№ 1686. The 135th anniversary of the end of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878

The war between Russia and Turkey begun as the result of the rise of the national liberation movement against Turkish domination in the Balkans and the aggravation of the international contradictions in the Middle East. Turkey tried to suppress the struggle for the independence of the Balkan nations, to maintain its military-feudal domination. The Russian government supported the liberation movement of these nations and also planned to restore the prestige and influence in the Balkans, undermined from the Crimean War, and to decide positively the issue on the freedom navigation through the Bosporus Strait.

In summer of 1877 the most heroic episode of the Russian-Turkish war began – the defense of the Shipka Pass during which the Russian military leader M.D. Skobelev distinguished himself. With a decisive attack he battered the forces of the Turkish army. In February 1878 Skobelev’s detachment occupied San Stefano where on February 20, 1878 the Treaty of San Stefano was signed on favorable terms for Russia This treaty also brought the liberation of Bulgaria from the 500 years of Ottoman yoke. Due to his successful actions Skobelev won great popularity in Bulgaria and Russia.