The Treaty of Kuçuk Kainarji (July 21, 1774) established Russia as the major power in the Black Sea region. The introduction of the eastern question is commonly dated to 1774, when the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) ended in defeat for the Ottoman Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire was thereafter no longer a threat to Austria, tensions with Russia were growing. The Ottoman defeat at Vienna by Austria and Poland in 1683 brought expansion toward the west to a sudden halt, and the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) forced Ottoman rulers to cede most of the empire's central European possessions, including Hungary. The Ottoman Empire was at the height of its power during the seventeenth century, annexing wide parts of central Europe.
Both Russia and Great Britain took measures to gain influence in southeastern Europe, in the Middle East, and in Central Asia. The term great game, known in Russia as the tournament of shadows, refers to the Anglo-Russian rivalry with regard to Iran (Persia), Afghanistan, and northern India. The decline of the Ottoman Empire beginning in the 1700s had brought up what became known as the eastern question: The term does not refer to a single question but to a variety of issues, including the instability of European territories that were part of the Ottoman Empire. For centuries, the rivalry between Russia and Great Britain in the Middle East was a major factor in geopolitics.
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