1797-1798 Vidin Kuşatmasında Seferberlik ve Lojistik

Abstract

At the end of the 18th century, one of the leading notables whose influence was increasing in Ottoman Rumelia was Pazvantoğlu Osman Pasha from Vidin. Because Pazvantoğlu was useful against the Austrians in the war of 1787-1792, some of his father's inheritance was given back to him by the central government. Thus began the process of establishing Pazvantoğlu Osman's authority in Vidin. By expanding his sphere of influence in the ways followed by other notables of the period, he formed his army from stray bandits in the region and janissaries opposed to the center. Sultan III, for harming his own financial and political resources. He opposed the Nizam-ı Cedid practices of Selim, which envisaged centralization. The power he gained over time made him a threat to both the Ottoman government and other rivals in the region. In the following process, the expansionist activities in and around Vidin turned into an open rebellion against the central authority. Although he was treated with tolerance in the beginning, this situation changed at the end of 1797, and the siege of Vidin, the most comprehensive operation that the Ottoman Empire attempted to control a notable, was organized. Not only the forces under the command of Serasker Küçük Hüseyin Pasha were sent for the siege, but also many notables from the Balkans and Anatolia were mobilized for the Vidin army. Each of the notables in the siege army, like Pazvantoğlu Osman, had accumulated wealth by building their influence in their own regions. However, the notables could not move in all in Vidin, and after a while they gradually left the battlefield. Despite all the preparations and the crowded army gathered, the siege of Vidin resulted in a great failure for the Ottoman government. In the process after the siege of Vidin, Vidin came under Pazvantoğlu's control and Pazvantoğlu's reputation in the eyes of the public increased even more. In addition, the failure of the Ottoman government in Vidin was effective in increasing the opposition of the other notables to the central government.