Almost an Ottoman inland waterway?

In historical accounts, the Black Sea is often described as an ‘Ottoman inland sea’, which was largely under Istanbul’s control until the late 18th century. The lecture will therefore begin by examining the extent to which – or the differences in the extent to which – the coastal regions were actually integrated into the sultans’ sphere of influence. At the same time, however, there were also close links with other empires, such as the Russian Tsardom, which likewise laid claim to this region and, particularly from the 18th century onwards, became the Ottoman Empire’s most significant rival.