Bucharest Peace Treaty of 1812

concluded the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-12. It was signed on May 16 (28) in Bucharest for Russia by its chief representative M. I. Kutuzov and for the Ottoman Empire by Ahmed Pasha. The peace negotiations began in October 1811 in Giurgiu after the main Turkish forces were defeated at Rushchuk (Ruse) and the majority of them were encircled near Slobodzeya. Despite the attempt of the sultan’s representative Halib-Effendi to drag out the negotiations, the Russian commander in chief, M. I. Kutuzov, brought about their conclusion a month before the invasion of Russia by Napoleon I’s army. This represented a major political gain for Russia; its southern frontiers were secure, and its Danube army could be transferred to reinforce the troops covering the western frontiers. Turkey broke its alliance with France.

The Bucharest Peace Treaty had 16 stated and two secret articles. Article 4 established a new Russo-Turkish frontier along the Prut River (instead of the Dnestr), thus giving Bessarabia to Russia. Article 6 made Russia return to Turkey all the areas in the Caucasus “conquered … by force of arms.” This edition of the article was the basis for returning Anapa, Poti, and Akhalkalaki, which had been taken in battle; but at the same time, it was an excuse for retaining Sukhumi and other places that Russia had acquired because the rulers of western Georgia had voluntarily become Russian subjects. Thus, Russia for the first time received naval bases on the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea. The Bucharest Peace Treaty guaranteed the privileges of the Danube principalities and the internal self-government of Serbia, which laid the foundation for its full independence; this was a step forward for the cause of the national liberation of the Balkan peoples. The basic propositions of the Bucharest Peace Treaty were reaffirmed in the Akkerman Convention of 1826.