Azov campaigns

Battle context

The Azov campaigns of 1695–1696 were a two-stage Russian military effort within the Russo-Turkish War of 1686–1700, led by Peter the Great and directed at capturing the Ottoman fortress of Azov. Control of Azov would give Russia command of the southern mouth of the Don River and, beyond it, access to the Sea of Azov and a potential entry point into the Black Sea. The first campaign in 1695 ended in a failed siege despite heavy Russian casualties. The second campaign in 1696, conducted with the addition of a naval force under General Sheremetev, succeeded in taking the fortress in July of that year. The capture of Azov marked the first major Russian victory against the Ottomans in the war and represented a significant step in Russia's long-running strategic effort to secure a southern maritime outlet — a goal that would define Russian foreign and military policy for generations. The use of a combined land and naval force in 1696, after the failure of the purely land-based 1695 effort, also demonstrated an early expression of Peter's recognition that naval capability was essential to projecting Russian military power.