Battle of Shipka Pass 1877
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 17 July 1877 – 9 January 1878 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1877 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Bulgaria | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Tenth Russo-Turkish War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ottoman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 42.7667, 25.3167 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Shipka Pass consisted of four battles that were fought between the Russian Empire, aided by Bulgarian volunteers known as opalchentsi, and the Ottoman Empire for control over the vital Shipka Pass during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The final battle is known as the battle of Shipka-Sheynovo or simply the battle of Sheynovo (Russian: Шипко-Шейновское сражение; Bulgarian: Шейновска битка).
In July 1877, four Russian corps crossed the Danube River and entered Bulgaria. Preceding the main Russian army, Iosif Gurko led a detachment of 11,000 men to capture the vital Balkan Mountain passes. In just over two weeks, Gurko had captured three important mountain passes but the main army was held up the day after Shipka Pass fell in the Siege of Pleven. Thus the defense of the pass was left to the Russian vanguard as well as Bulgarian volunteers. The Ottoman Army made two major attempts to retake the pass in 1877, but was unsuccessful, as the Russian and Bulgarian defenders were able to hold the pass against this overwhelming force, playing an important role in the war.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Shipka Pass (revision 1370274234), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War
- Battle of Aladzha 1877
- Battle of Elena 1877
- Battle of Gorni Dubnik 1877
- Battle of Kars (1877) 1877
- Battle of Kızıl Tepe 1877
- Battle of Lovcha 1877
- Battle of Nikopol 1877
- Battle of Svistov 1877
- Kavarna massacre 1877
- Siege of Plevna 1877
All 12 battles of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War →
Browse more: battles in Bulgaria · Europe · 19th century battles