| Summary/Abstract |
Having launched a campaign against the Ottoman Empire in 1877, Russia intended to crush the enemy by one swift sweep that would leave no time for the Turks to recover and for other great powers to intervene. A breakthrough across the Balkan Ridge was a vital aspect of that plan. After the plan failed, the Russian Army was drawn into static mountain warfare at the Shipka Pass. Unskilled in this type of action, it suffered greater attrition to the elements during an uneventful deployment at Shipka than it did to enemy fire in the bloodiest battles of the war. However, this grim experience made no impact on the Russian Army’s approach to mountain warfare in following campaigns.
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