[6] On 20 May 1736, the Russian Dnieper Army (62,000 men), under the command of Field Marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich, stormed the Crimean fortifications at Perekop and occupied Bakhchysarai on June 17.

In 1736, 1737, and 1738, Russian expeditionary armies broke through their defensive positions, pushing deep into the Crimean peninsula, driving the Tatar noblemen into the hills and forcing Khan Fetih II Giray to take refuge at sea.

[9] Despite his success and a string of battlefield victories, the outbreak of an epidemic coupled with shortages[10] forced Münnich to retreat to Ukraine.

In August, Russia, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire began negotiations in Nemirov, which would turn out to be fruitless.

[20] In the summer of 1739, the Russian army, commanded by Field Marshal Münnich, crossed the Dniester river by the late July, defeated the Turks at the Battle of Stavuchany on August 28 [O.S.

[21] However, main Habsburg army suffered a strategic defeat at the Battle of Grocka near Belgrade, on 21-22 July.

Already on 31 July, the imperial government in Vienna decided to relieve Wallis of his previously granted powers to negotiate with the Ottomans, and those powers were consequently transferred to count Neipperg, who arrived at Belgrade on 16 August, and then proceeded to the camp of the Grand Vizier on 18 August, thus initiating peace negotiations.

There he found himself isolated, and dependent on the French mediator, marquis Louis Sauveur de Villeneuve.

On 1 September, Neipperg agreed to sign a preliminary peace agreement with the Ottomans that included the loss of Belgrade, not knowing that his original instructions were no longer valid, since the imperial government in Vienna in the meantime decided not to surrender the city, and wait for the outcome of the Russian campaign in Moldavia.

News on the conclusion of the preliminary peace treaty reached Vienna on 7 September, but it was too late for reversal.

[23][24] Using mediating powers granted to him by the Russian court, Villeneuve also negotiated a separate Russo-Turkish preliminary peace treaty, that was signed on the same day (18 September) in Belgrade.

Faced with the threat of a possible Swedish invasion,[25] and consequent Ottoman alliances with Sweden, Poland, and Prussia,[26] Russian government decided to accept terms that were reached through the French mediation.

[27] The Azak Fortress was demolished and its lands were turned into neutral territory as it became a centre of attack in line with the demands for access to the Black Sea.

The Ottoman Empire held forts along the north shore of the Black Sea and on the eastern side of the Balkans.

The Crimean Khanate and its Nogai steppe allies raided Poland and Russia and sold the captives to the Turks at Kaffa.

With Crimean troops absent from the peninsula and the Turks engaged with Persia, Russia seized the opportunity for a surprise attack.

He turned west with the river, and on 16 October, reached the Russian fort of Kamenny Zaton, about 10 days' march from Perekop.

1736: First Russian invasion of Crimea: In mid-April, Münnich set off south with 54,000 men and 8,000 or 9,000 carts, following Leontiev’s route east of the Dnieper bend.

It increased, and in September 1738, Ochakov and Kinburn were evacuated to escape the plague because the weakened troops would not be able to resist if the Turks came back.)

Instead of attacking the 60,000 Tatars waiting at Perekop, Lacy built a pontoon bridge out of water casks and crossed the Henichesk Strait onto the Arabat Spit, starting on 2 July.

Khan Fetih headed south toward the far end of the spit, but Lacy again outflanked him by crossing to the mainland near the Salhyr River, causing the Crimeans to disperse.

[37] He had lost most of his supplies with the flotilla; the Tatars were regrouping, there was not enough fresh water and fodder, and sickness was starting to appear.

Instead of attacking Perekop, Lacy chose to cross the Syvash by wading at low tide, possibly near the Chongar Strait.

On 6 June, they were again caught at ‘Cape Fedotov’, probably on the long sand spit just east of Henichesk Strait.

1738: Western campaign: The goal was for Münnich to lead the main army to the Dniester and attack the border forts at either Khotin or Bender.

He reached the Dniester, but on 6 August, he abandoned the campaign because of Turkish resistance and reports of plague west of the river.

1739: Failed invasion of Crimea: Levashev was supposed to march from Azov, but an epidemic forced him to halt at the Miuss River.

He left Kiev in late April, crossing Polish territory because the land was better and the Poles were too weak to interfere.

After the formal ratification of peace treaties, diplomatic instruments were exchanged and the final convention was signed in Constantinople on 28 December 1739, also trough the French mediation, thus concluding the war.

Austria gave up Belgrade with central Serbia, south of the Danube, and also western Wallachia, which was perhaps more than the military situation required.