OTTOMAN POLICY OF CIRCASSIA DURING THE CRIMEAN WAR

During the initial stages of the war, the Caucasian front, traditionally one of the two fronts in the Russo-Ottoman wars, was a possible venue whence the Allied offensive against Russia would be conducted. When the Crimea was selected as the main theater of the war, the Caucasus became the second front, in which a possible Russian success might have brought a modest treaty although the Allies were the victors of the war.

From 1854 until the end of the war, the Black Sea was under the complete control of the Allied Powers; Russia had great difficulties in transportation and reinforcement. However, the Russian forces managed to stand fast in the Caucasus and the Porte could neither provide the necessary aid to Sheikh Shamil, nor succeed in stimulating the Circassians to participate in the war actively. Zanoko Sefer, at that time an Ottoman Pasha, was the agent of the Porte in Circassia. Nevertheless, this important personality of the Circassian resistance was not only unsuccessful in uniting Circassia, but even worse; he reduced the influence of Muhammed Emin, by further dividing the Circassians.

Throughout the Crimean War, the battles in the Caucasian front took place on and around the Russo-Ottoman border and never spread to the North Caucasus, since the Porte could not succeed in utilizing the mountaineers against Russia. During the Crimean War, which was actually the opportunity for what the Circassians had waited impatiently for more than two decades, interestingly Circassia remained by and large silent. This war was also a chance for the Ottoman Empire either to reverse its former territorial losses or to establish buffer zones for more secure borders. That’s why, apparently, the Ottoman Empire as well as the Circassians could not make use of the opportunities efficiently. However, besides these lack of success of the Ottoman Empire and the Circassians, the actual limits of the military capabilities of the Porte and the mountaineers of the Caucasus, as well as the war aims of Britain and France should also be considered.