S. S. Kurochkin. D. A. Milyutin’s Views on the Balkan Policy of the Russian Empire in 1861–1877 //
Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 4, 2025, pp. 171–183.

DOI: 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_4_171

Abstract:

This article provides an examination of the political standpoint adopted by Dmitry Milyutin,
Minister of War of the Russian Empire, with regard to the policy of the Russian Empire in the Balkan region during the period 1861–1877. The analysis of official data and personal sources from the minister’s personal archival fund has revealed a divergence of views between him and the Foreign Minister, Alexander Gorchakov, on the issues of international relations related to the ‘Eastern question’. This research has enabled the investigation of the search for solutions to international crises arising from the internal instability of the Ottoman Empire. The present study draws upon a range of historical sources to provide a detailed examination of the military cooperation that was established between the Russian Empire and the Principality of Serbia
during the 1860s. The present study has sought to analyse the personal sources related to the period of the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–1877) to investigate the participation of Dmitry Milyutin in the decision-making process that led to the declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire.

Key words: Dmitry Milyutin, Alexander Gorchakov, Alexander II of Russia, Ministry of War of the
Russian Empire, government reforms of Alexander II, Eastern question, Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Russia-Serbia relations, diplomacy, international relations in the 19th century.

Author:

Kurochkin, Sergei Sergeevich — PhD in History, Researcher at the Department of General History of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor (Faculty R, Department R 10 “Philosophy”) Baltic State Technical University “Voenmeh” (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: qeen123@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0009-0005-3654-934X

References:

Airapetov, O. R. Vneshnyaya politika Rossiiskoi imperii (1801–1914) [Foreign Policy of the Russian
Empire (1801–1914). In Russ.]. Moscow, Evropa publ., 2006. 668 p.

Airapetov, O. R. Zabytaya kar’era “russkogo Mol’tke”. Nikolai Nikolaevich Obruchev (1830–1904)
[The Forgotten Career of the “Russian Moltke”. Nikolai Nikolayevich Obruchev (1830–1904). In Russ.]. St. Petersburg, Aleteiya publ., 1998. 314 p.

Kardashev, Yu. P. Voennye ministry Rossii. 1802–1917. Ocherki zhizni i deyatel’nosti [Ministers of War of the Russian Empire. 1802–1917. Essays on the Life and Work. In Russ.]. Moscow, Pero publ., 2023. 744 p.

Kochukov, S. A. “Za brat’ev-slavyan”: Russko-turetskaya voina 1877–1878 godov v vospriyatii obshchestva, vlasti i armii Rossiiskoi imperii [“For the Slavic Brothers”: the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 in the Perception of Society, Power and Army of the Russian Empire. In Russ.]. Saratov, Saratov State University press, 2012. 298 p.

Osipova, M. N. Velikii russkii reformator fel’dmarshal D. A. Milyutin [The Great Russian Reformer Field Marshal Dmitry Milyutin. In Russ.]. Moscow, Anumi Fortitudo publ., 2005. 320 p.

Senkevich, I. G. Rossiya i kritskoe vosstanie. 1866–1869 gg. [Russia and the Cretan revolt. 1866–1869. In Russ.]. Moscow, Nauka publ., 1970. 212 p.

Zakharova, L. G. Milyutin: voennyi ministr i reformator [Milyutin. Minister of War and Reformer.
In Russ.]. In Rybachenok, I. S. (ed.). Rossiya: mezhdunarodnoe polozhenie i voennyi potentsial v seredine XIX — nachale XX veka. Ocherki. Moscow, 2003. P. 5–68.

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