Ukrainian line

Ukrainian Line
Ukraine
Ukrainian Line in 1737
Site information
TypeDefensive line
Controlled byNovorossiysk Governorate of the Russian Empire
Location
Site history
Built1731–1764
In use1731–1770th
MaterialsNatural features, moats, earthworks

The Ukrainian defensive line was a Russian heavily fortified defensive line on the territory of modern Ukraine built between 1731–1764 on the lands of the Zaporozhian Sich and the Cossack Hetmanate. Built by imperial Russia, it strengthened the defense of the southern borders from Tatar incursions[1] and established military bases in approximation to the Crimea. It was designed by a Russian general Johann Bernhard Graf Weißbach from Bohemia. 285 kilometers in length, it comprised 16 newly-constructed forts and 4 old forts repaired. The first stage was built from 1731–40 and subsequent construction began in the 1740s.

History of construction

Following the defeat at the Pruth Campaign, Russia was forced to surrender some of its territorial acquisitions in Ukraine and around the Sea of Azov. In January 1711, the Crimean Tatar khan Devlet Giray, in support of the Zaporizhian Sich, went to Sloboda Ukraine with his main forces (approximately 50,000 members of the Crimean horde) and several hundred Cossacks.[2]

The Russian Empire began to prepare actively for the next war with the Ottoman Empire to secure the return of Azov and the Northern Azov Sea Region (Pryazovia). According to official Russian legend, the Ukrainian line was built to prevent the Tatar incursion into the Poltava territory of the Hetmanate and the Kharkiv territory of Sloboda Ukraine.[3] The line proved to be of limited success given the distance between the fortresses and that the Crimean Tatars excelled in asymmetrical warfare by raiding through gaps in the Russian defense lines.[4] The bulk of the work on the construction was done by Ukrainian Cossacks and peasants in 1731–1732. Every year, 20 thousand Cossacks and 10 thousand peasants of the Hetmanate worked on the line, who were obliged to work with their own inventory and supplies, every 10th with an ox, and the Cossacks with their weapons. Thousands of Ukrainians lost their lives in the construction of the line. After signing the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739 and the transfer of the Russian-Turkish border from the territory between the Samara and Oril rivers on the Azov Sea, work on the line was terminated, and with the construction of the Dnieper line in 1770–1783, the Ukrainian line lost its military defensive value.

Structure of the Line

The line ran from the Oril river to the Siverskyi Donets River. The Ukrainian line consisted of 16 forts and 49 redoubts.

1737 map with 15 fortresses


Locations

Fortress NameOther NameNearest settlementYearsCoordinates
from Dnieper
Borisoglebskaya fortressKr. Boriso GlebskaiaRudka1731–174248.803148, 34.330804
Livenskaya fortressKr. MajatskaLivenske49.109136, 34.519317
Gorodetskaya fortressKr. Nechworoschenka1731–173649.137300, 34.666800
Kozlivska fortressKr. KrutojatskaSkalonivka173149.189962, 35.169081
St. Theodore fortressKr. Nova SaczatajaZaliniine173149.168657, 35.093911
Bilevska fortressKr. DesiatajaBerestyn49.369017, 35.452845
St. John (Ioanivska) FortressKr. St. IohannaIvanivske1731–174249.440044, 35.585453
Orel fortressKr. DewiatajaDiachkivka1731–174249.472411, 35.722404
St. Paraskeva fortressKr. St. ParaskewiParaskoviia1731–174249.517610, 35.868816
Efrem fortressKr. Troitzatich BujerackYefremivka1731–174249.441978, 36.064019
St. Alexis fortressKr. BeretzkaOleksiivka1731–174249.392243, 36.264049
St. Michael fortressKr. KiselMykhailivka1731–174249.321668, 36.446030
Slobodskaya fortressKr. LosowoiPavlivka173149.215590, 36.578546
Tambov fortressKr. BusowoiMarivka173149.136049, 36.741880
St. Peter fortressKr. DonetzkaPetrivske173149.163730, 36.890191
Ryazhskaya fortressRiaske49.173816, 34.916266
Vasylivska fortressNekhvoroshcha1731–173649.164035, 34.752155
to Siversky Donets

For defense there were 20 regiments of land militia, (14 cavalry regiments, and six infantry regiments) with about 22 000; it had 180 artillery guns and 39 mortars. In 1740 there were 18 forts and 140 redoubts. Bilevska castle was the center of the line. Until 1764, a land militia office was located there.

References

  1. ↑ Serhii Plokhy. "Ukraine and Russia: Representations of the Past", 2008, p. 60
  2. ↑ Д. И. Эварницкій: «Исторія запорожскихъ казаковъ», С.-Петербургь 1897, т. III, стор. 494.
  3. ↑ Brian Davies. "Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Continuum International Publishing Group", 2011., p. 172
  4. ↑ Brian Davies. "Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Continuum International Publishing Group", 2011., p. 205
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