Ottoman–Habsburg wars

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Ottoman-Habsburg wars
Part of the Ottoman Wars in Europe

From top-left clockwise: Austrian coat of arms, Ottoman

Mameluke, Imperial Troops in battle, Flag of the
Ottoman Empire.
1526 (Battle of Mohacs) to 1791
Date
(Treaty of Sistova)
Hungary, Mediterranean Sea,
Location
Balkans, North Africa and Malta.
Result Weakening of both sides.
Belligerents
Habsburg Dynasty: Ottoman Empire

Habsburg Spain Vassals:

Holy Roman Empire
Moldavia[1]
• Habsburg Transylvania
Austria
Wallachia
• Kingdom of Barbary States
Hungary Crimean Khanate

• Kingdom of
 Croatia

Non-Habsburg Allies:

Moldavia[1]
Transylvania
Wallachia
Tsardom of Russia [2]
Holy League Allies:

Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth

Venice

The Ottoman–Habsburg wars refers to the military conflicts between the Ottoman
Empire and the Habsburg dynasties of the Austrian Empire, Habsburg Spain and in
certain times, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The war would be
dominated by land campaigns in Hungary. Initially, Ottoman conquests in Europe made
significant gains with a decisive victory at Mohacs reducing the Kingdom of Hungary to
the status of an Ottoman tributary.[3]

By the 16th century, the Ottomans had become a serious threat to Europe, with Ottoman
Barbary ships sweeping away Venetian possessions in the Aegean and Ionia. The
Protestant Reformation, the France-Habsburg rivalry and the numerous civil conflicts of
the Holy Roman Empire served as distractions. Meanwhile the Ottomans had to contend
with the Persian Shah and the Mameluke Sultanate, both of whom were defeated and the
latter fully annexed into the empire.

Later, the Peace of Westphalia and the Spanish War of Succession in the 17th and 18th
centuries respectively left the Austrian Empire as the sole firm possession of the House of
Habsburg. By then, however, European advances in guns and military tactics outweighed
the skill and resources of the Ottomans and their elite Janissaries, thus ensuring the
Habsburgs to retake Hungary. The Great Turkish War ended with three decisive Holy
League victories at Vienna, Mohacs and Zenta. The wars came to an end when the
Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire signed an alliance with the German Empire
prior to World War I. Following their defeat in that war, both Empires were dissolved
and both Houses continue to claim the title of Caesar.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Origins
• 2 Austrian advance
• 3 Siege of Vienna
 • 4 Little War
• 5 War in the Mediterranean
o 5.1 1480 - 1540
o 5.2 Siege of Malta
o 5.3 Cyprus & Lepanto
• 6 Thirteen Years War 1593 - 1606
• 7 Conquest of Crete
• 8 Great Turkish War
o 8.1 Siege of Vienna
o 8.2 Holy League Counter
• 9 End game
o 9.1 Spanish War of Succession
o 9.2 19th Century
o 9.3 World War One
• 10 Notes

• 11 See also

Origins
The origins of the wars are clouded by the fact that although the Habsburgs were
occasionally the Kings of Hungary and Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (though
almost always that of the Holy Roman Empire after the 15th century), the wars between
the Hungarians and the Ottomans included other Dynasties as well. Naturally, the
Ottoman Wars in Europe attracted support from the West, where the advancing and
powerful Islamic state was seen as a threat to Christendom in Europe. The Crusades of
Nicopolis and of Varna marked the most determined attempts by Europe to halt the
Turkic advance into Central Europe and the Balkans.

For a while the Ottomans were too busy trying to put down Balkan rebels such as Vlad
Dracula. However, the defeat of these and other rebellious vassal states opened up
Central Europe to Ottoman invasion. The Kingdom of Hungary now bordered the
Ottoman Empire and its vassals.

After King Louis II of Hungary was killed at the Battle of Mohacs, his widow Queen
Mary fled to her brother the Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand I. Ferdinand's claim to the
throne of Hungary was further strengthened by the fact that he had married Anne, the
sister of King Louis II and the only family member claimant to the throne of the shattered
Kingdom. Consequently Ferdinand I was elected King of Bohemia and at the Diet of
Bratislava he and his wife were elected King and Queen of Hungary. This clashed with
the Turkish objective of placing the puppet John Szapolyai on the throne, thus setting the
stage for a conflict between the two powers.

Austrian advance
Ferdinand I attacked Hungary, a state severely weakened by civil conflict, in 1527, in an
attempt to drive out John Szapolyai and enforce his authority there. John was unable to
prevent Ferdinand's campaigning which saw the capture of Buda and several other key
settlements along the Danube. Despite this, the Ottoman Sultan was slow to react and
only came to the aid of his vassal when he launched a huge army of about 120,000 men
on 10 May 1529.[4]

Siege of Vienna

At Vienna, the Ottomans found overruning pike formations in the face of concentrated
musket fire a challenge too difficult to overcome.

The Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, easily wrestled from Ferdinand most of
the gains he had achieved in the previous two years - to the disappointment of Ferdinand
I, only the fortress of Bratislava resisted. Considering the size of Suleiman's army and the
devastation wrought upon Hungary in the previous few years it is not surprising that the
will to resist one of the world's powerful states was lacking in many of the recently
garrisoned Habsburg settlements.

The Sultan arrived at Vienna on 27 September the same year. Ferdinand's army was some
16,000 strong - he was outnumbered roughly 7 to 1 and the walls of Vienna were an
invitation to Ottoman cannon (6ft thick along some parts). Nonetheless, Ferdinand
defended Vienna with great vigour. By October 12, after much mining and counter-
mining an Ottoman war council was called and on October 14 the Ottomans abandoned
the siege. The retreat of the Ottoman army was hampered by the brave resistance of
Bratislava which once more bombarded the Ottomans. Early snowfall made matters
worse and it would be another three years before Suleiman could campaign in Hungary.

Little War
After the defeat at Vienna, the Ottoman Sultan had to turn his attention to other parts of
his impressive domain. Taking advantage of this absence, Archduke Ferdinand launched
an offensive in 1530, recapturing Gran and other forts. An assault on Buda was only
thwarted by the presence of Ottoman Turkish soldiers.
The Ottoman army consisted of both heavy & missile, cavalry and infantry, making it
both versatile and powerful

Much like the previous Austrian offensive, the return of the Ottomans forced the
Habsburgs in Austria to go on the defensive once more. In 1532 Suleiman sent a massive
Ottoman army to take Vienna. However, the army took a different route to Koszeg. After
a defence by a mere 700-strong Croatian force, the defenders accepted an "honorable"
surrender of the fortress in return for their safety. After this, the Sultan withdrew content
with his success and recognizing the limited Austrian gains in Hungary, whilst at the
same time forcing Ferdinand to recognize John Szapolyai as King of Hungary.

Whilst the peace between the Austrians and the Ottomans would last for nine years, John
Szapolyai and Ferdinand found it convenient to continue skirmishes along their
respective borders. In 1537 Ferdinand broke the peace treaty by sending his ablest
generals to a disastrous siege of Osijek which saw another Ottoman triumph. Even so, by
the Treaty of Nagyvárad, Ferdinand was recognized as the heir of the Kingdom of
Hungary.

Ruins of Koszeg castle

Turkish attack on a river fortress (Szigetvár 1566)

The death of John Szapolyai in 1540 saw Ferdinand's inheritance robbed; it was instead
given to John's son John II Sigismund. Attempting to enforce the treaty, the Austrians
advanced on Buda where they experienced another defeat by Suleiman; the elderly
Austrian General Rogendorf proved to be incompetent. Suleiman then finished off the
remaining Austrian troops and proceeded to de facto annex Hungary. By the time a peace
treaty was enforced in 1551, Habsburg Hungary had been reduced to little more than
border land. However, at Eger the Austrians achieved a stunning victory, thanks in part to
the efforts of the civilians present.

After the seizure of Buda by the Turks in 1541, the West and North Hungary recognized
a Habsburg as king ("Royal Hungary"), while the central and southern counties were
occupied by the Sultan ("Ottoman Hungary") and the east became the Principality of
Transylvania.

The Little war saw wasted opportunities on both sides; Austrian attempts to increase their
influence in Hungary were just as unsuccessful as the Ottoman drives to Vienna.
Nonetheless, there were no illusions as to the status quo; the Ottoman Empire was still a
very powerful and dangerous threat. Even so, the Austrians would go on the offensive
again, their generals building a bloody reputation for so much loss of life. Costly battles
like those fought at Buda and Osijek were to be avoided, but not absent in the upcoming
conflicts. In any case Habsburg interests were split 3-way between fighting for a
devastated European land under Islamic control, trying to stop the gradual
decentralization of Imperial authority in Germany, and Spain's ambitions in North Africa,
the Low Countries and against the French. Having said this, the Ottomans, whilst hanging
on to their supreme power, could not expand upon it as much as they did in the days of
Mehmet and Bayezid. Whilst the nadir of the Empire had yet to come, its stagnation
would be characterized by the same campaigning that led to little real expansion. To the
east lay further wars against their Shi'ite opponents, the Safavids.

Suleiman the Magnificent led one last final campaign in 1566, ending at the Siege of
Szigetvar. The Siege was meant to be only a temporary stop before taking on Vienna.
However, the fortress withstood against the Sultan's armies. Eventually the Sultan,
already an old man at 72 years (ironically campaigning to restore his health), died. The
Royal Physician was strangled to prevent news from reaching the troops and the unaware
Ottomans took the fort, ending the campaign shortly afterward without making a move
against Vienna.

War in the Mediterranean

1480 - 1540

Siege of Rhodes in 1522

Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire rapidly began displacing her Christian opponents at Sea.
In the 14th century, the Ottomans had only a small navy. By the 15th century, hundreds
of ships were in the Ottoman arsenal taking on Constantinople and challenging the naval
powers of the Italian Republics of Venice and Genoa. In 1480, the Ottomans
unsuccessfully laid siege to Rhodes Island, the stronghold of the Knights of St. John.
When the Ottomans returned in 1522, they were more successful and the Christian
powers lost a crucial naval base.

In retaliation, Charles V led a massive Holy League of 60,000 soldiers against the
Ottoman supported city of Tunis. After Hayreddin Barbarossa's fleet was defeated by a
Genoan one, Charles put 30,000 of the city's residents to the sword. Afterwards, the
Spanish placed a friendlier Muslim leader in power. The campaign was not an
unmitigated success; many Holy League soldiers succumbed to dysentery, only natural
for such a large overseas army. Furthermore, much of Barbarossa's fleet was not present
in North Africa and the Ottomans won a victory against the Holy League in 1538 at the
Battle of Preveza.

Siege of Malta
Siege of Malta, 1565

Despite the loss of Rhodes, Cyprus, an island further from Europe than Rhodes, remained
Venetian. When the Knights of St. John moved to Malta, the Ottomans found that their
victory at Rhodes only displaced the problem; Ottoman ships came under frequent attacks
by the Knights, as they attempted to stop Ottoman expansion to the West. Not to be
outdone, Ottoman ships struck many parts of southern Europe and around Italy, as part of
their wider war with France against the Habsburgs (See Italian Wars). The situation
finally came to a head when Suleiman, the victor at Rhodes in 1522 and at Djerba
decided in 1565 to destroy the Knight's base at Malta. The presence of the Ottoman fleet
so close to the Papacy alarmed the Spanish, who began assembling first a small
expeditionary force (that arrived in time for the siege) and then a larger fleet to relieve the
Island. The ultra-modern star shaped fort of St Elmo was taken only with heavy
casualties; the rest of the island was too much. Even so, Barbary piracy continued and the
victory at Malta had no effect on Ottoman military strength in the Mediterranean.

Cyprus & Lepanto

Battle of Lepanto

The death of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566 brought Selim II to power. Known by
some as "Selim the Sot", he assembled a massive expedition to take Cyprus from the
Venetians, an Island far closer to Ottoman-controlled Middle East then to Venice. The
other military option that Selim opted out of was to assist the Moorish rebellion that had
been instigated by the Spanish crown to root out disloyal Moors. Had Suleiman
succeeded in landing in the Iberian peninsula, he may have been cut off, for after he had
captured Cyprus in 1571 he suffered a decisive naval defeat at Lepanto. The Holy
League, assembled by the Pope to defend the Island arrived too late to save it (despite 11
months of resistance at Famagusta) but having collected so much of Europe's available
military strength, sought to inflict a blow on the Ottomans, which with better supplied
ammunition and armor, they did. The chance to retake Cyprus was wasted in the typical
squabbling the followed the victory, so that when the Venetians signed a peace treaty
with the Ottomans in 1573 they did so according to Ottoman terms.

Thirteen Years War 1593 - 1606

Europe and the Ottoman Empire (in purple) in the year 1600

After Suleiman' death in 1566, Selim II posed less of a threat to Europe. Though Cyprus
was captured at long last, the Ottomans failed against the Habsburgs at sea (see above
Battle of Lepanto). Selim died not too long after, leaving his son Murad III. A hedonist
and a total womanizer, Murad spent more time at his Harem than at the war front. Under
such deteriorating circumstances, the Empire found itself at war with the Austrians yet
again. In the early stages of the war, the military situation for the Ottomans worsened as
the Principalities of Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania each had new rulers who
renounced their vassalship to the Ottomans. At the Battle of Sisak, a group of Ghazis sent
to raid the insubordinate lands in Croatia were thoroughly defeated by tough Imperial
troops fresh from savage fighting in the Low countries. In response to this defeat, the
Grand Vizier launched a large army of 13,000 Janissaries plus numerous European levies
against the Christians. When the Janissaries rebelled against the Vizier's demands for a
winter campaign, the Ottomans had captured little other than Veszprém.

1594 saw a more fruitful Ottoman response. An even larger army was assembled by the
Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha. In the face of this threat, the Austrians abandoned a siege of
Gran, a fortress that had fallen in Suleiman's career and then lost Raab. For the Austrians,
their only comfort in the year came when the fortress of Komarno held out long enough
against the Vizier's forces to retreat for the winter.

Despite the previous years' success, situation for the Ottomans worsened yet again in
1595. A Christian coalition of the former vassal states along with Austrian troops
recaptured Gran and marched southward down the Danube. Michael the Brave, the prince
of Wallachia started a campaign against the Turks (1594-1595), conquering several
castles near the Lower-Danube, including Giurgiu, Brăila, Hârşova, and Silistra, while his
Moldavian allies defeated the Turks in Iaşi and other parts of Moldavia.[5] Michael
continued his attacks deep within the Ottoman Empire, taking the forts of Nicopolis,
Ribnic, and Chilia [6] and even reaching as far as Adrianople [7]. At one point his forces
reached Edirne, the former Ottoman capital city ; no Christian army had set foot in the
region since the days of the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologoi.

Murad III's mismanagement may have led to early Ottoman defeats in the war

Following the defeat of the Ottoman army in Wallachia (see the Battle of Călugăreni) and
the series of unsuccessful confrontations with the Habsburgs (culminating in the
devastating siege and fall of Ottoman-held Esztergom), alarmed by the success and
proximity of the threat, the new Sultan Mehmed III strangled his 19 brothers to seize
power and personally marched his army to the north west of Hungary to counter his
enemies' moves. In 1596, Eger, the fortress that had defied Suleiman with its "Bull's
blood"(?) fell quickly to the Ottomans. At the decisive Battle of Keresztes, a slow
Austrian response was wiped out by the Ottomans. Mehmet III's inexperience in ruling
showed when he failed to reward the Janissaries for their efforts in battle; rather he
punished them for not fighting well enough and thereby incited a rebellion.

Keresztes was a bloodbath for the Christian armies - thus it is surprising to note that the
Austrians renewed the war against their enemies in the summer of 1597 with a drive
southward, taking Pápa, Tata, Raab (Győr) and Veszprém. Further Habsburg victories
were achieved when a Turkish relief force was defeated at Grosswardein (Nagyvárad).
Enraged by these defeats, the Turks replied with a more energetic response so that by
1605, after much wasted Austrian relief efforts and failed sieges on both sides, only Raab
remained in the hands of the Austrians. In that year a pro-Turkish vassal prince was
elected leader of Transylvania by the Hungarian nobles and the war came to a conclusion
with the Peace of Zsitva-Torok.

Conquest of Crete
A Spanish Galleon. The Galleon was a tough fighting ship of its time.

The Knights of Malta, emboldened by declining Turkish offensive power, began

attacking Turkish ships in the Mediterranean. The Turks retaliated by besieging Candia
on Crete in 1648. The Venetians were left to defend their last major Aegean island alone,
as Austria was still recovering from the devastation of the Thirty Years War and Spain
remained defiant against the French.

Since the darker days for Venice of the 16th century, the Venetian fleet was a more
potent force, defeating the Turks in their attempts to take the Island. So long as the
Venetians had naval supremacy, the Ottomans could do little on land at Crete, and the
blockade established by the Italian city state at the Dardanelles was more than a serious
humiliation. Within 10 years the Spanish had signed a peace treaty with the French in
1659 and war with Austria resumed in the later 1660s. With the war going slow and the
Austrians, Spanish and Venetians operating with the initiative, the Grand Vizier seized
power in the name of the Sultan and conducted a far more rigorous effort. Though beaten
by the Austrians, the Ottomans concluded a favorable peace in 1664 and the Venetians
were finally defeated at sea, ending the embarrassing blockade at the Dardanelles, so
close to the Ottoman Capital. The Island fell after many years of siege, thanks to the
skillful resources of the Grand Vizier, his organization of an army misused for many
years and the French attacks on Austria, which forced her to postpone any offensives into
Hungary.

Great Turkish War

In 1663, the Ottomans launched a disastrous invasion of Austria, ending at the Battle of
St Gotthard. The battle was won by the Christians, chiefly through the attack of 6,000
French troops led by La Feuillade and Coligny.[8] The Austrians were unable to follow up
on this victory due to the intervention of French forces in the Rhine; in such
circumstances the Protestant allies of the Catholic Habsburgs would have proven
unreliable, wanting instead to have the Austrians and themselves fight the French in a
German coalition. The Ottomans therefore turned their attention north again against the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By now, the Kingdom had fallen into a terrible state;
the Sejm had divided loyalties and the treasury was bankrupt. It is therefore noteworthy
that Jan III Sobieski of the Poles led a decisive victory against the Ottomans at the
Second battle of Khotyn.

Restless, the Ottomans were to have another chance in 1682, when the Grand Vizier
marched a massive army into Hungary and to Vienna in response to Habsburg raids into
Ottoman controlled Hungary.

Siege of Vienna

In 1683, after 15 months of mobilizing forces, the Grand Vizier reached Vienna to find
the city well defended and prepared. Worst of all for the Vizier were the numerous
alliances established by the Austrians, including one with Jan Sobieski. When the siege
of Vienna began in 1683, the Polish King and his coalition of Germans and Poles arrived
just as the city's defense became untenable. In a decisive battle, the Ottomans were
defeated and the siege lifted.

The climax of the Siege of Vienna

Holy League Counter

The siege of united Christian forces in Buda, 1686

In 1687, the Ottomans repaired their armies and marched north once more. However,
Duke Charles intercepted the Turks at the Second Battle of Mohacs and avenged the loss
inflicted on the last Hungarian King over 160 years ago by Suleiman the Magnificent.
Pressing southward, the Ottomans continued to resist the Austrians, denying them an
opportunity to negotiate from a position of strength. Only when the Ottomans suffered
yet another disastrous battle at the crossing at Zenta in 1697 did the Ottomans sue for
peace; the resulting treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 secured vast amounts of the Balkans,
including Hungary, for the Austrians. Throughout Europe, both Protestants and Catholics
hailed Prince Eugene of Savoy as "the savior of Christendom" - English volunteers,
including a son of Prince Rupert (nephew of Charles I of England) and Protestants from
as far as Scotland fought in the Prince's army. For the Ottomans, the years between 1683
and 1702 were a sad time; 12 Grand Viziers were deposed in 19 years - the legacy of
what was at one time under Köprülü Mehmed Pasha the most powerful position of the
most powerful Empire in the world.

By war's end, the Austrians had decisively shifted the balance of power away from the
Ottomans.

End game
Spanish War of Succession

Although the Great Turkish War was a disaster for the Ottomans, from which they were
unable to recover, the Habsburgs were soon drawn into another destructive European
War against the French, their traditional rivals. The King of Spain was childless and
approaching death. The two most powerful claimants to the Spanish throne were the
Austrian branch of the Habsburgs and the French Bourbon dynasty (the latter being the
closest claimant). The Protestant powers of England (later Great Britain after 1707) and
the Netherlands were concerned with the consequences of either Catholic power seizing
all the lands. When the Bourbons decided to inherit the entire Empire without partitioning
it with the Austrians, war broke out lasting until 1714. By the time the war had ended,
Eugene's reputation in battle had risen further with victories such as those at Blenheim.
Nonetheless, the Bourbons had succeeded in de facto annexing Spain to their territories
by placing a member of the Bourbon lineage on the Spanish throne. Even so, the Italian
provinces of the Spanish crown passed to the Austrians, and the Catholic portions of the
Low countries - rather than passing to the Dutch who coveted them, or to the French who
desired them as part of their expansion of their borders, returned to Imperial control once
more.

With the war over, Eugene turned his attention south again. Another victory was added to
his record at the battle of Petrovaradin, a stunning victory in which the cunning Prince
saved his army from defeat at the hands of larger force and disease. However, Austria
failed to produce a military commander worthy enough to succeed him. In the absence of
such a talented leader, the Ottomans won a surprising victory against their Christian
opponents at the Battle of Grocka. Drunken, outnumbered and in a disorderly fashion, the
Ottomans had forced the overconfident Austrians to surrender. It was a shameful defeat,
one of many in Empress Maria's reign, for which she was able to discipline her
incompetent generals.

19th Century

For the next 100 years, the Austrians and the Ottomans both began to slowly lose their
power to the French, British, Germans and Russians. The key problem faced by both
Empires was the rise of the new industrial era. New industries in Germany, France and
Britain produced massive quantities of manufactured goods that aided in war and
diplomacy. Both the British and the French had colonial empires that fueled their
economies with raw materials, whilst the Germans found what they needed in the Ruhr
valley. Although the Russians had no such colonial empire, they did have vast amounts of
territory and manpower. Both the Ottomans and the Austrian lacked heavy industries in
the same level as their other European counterparts, but the former was far behind the
latter. Thus, Ottoman power decayed faster than Austrian power. In the Balkans, the
nationalistic cries for independence became increasingly frequent a bigger problem for
the more militarily incompetent Ottomans. After 1867, the Austrians compromised with
the Hungarians to form Austro-Hungary, thus eliminating a major ethnic group from
rebelling in the shorter term. The same benefits could not be had with the Ottomans.
Efforts to catch up with Europe in technology demanded officers and intellectuals to
study abroad—a plan that backfired for the Ottomans when these individuals brought
back European ideas of Enlightenment and egalitarianism, which clashed with the
Turkish-dominated, autocratic, millet system of the Ottomans. Therefore, Ottoman power
collapsed more rapidly than Austrian power, and they were powerless to stop Bosnia
from being occupied in 1878 (officially annexed in 1908). Had it not been for the
Western powers of Britain, France and Prussia, the Ottomans would have faced more
defeats against the Austrians and their newer enemies, the Russians.

World War One

Relations between Austria and the Ottomans began to improve when they saw a common
threat in Russia and a common ally in Germany in countering the threat of the Tsar. The
Ottomans had hoped that the Germans would industrialize their nation to defend itself
against the Russians, who had taken the "anti-Turk crusade" to a more committed level,
driving the Turks out of the Crimea and Caucasus. Meanwhile the German Empire of
Prussia appealed to the Austrians through a common culture, language and the lenient
terms imposed after the Austro-Prussian War. The Austrians were in no hurry to see
Russia advance at the cost of the Ottomans towards their borders. Thus, in the years
before World War 1, the two former enemies found themselves allies against the French,
the Russians and the British. Both powers proved to be incapable of arming their troops
with enough firepower and feeding their populations under blockade. In 1918, the
Austro-Hungarian Empire surrendered to partition under the Treaty of Saint-Germain, as
did the Ottomans under the Treaty of Sèvres.