wheat and other agricultural products from Corsica.

The English newspaper “Chester Chronicle”, from 1789, wrote that the Albanians of the Pashallek of Shkodra had declared war on the Republic of Venice by making an alliance with the Montenegrins. In fact, this was a revenge against Venice, which had allowed the passage through Venetian Dalmatia of the Habsburg army commanded by Major Vukasovic.

In all this atmosphere of war and misery in Europe, a hope for the trampled social layers, as well as for the subjugated peoples of this continent, the terror of the bourgeois revolution in France would wake up. Inspired by the ideals of this revolution, the Polish elite would rise up with demands for civic equality and against the Prussian, Habsburg and Russian invaders.

In these circumstances, the Polish parliament, dominated by the aristocracy and the upper church class, had ordered Warsaw to be surrounded by the army. The newspaper “Hampshire Chronicle” wrote that, in this year, the representatives of the Christian colonies of Albania also passed through Warsaw, on their way to the imperial court of Petersburg, bringing Catherine the Great closer to the raising of an insurgent army of 20,000 Albanians, who would fight against the Ottoman Empire. From this information, the fact remains unclear whether it was a question of displaced Albanian colonies, who lived in the Habsburg lands, or of Orthodox Christian Albanian colonies within the Ottoman Empire.

The military defeats of the High Gate during 1790 forced Istanbul to seek peace agreements with its two rival empires. Thus, Baron De Herbert, the former Habsburg ambassador in Constantinople, would return to Vienna, as an expert, from the province of Belgium, while Baron De Tongut would be sent to Bucharest, who together with the general Russian, Potemkin, had to sign the peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire.

The military weakening of the High Gate made the presence of Ottoman diplomats in European royal courts more than necessary. In this context, we also see the organization of the ceremony on the occasion of the engagement of the Ottoman ambassador in London, on the 27 November of 1794.

While the weekly “Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal” wrote that from the reports it had received on December 26, 1793 from Istanbul, it was learned that Kara Mahmudi had defeated the Ottoman army, which for a long time had kept it trapped and that he had threatened to continue the war if the High Gate did not return all the hostages taken in Shkodër.

The XVIII century also represents the time when the Port for the first time, accepts the reports from its envoys in Vienna (1791-92), Abu Bekir Efendiu and from Ahmed Azmi Efendiu in Prussia (1790-1792). These events were essential for the decision taken in 1793, with which the High Gate established the regular dispatch of Ottoman ambassadors to foreign countries.

Even Ahmed Azmi Efendiu in his sent reports wrote not only about the organization of the Prussian army, but also about the division of administrative functions, the salary system and the prohibition of gifts. This proves that the Ottoman officials, since the end of the 18th century, were informed about how and what needed to be reformed, but for their implementation they needed strong support, which they did not have. 88 Whereas, on July 23 1796, King George III of Great Britain will appoint Francis James Jackson as his ambassador to the Ottoman imperial court.

In 1798 the High Gate had distributed to all foreign diplomatic missions in Istanbul a political declaration against revolutionary France. Initially, this declaration was published on October 10, 1798 in the newspaper of the Viennese imperial court, and later also in English newspapers. In this statement, the High Gate explained that its friendship and understanding with France had always been based on the friendship treaties signed between them.

In fact, Istanbul, despite the fact that illegitimate rulers had come to power in France, had continued to stick to agreements and friendly neutrality, even when all other European powers were fighting against revolutionary France. Paris had often invited the High Porte to enter the war on her side. On the other hand, the French Republic, although in a bad military condition, maintained a hostile attitude towards the High Porte on the ground.

Its naval fleet in the Mediterranean, Toulon, was blocked by the English, while in the north of France it was threatened by the Habsburg Empire. The High Porte had not exploited this weakness of France. She had not agreed to go to war against her. But the new rulers of France, starting from their own interests, with attempts to overthrow the legitimate ruling elites, as well as religious values, had tried to spread their revolutionary ideas in other countries as well.

So, destroying everything valuable in the name of human rights, France was trying, according to the High Gate, to return humanity to the conditions of barbarism. In this absurd policy of theirs, Divani accused, they did not even spare the allied countries, encouraging the spirit of rebellion and division. its contradictory policy of France, consisted in the attempt of its ambassador in Istanbul to encourage the Ottoman Empire not to join its enemies, while on the other hand, the French generals in Italy, in order to incite rebellion, sent their emissaries to Rumeli , More and other Greek islands.

Subsequently, the High Porte accused the Directorate that, despite the public declarations that it did not aim at the territorial expansion of France, Paris again, in the first opportunity given to it, had attacked the independent and unprotected republics, giving them conquered them. While the height of the Directorate’s hypocrisy was the attack and occupation of Egypt, the most precious province of the Ottoman Empire.

The French ambassador in Istanbul, Ruffin, justifying this action of his state, had received an order to explain to the High Porte that France had made this expedition to protect its commercial interests and to damage them. of England and that even the High Gate would benefit from this conquest. After the Ottoman Empire had been notified of this whole invasion scenario, its ambassador in Paris, Ali Efendiu, had asked for clarification from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand Perigord, who had tried to obscure these actions, emphasizing that Bonaparte had for the purpose of conquering Malta, an action that deserved the gratitude of all Muslims.

However, even the High Gate had not stood idly by. Considering that the shortest route to the holy cities, Mecca and Medina, passed through Egypt, the High Gate had taken some military measures, imprisoning not only the French representatives, but also other citizens in the fortress of the seven towers. French in the Ottoman Empire. At the end, she appealed to them other powers to join her in the council replies to the violent actions and deceptions of France.

This statement was sent to foreign embassies in Paris, on September 10, 1798.90 The English newspaper “Gloucester Journal”, in 1798, informed that based on the information received from the ambassador of Great Britain in Constantinople, the High Porte of had declared war on France, and that its ambassador and all the diplomats were imprisoned in the castle of the seven towers.

In addition to these imprisonments, several French merchant ships had also been confiscated. In the meantime, near the imperial capital, the Russian naval fleet had been seen. Regarding the latest developments in Istanbul, a merchant would also announce, who wrote in one of his letters that in 1798, some changes had been made in the Ottoman Court, due to the suspicions that some of its members were bribed by the French to not allow the declaration of war against the French Republic, and in the worst case, even if the declaration of war were to be declared, they would at least not allow concrete actions to be taken against Napoleon Bonaparte.

The claims of this corrupt group about the permanent danger from Petersburg were quite worrying for the High Gate. So these are the elements of a special war that took place even in the conditions of the 18th century, in order to keep the Ottoman Empire in a passive position, all the while scaring it with the Russian “bear”. The foreign merchant continued his letter, emphasizing that now in Istanbul there was an anti-French mood and that in the conditions when the British fleet led by Admiral Nelson had defeated the French fleet in the Mediterranean, the High Porte would send numerous military forces to Egypt against Napoleon Bonaparte.

At the same time, this newspaper also gave notes on Osman Pazvantoğlu (1758-1807), who was born in the city of Vidin and who had a Christian (orthodox) background. As a young man, he was recruited into the janissary corps, where he quickly advanced in their hierarchy. He was known as a person who had a lot of knowledge and endurance and strong character.

Similarly, it was said in this article, Pazvantoğlu was also characterized as a charitable and just man and very simple in his way of living. In a word, this renegade pasha can be described as a great philosopher of his time. Also, the article-writer emphasized that his rebellion was not directed against the Sultan, but rather against some other pashalars of his re-wave.

In order to increase the number of his supporters, he defended the rights of the janissaries and the old Ottoman institutions and, at the same time, declared himself the defender of the Orthodox Christians. If Pazvantoğlu had managed to better establish the foundations of his power in “Macedonia”, he would have made a revolution not only in that province, but also in Albania and More.91 So we are dealing with a description bias of this rebel Pasha, whose origin was connected with Bosnia.

Pazvantoğlu’s ancestors had moved to Sofia, where they had worked as guards. He was a friend of Riga Fereo, the famous Greek revolutionary. In 1798 he had rebelled against Sultan Selim III, operating as an independent in areas from the Balkan Mountains to the Danube River, where he minted his own coins.

In 1798, Venice’s pledges in Albania such as Butrinti, Preveza, Igoumenica, Parga and Vonitsa came under the sovereignty of France. According to the English newspaper “Chester Chronicle”, at that time Butrinti was inhabited only by a few families of fishermen and sailors. Igoumenica was a small settlement and its harbor could only accept small ships.

The city of Parga, on the other hand, had about 500 Greek and Albanian inhabitants, although it is not clear whether they are Orthodox believers, who are all considered Greek, while the rest, all residents of the Islamic faith , Albanians. In any case, they were good traders, who exported tobacco, which they cultivated themselves, and they also produced wheat for their own needs.

Preveza, too, was a seaport with about 10,000-12,000 inhabitants. Products coming from the interior of the country, such as: oil, wheat, etc., were sent for export from this port. In the same way, the construction of ships from wooden material, which came from Pashallek of Ioannina, was also developed in this city. Vonitsa had 250 houses with about 1,000 inhabitants.

In 1798, the combined Ottoman-Russian fleet had bombarded Butrint, the Albanian seaport that was in the possession of France. At the same time, the plan was made for the joint English-Ottoman-Russian fleet to block the seaport of Alexandria in Egypt to land at the mouth of the Nile River. On the other hand, even France had not remained passive. s
had diplomatic relations with foreign countries. This rebel pasha often organized plundering expeditions through the cities of Wallachia, which he then deserted. See http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Osman+Pasa+Pazvantoglu, Accessed February 12, 2016.
93 BL, BNA, Chester Chronicle, Friday, 16 March, 1798, 4.

It encouraged revolutionary movements by supporting and inciting the pashalars to disobey the High Gate. At the time of intense anti-French activities, Mustafa Pasha had declared himself ruler of Belgrade, independent of the power of the Sultan. He had suspended all measures against the rebels and the French. At the same time, in Albania, in 1798, 150 Frenchmen had landed, headed by two generals, whose ultimate goal was to revolutionize the Albanians.

Unfortunately, this plan for diversion in the rear of the Ottoman Empire had ended with the capture of all the French, of whom 60 had been killed. In the circumstances of a land and sea war in the Mediterranean, pirate attacks had also increased. Thus, the pirate from Ulcinj, called Urosh, had attacked the French ship “La Madone De Montenegro”, which had left Alexandria for Toulon on November 22, 1798.

On board this ship were the members of the Science and Art Commission: Pouqueville, Bessieres and Gjerardi; the head of the Genius Brigade, Kazimir Puatevi; colonel of artillery, Charbonel; the commissary of war, Fornier; Adjutant Beauvais; officers: Joje, Bovier and Mathiu, as well as missionary Guerrini. The French soldiers in Butrint were bought by Ali Pasha Janina, who soon began to use their military and technical knowledge. By his order, Puatevini made the fortification of Ioannina, while Sharboneli organized artillery of the Albanian pasha, thus transforming the disorderly wards into an army following the example of the European armies.

At the end of 1798, the High Gate would inform the representatives of Vienna and Petersburg that Ali Pasha Janina, the governor of Janina and Thessaly, had become the ruler of the former Venetian possessions in Albania, which had been occupied by the French. Meanwhile, the united Russian-Ottoman fleet had recovered from the French the islands of Zante, Cephalonia and finally Corfu.

In this whole atmosphere of general war in Europe, in their background stood the strategic and economic reasons of the two naval powers, Britain Great Britain and France. Revolutionary France calculated that through Egypt as a base, it would ensure trade in the entire Mediterranean area, and it also planned to open the canal that would connect the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, which means shortening the sea route. towards the Indian subcontinent. These French plans directly affected British commercial and strategic interests in the Mediterranean and in India.

Reference

SHQIPTARËT NË SHTYPIN BRITANIK (1774-1856). Written by Memli S. H. Krasniqi. Translated by Petrit Latifi.