Paskievitch entered Asia Minor. The Russian troops overran the Roumanian
provinces, Wallachia and Moldavia. The Danube was crossed early in June,
under the eyes of the Czar. Unable to meet their enemy in the open field,
the Turks withdrew into their strongholds, Ibraila and Silistria on the
Danube, Varna and Shumla in the Balkans. The Russians besieged and stormed
Ibraila, and thence pushed on through the Dubrudsha toward the Black Sea.
In the meanwhile Paskievitch in Asia Minor defeated two Turkish armies and
captured Erzeroum.

[Sidenote: Brionis victorious]

[Sidenote: Surrender of Varna]

After these early successes the Russian operations began to lag. The Czar's
presence at headquarters was a source of embarrassment rather than of
strength. Wittgenstein committed the error of dividing his army into three
slender columns. Too weak to conduct forward operations, they were held in
check before Silistria, Varna and Shumla. The Russian transport service,
none too good at best, collapsed under the threefold strain. The ill-fed
soldiers wasted away by thousands. At length Homer Brionis, the commandant
of Shumla, took advantage of the weakness of his besiegers. On September 24
he broke out of Shumla and marched to the relief of Varna. The Czar,
notwithstanding the evident weakness of his troops, ordered his cousin,
Eugene of Wurtemberg, to check the Turkish advance with a frontal attack.
The result was a severe defeat. Had Brionis marched onward Varna would have
been relieved. He clung to Shumla, however, and the Turks at Varna were
forced to surrender. It was late in autumn now, and cold weather put a stop
to the campaign for the year. The display of military weakness seriously
injured the prestige of Russia. The manifold mistakes of this campaign have
been unsparingly laid bare in a famous monograph of Moltke. Henceforth the
successful prosecution of the war became a _sine qua non_ for Russia.

[Sidenote: Turks evacuate Morea]

[Sidenote: Vacillation in France]

During the progress of these events, French forces were landed in Greece.
They occupied Navarino, Patras and Modon. The Turks gave in and consented
to evacuate the Morea. In France, the ultra-royalist measures of Charles X.
gave rise to an ever growing spirit of dissatisfaction. The death of
Manuel, the outcast of the Chambers, was made the occasion of a great
public demonstration. The coalition of Liberals with a faction of Royalists
opposed to the Ministr