Strategies of Ukrainian War

 This is a new book by the Russian historian Vladimir Shirogorov that examines the conflict among Russia, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire over the steppe from 1500 to 1800.

He starts by describing the seat of the conflict, Ukraine, sadly, a region all too familiar to modern readers. Although he rightly draws in a much larger territory than the modern country. Poland, the Balkans and the Caucasus all played a part, a region I called the Pontic Steppe in my recent book. The combatants' strategies did not recognise it as an integral entity and fought over what the author, interestingly, calls the Wild Fields. It may have been 'wild', but it was occupied by Tatars and Cossacks, as well as the Ottomans on the fringes and was increasingly subject to Russian colonisation. He argues that Poland adopted the ideology of Sarmatism, reflecting the ideals of that race of warriors, and also as justification for the right to possess Slavic peasant serfs.

While there is a narrative history of the numerous conflicts, strategy is the lens that runs through the book. The problem with this approach is a tendency to fit the historical narrative into these strategies, when history can be messy. While I, of all people, agree that this is a fascinating region, I fear the author goes too far in arguing, 'The dynamic south of eastern Europe seized the subcontinent's strategic agenda while its stagnant north shrank.' He certainly overstates the impact on Western European states, whose primary focus was not on the Wild Fields. Even Russia, at least since Peter the Great, started to look West, although I accept that the Wild Fields became the driving strategy as the period progressed. The Ottomans certainly had more on their plate than simply this territory. What I agree with in the author's analysis is the absence of ethnicity as the underlying ideology and the importance of local interests in driving their empire's strategy.

There is a lot of detail in the narrative history, and that is this book's strength. It covers a broad sweep of history that has been covered in parts, but rarely in the context it deserves. The Cossack raids on Constantinople and the early Azov campaigns are good examples of this. He also does not ignore the importance of economic factors, including food supply and slave trading. Wallachia and Moldavia were vital suppliers of food for Constantinople, and the interruption of these supplies during the Long War in 1595-1606 led the Ottomans to seek a replacement in Ukraine's fertile soil. The fortress at Ochakov was not built there by accident.

I am always grateful to Russian historians who pass their knowledge on in English, having just spent days painfully translating some older Russian texts. However, this book could have done with more editorial assistance. The text is incorrect in places and often clunky and hard to comprehend. I thought it was a case of using too much jargon, but it is often just the wrong word choice. That is a shame, because there is much to learn in this book if you are interested in the region. I fear the general reader might give up.

Ukraine. It has to be Cossacks!