1769 LONGCHAMPS, le Sieur. - A very rare separately published map of the Crimea region, showing the situation in 1769 during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774.

A very rare, separately published, historically important war map documenting Russia’s southward expansion, the Russo-Turkish conflict, Crimea, Ukraine, and the Black Sea region at a decisive moment in eighteenth-century European history. The map was compiled from the Russian Atlas, together with manuscript surveys made after the preceding wars, and incorporates recently constructed Russian towns and forts along the Dnieper, Donets, Orel, and Samara rivers. It also identifies lands granted by the Russian Empress for settlement by married military regiments, intended both to cultivate the frontier and to defend the expanding southern limits of the Russian Empire.

Of particular historical interest is the map’s depiction of the geopolitical situation in 1769, when Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the Polish Confederates were engaged in a conflict that would transform the balance of power around the Black Sea. Crimea and the territories of the Crimean Tatars occupy a central position, while Poland, Moldavia, Bessarabia and the northern Black Sea littoral are shown in considerable detail.With a large title cartouche lower left "Nouveau theâtre de la guerre entre les russes, les turcs et les polonois confédérés, dressé pour la partie de la Russie méridionale suivant l'Atlas russe, on a fait usage pour la partie de la Pologne, la Moldavie, la Bessarabie, la Crimée et la Petite Tartarie de plusieurs cartes manuscrites levées depuis la dernière guerre, où se trouvent les nouvelles villes et forts construits par les russes dans la nouvelle Servie, sur le Dnepr ou Boristène, le Donec ou petit Don, l'Orel et la Samara, on y a indiqué les terres que l'impératrice de Russie a donnée à cultiver à des régiments de soldats mariés qui deffendent les limites de ses états en même tems qu'ils les peuplent, le tout assujetti suivant les observations astronomiques."

Interesting map showing the situation in 1769 during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774.

The Russo-Turkish War continued Russia’s struggle for an outlet on the Black Sea and against Ottoman aggression, as the Ottomans tried to expand their possessions along the Black Sea and in the Caucasus and seize Astrakhan. Turkey also opposed the growth of Russian influence in Poland, where the Russian protégé, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, became king in 1764.

The immediate cause of the war was Russia’s rejection of a Turkish ultimatum calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Poland, where, in 1768, they began military operations against the Confederation of Bar. Subsequently, on Sept. 25 (Oct. 6), 1768, Turkey, supported by France and Austria, declared war on Russia.

The Russian strategic plan for 1769 provided for an offensive against Khotin by the main forces and General A. M. Goli-tsyn’s First Army (80,000–90,000 men). General P. A. Rumiant-sev’s Second Army (35,000 men) supported the main forces by covering the southern boundaries from the Dnieper to the Don against the Crimean Tatars.

The Baltic Fleet was sent to the Mediterranean Sea to blockade the Dardanelles and support the national liberation movement in Greece. In early 1769, the Second Army repulsed a Crimean Tatar incursion and reached the shore of the Sea of Azov.

Although two assaults on Khotin by the First Army in April and June were unsuccessful, the Turkish garrison abandoned the town in September because of a shortage of provisions.

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