The Sultan of Turkey. He succeeded his brother to the throne in 1774. His reign was marked by wars with Russia, which were disastrous for Turkey. During the first year of his reign Turkey was defeated twice by the Russian forces and had to give Russia navigational rights on the Black Sea and through the straits to the Mediterranean and Turkey was forced to give independence to Crimea. Turkey suffered another defeat by the Austrians in 1775 and by Persians in 1776. Another War with Russia began in 1787, when Catherine the Great annexed Crimea in 1783 and encouraged the Greeks to revolt against the Turks. Abdul Hamid died on hearing the news of defeat of his forces by the Russians in 1789.