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The Triumph of Catherine II

At the end of this victorious campaign the 'Semiramis of the North', whose head had been turned by passion and by fame, started on a triumphal progress through the five provinces of the Ukraine which she had gained for the crown. She journeyed round the Black Sea coast in a calash and visited the former seat of the Crime an Khans. Then she was present at the founding of Odessa. "The entire journey was an enchantment", writes Brian-Chaninov. "It was a whirl of triumphal arches, salutes, ringing of bells, of light and sound and fireworks, of plays and banquets." As a crowning touch she gave her friend Potemkin the title of Duke of Tauris as a sign of her favour.

In the meantime Abdul-Hamid I was languishing in his palace on the Bosporus. He sought for ways of expunging the disgrace of the Treaty of Kaynarca. He had to wait for twelve years. In 1786, on England's intercession, he gained the support of Sweden and even Poland, which Russia, Austria and Prussia had considerably weakened when Poland was first partitioned in 1772. He attacked Russia again. An attempt to take back the Crimea failed and the campaign was generally unsuccessful. But his adversaries were also exhausted and indifferent. The Treaty of Yassy (Ya<;) in 1792 relieved Turkey of some of the burden imposed by the Treaty of Kaynarca. Nevertheless the Ottomans had to renounce their claim to the Crimea and Bessarabia. Abdul-Hamid died in 1789 and his successor, Selim III (1789 - 1807), signed the treaty.

Yet at this time the Great Powers had more pressing problems than paying heed to Turkey. Their interests no longer lay in the east but in the west. At Paris the Revolution had triumphed.

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