Abstract:

Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-78 had important results for both Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Recent scholarly Works on this war in Turkey deal either with attitude of foreign Powers toward the war or with migrations in post war period.  Also, there are some studies dealing with condition of the Russian Army during the war and the reports of Russian war journalists. Finally, there are some articles on the reflections of the war in war-time paintings or cartoons. Even though all these studies are very important for a better understanding of the war, none mentions how Russian military personnel viewed the war. Analyzing memories and diaries of some Russian commanders and officers who in their writings described war-time conditions and their observations on the war, this article aims to open a window, even though a narrow one, to scholarly studies on the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-78. Even though they are small in numbers, the diaries and memoirs analyzed in this study are very important since they show how some members of Russian military personnel perceived war and the Turks.