Series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states
The relief of Vienna
by
Frans Geffels
A series of military conflicts between the
Ottoman Empire
and various European states took place from the
Late Middle Ages
up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the
Byzantine?Ottoman wars
, waged in
Anatolia
in the late 13th century before entering Europe in the mid-14th century with the
Bulgarian?Ottoman wars
. The mid-15th century saw the
Serbian?Ottoman wars
and the
Albanian-Ottoman wars
. Much of this period was characterized by the
Ottoman expansion into the Balkans
. The Ottoman Empire made further inroads into Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, culminating in the peak of Ottoman territorial claims in Europe.
The
Ottoman?Venetian wars
spanned four centuries, starting in 1423 and lasting until 1718. This period witnessed the
fall of Negroponte
in 1470, the siege of Malta in 1565, the
fall of Famagusta
(
Cyprus
) in 1571, the defeat of the Ottoman fleet at the
Battle of Lepanto
in 1571 (at that time the
largest naval battle in history
), the
fall of Candia
(
Crete
) in 1669, the Venetian
reconquest of Morea
(
Peloponnese
) in the 1680s and
its loss again
in 1715. The island of
Venetian-ruled
Corfu
remained the only Greek island not conquered by the Ottomans.
In the late seventeenth century, European powers began to consolidate against the Ottomans and formed the
Holy League
, reversing a number of Ottoman land gains during the
Great Turkish War
of 1683?99. Nevertheless, Ottoman armies were able to hold their own against their European rivals until the second half of the eighteenth century.
[a]
In the nineteenth century the Ottomans were confronted with insurrection from their
Serbian
(1804?1817),
Greek
(1821?1832) and
Romanian
(1877?78) subjects. This occurred in tandem with the
Russo-Turkish wars
, which further destabilized the empire. The final retreat of Ottoman rule began with the
First Balkan War
(1912?1913), and culminated in the signing of the
Treaty of Sevres
after World War I, leading to the
partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
.
History
[
edit
]
Rise of the Ottomans (1299?1453)
[
edit
]
Byzantine Empire
[
edit
]
Conquest of Constantinople
by Sultan
Mehmed the Conqueror
in 1453
After
striking a blow
to the weakened
Byzantine Empire
in 1356 (or in 1358 ? disputable due to a change in the Byzantine calendar), (see
Suleyman Pasha
) which provided it with
Gallipoli
as a basis for operations in Europe, the Ottoman Empire started its westward expansion into the European continent in the middle of the 14th century.
Constantinople
fell in 1453 after the
Battle of Varna
(1444) and the
Second Battle of Kosovo
(1448).
The remaining
Greek
states fell in 1461 (
Despotate of the Morea
and
Empire of Trebizond
) (see:
Ottoman Greece
).
Bulgarian Empire
[
edit
]
In the latter half of the 14th century, the
Ottoman Empire
proceeded to advance north and west in the Balkans, completely subordinating
Thrace
and much of
Macedonia
after the
Battle of Maritsa
in 1371.
Sofia
fell in 1382, followed by the capital of the
Second Bulgarian Empire
Tarnovgrad
in 1393, and the northwest remnants of the state after the
Battle of Nicopolis
in 1396.
Serbian Empire
[
edit
]
A significant opponent of the Ottomans, the young
Serbian Empire
, was worn down by a series of campaigns, notably in the
Battle of Kosovo
in 1389, in which the leaders of both armies were killed, and which gained a central role in Serbian folklore as an epic battle and as the beginning of the end for medieval Serbia. Much of
Serbia
fell to the Ottomans by 1459, the Kingdom of Hungary made a partial reconquest in 1480, but it fell again by 1499. Territories of Serbian Empire were divided between
Ottoman Empire
, the
Republic of Venice
and the
Kingdom of Hungary
, with remaining territories being in some sort of a vassal status towards Hungary, until its own conquest.
Crusades against the Ottoman Empire
[
edit
]
1475 miniature of the
Battle of Nicopolis
by
Jean Colombe
called
Les Passages d'Outremer
,
BnF
Fr 5594
The papacy regularly offered crusade privileges from the 1360s generating no significant military response against Muslims in the Mediterranean. The first revival of activity was a 1390 Genoese plan to seize the Tunisian port of
Al-Mahdiya
. Both the Roman and Avignon popes awarded indulgences and the French king's uncle,
Louis II, Duke of Bourbon
, was the leader. There is little evidence of cross taking, and the exercise was more of a chivalric promenade by a small force. After a disease-ridden, nine-week siege, the
Tunis crusade
agreed to withdraw.
After their victory at the
Battle of Kosovo
in 1389, the Ottomans had conquered most of the
Balkans
and had reduced Byzantine influence to the area immediately surrounding
Constantinople
, which
they later besieged
. In 1393, the
Bulgarian
Tsar
Ivan Shishman
lost Nicopolis to the Ottomans. In 1394,
Pope Boniface IX
proclaimed a new Crusade against the Turks, although the
Western Schism
had split the papacy.
[7]
Sigismund of Luxemburg
, King of Hungary, led this Crusade which involved several French nobles including
John the Fearless
, the son of the Duke of Burgundy, who became the Crusade's military leader. Sigismund advised the Crusaders to focus on defence when they reached the Danube, but they besieged the city of
Nicopolis
. The Ottomans defeated them in the
Battle of Nicopolis
on 25
September, capturing 3,000 prisoners.
[8]
As the Ottomans pressed westward, Sultan
Murad II
destroyed the last
Papal-funded Crusade
at
Varna
on the
Black Sea
in 1444 and four years later crushed the last Hungarian expedition.
[7]
John Hunyadi
and
Giovanni da Capistrano
organised a 1456 Crusade to lift the
Siege of Belgrade
.
[9]
Æneas Sylvius
and
John of Capistrano
preached the Crusade, the princes of the Holy Roman Empire in the Diets of Ratisbon and Frankfurt promised assistance, and a league was formed between Venice, Florence and Milan, but nothing came of it. Venice was the only polity to continue to pose a significant threat to the Ottomans in the Mediterranean, but it pursued the "Crusade" mostly for its commercial interests, leading to the protracted
Ottoman?Venetian Wars
, which continued, with interruptions, until 1718. The end of the Crusades, in at least a nominal effort of Catholic Europe against Muslim incursion, came in the 16th
century, when the Franco-Imperial wars assumed continental proportions.
Francis I of France
sought allies from all quarters, including from German Protestant princes and Muslims. Amongst these, he entered into one of the
capitulations of the Ottoman Empire
with
Suleiman the Magnificent
while making common cause with
Hayreddin Barbarossa
and a number of the Sultan's North African vassals.
[10]
Kingdom of Hungary
[
edit
]
Clockwise, from top left: The
Battle of Hermannstadt
, The
Battle of Varna
, The
Battle of Kosovo
, The
Siege of Belgrade
, The
Battle of Breadfield
, The
Battle of Mohacs
Since 1360s Hungary confronted with the Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom of Hungary led
several crusades, campaigns
and carried out several defence battles and sieges against the Ottomans. Hungary bore the brunt of the Ottoman wars in Europe during the 15th century and successfully halted the Ottoman advance.
In the year of 1442, John Hunyadi won four victories against the Ottomans, two of which were decisive.
In March 1442, Hunyadi defeated Mezid Bey and the raiding Ottoman army at the
Battle of Szeben
in the south part of the
Kingdom of Hungary
in
Transylvania
.
In September 1442, Hunyadi defeated a large Ottoman army of
Beylerbey
?ehabeddin
, the Provincial Governor of
Rumelia
. This was the first time that a European army defeated such a large Ottoman force, composed not only of raiders, but of the provincial cavalry led by their own
sanjak beys
(governors) and accompanied by the formidable
janissaries
.
These victories made Hunyadi a prominent enemy of the Ottomans and a renowned figure throughout
Christendom
and were prime motivators for him to undertake along with King Władysław the famous expedition known as the "
Long Campaign
" in 1443, with the
Battle of Ni?
being the first major clash of this expedition. Hunyadi was accompanied by
Giuliano Cesarini
during the campaign.
[14]
The defeat in 1456 at the
siege of Nandorfehervar
(Belgrade) held up Ottoman expansion into Catholic Europe for 70 years, though for one year (1480?1481) the Italian port of
Otranto was taken
, and in 1493 the Ottoman army successfully raided
Croatia
and
Styria
.
During the reign of King
Matthias of Hungary
, the standing professional mercenary army was called the
Black Army of Hungary
Matthias recognized the importance and key role of early firearms in the infantry, which greatly contributed to his victories. Every fourth soldier in the Black Army had an
arquebus
, which was an unusual ratio at the time. In the great Viennese military parade in 1485, the Black Army consisted 20,000 horsemen and 8,000 infantry in 1485. The Black Army was larger than the army of King
Louis XI of France
, the only other existing permanent professional European army in the era. The Hungarian army destroyed the three times bigger attacker Ottoman and Wallachian troops at the
Battle of Breadfield
in Transylvania in 1479. The battle was the most significant victory for the
Hungarians
against the raiding
Ottomans
, and as a result, the
Ottomans
did not attack southern
Hungary
and
Transylvania
for many years thereafter. The Black Army
recaptured Otranto
in Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1481.
Growth (1453?1683)
[
edit
]
Wars in Albania and Italy
[
edit
]
Albanian assault on a Turkish encampment in 1457
The Ottomans took much of
Albania
in the 1385
Battle of Savra
. The 1444
League of Lezhe
briefly restored one part of Albania, until Ottomans captured complete territory of Albania after
capture of Shkoder
in 1479 and Durres in 1501.
The Ottomans faced resistance from Albanians who gathered around their leader,
Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg
, son of a feudal Albanian Nobleman,
Gjon Kastrioti
who also fought against the Ottomans in the
Albanian revolt of 1432?1436
led by
Gjergj Arianiti
. Skanderbeg managed to fend off Ottoman attacks for more than 25 years, culminating at the
siege of Shkodra
in 1478?79. During this period, many Albanian victories were achieved like the
Battle of Torvioll
,
Battle of Otonete
,
siege of Kruje
,
Battle of Polog
,
Battle of Ohrid
,
Battle of Mokra
,
Battle of Oranik 1456
and many other battles, culminating in the
Battle of Albulena
in 1457 where the Albanian Army under Skanderbeg won a decisive victory over the Ottomans. In 1465
Ballaban's Campaign
against Skanderbeg took place. Its goal was to crush the Albanian Resistance, but it was not successful and it ended in an Albanian victory. With the death of
Skanderbeg
on 17 January 1468, the
Albanian Resistance
began to fall. After the death of Skanderbeg, the Albanian Resistance was led by
Leke Dukagjini
from 1468 until 1479, but it didn't have the same success as before. Merely two years after the collapse of the Albanian resistance in 1479, Sultan
Mehmet II
launched an
Italian campaign
, which failed thanks to Christian recapture of
Otranto
and Sultan's death in 1481.
A map of the
territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire
Conquest of Bosnia
[
edit
]
The Ottoman Empire first reached Bosnia in 1388 where they were defeated by Bosnian forces in the
Battle of Bile?a
and then were forced to retreat.
After the fall of Serbia in 1389
Battle of Kosovo
, where the Bosnians participated through
Vlatko Vukovi?
, the Turks began various offensives against the
Kingdom of Bosnia
. The Bosnians defended themselves but without much success. The Bosnians resisted strongly in the Bosnian Royal castle of
Jajce
(the
siege of Jajce
), where the last Bosnian king
Stjepan Toma?evi?
tried to repel the Turks. The Ottoman army conquered Jajce after a few months in 1463 and executed the last King of Bosnia, ending
Medieval Bosnia
.
[b]
The
House of Kosa?a
held
Herzegovina
until 1482. It took another four decades for the Ottomans to defeat the Hungarian garrison at
Jajce Fortress
in 1527. Biha? and the westernmost areas of Bosnia were finally conquered by the Ottomans in 1592.
Croatia
[
edit
]
Croatian
captain
Petar Kru?i?
led the defense of the
Klis Fortress
against a Turkish invasion and siege that lasted for more than two and a half decades. During this defense, an elite Croatian military faction of
Uskoci
was formed.
After the fall of the
Kingdom of Bosnia
into Ottoman hands in 1463, the southern and central parts of the
Kingdom of Croatia
remained unprotected, the defense of which was left to Croatian gentry who kept smaller troops in the fortified border areas at their own expense. The Ottomans meanwhile reached the river
Neretva
and, having conquered
Herzegovina
(
Rama
) in 1482, they encroached upon Croatia, skillfully avoiding the fortified border towns. A decisive Ottoman victory at the
Battle of Krbava Field
shook all of Croatia. However, it did not dissuade the Croats from making persistent attempts at defending themselves against the attacks of the superior Ottoman forces.
[20]
After almost two hundred years of Croatian resistance against the Ottoman Empire victory in the
Battle of Sisak
marked the end of Ottoman rule and the
Hundred Years' Croatian?Ottoman War
. The Viceroy's army, chasing the fleeing remnants at
Petrinja
in 1595, sealed the decisive Croatian victory.
Conquest of Serbia
[
edit
]
As a result of heavy losses inflicted by the Ottomans in the
Battle of Maritsa
in 1371, the
Serbian Empire
had dissolved into several principalities. In the
Battle of Kosovo
in 1389, Serbian forces were again annihilated. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, constant struggles took place between various Serbian kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire. The turning point was the
fall of Constantinople
to the Turks. In 1459, following the siege, the temporary Serbian capital of
Smederevo
fell.
Zeta
was overrun by 1499.
Belgrade
was the last major Balkan city to endure Ottoman forces. Serbs,
Hungarians
, and European
crusaders
defeated the Turkish army in the
siege of Belgrade
in 1456. After repelling Ottoman attacks for over 70 years, Belgrade finally fell in 1521, along with the greater part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The rebellion of Serbian military commander
Jovan Nenad
between 1526 and 1528 led to the proclamation of the Second Serbian Empire in modern-day Serbian province of
Vojvodina
, which was among the last Serbian territories to resist the Ottomans. The
Serbian Despotate
fell in 1459, thus marking the two-century-long Ottoman conquest of Serbian principalities.
[20]
1463?1503: Wars with Venice
[
edit
]
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Ottoman advances resulted in some of the captive Christians being carried deep into Turkish territory
The wars with the
Republic of Venice
began in 1463. A favorable peace treaty was signed in 1479 after the lengthy
siege of Shkodra
(1478?79). In 1480, now no longer hampered by the Venetian fleet, the Ottomans
besieged Rhodes
and
captured Otranto
.
War with Venice
resumed from 1499 to 1503
. In 1500, a Spanish?Venetian army commanded by
Gonzalo de Cordoba
took Kefalonia
, temporarily stopping the Ottoman offensive on eastern Venetian territories. The offensive resumed after the Ottoman victory of
Preveza
(1538), fought between an Ottoman fleet commanded by
Hayreddin Barbarossa
and that of a Christian alliance assembled by Pope Paul III.
1462?1483: Wallachian and Moldavian campaigns
[
edit
]
In 1462, Mehmed II was driven back by
Wallachian
prince
Vlad III Dracula
in the
Night Attack at Targovi?te
. However, the latter was imprisoned by Hungarian king
Matthias Corvinus
. This caused outrage among many influential Hungarian figures and Western admirers of Vlad's success in the battle against the Ottoman Empire (and his early recognition of the threat it posed), including high-ranking members of the
Vatican
. Because of this, Matthias granted him the status of distinguished prisoner. Eventually, Dracula was freed in late 1475 and was sent with an army of Hungarian and Serbian soldiers to recover
Bosnia
from the Ottomans. There he defeated Ottoman forces for the first time. Upon this victory, Ottoman forces entered Wallachia in 1476 under the command of Mehmed II.
[
clarification needed
]
Vlad was killed and, according to some sources, his head was sent to
Constantinople
to discourage the other rebellions. (Bosnia was completely added to Ottoman lands in 1482.)
The Turkish advance was temporarily halted after
Stephen the Great
of
Moldavia
defeated the armies of the Ottoman Sultan
Mehmed II
at the
Battle of Vaslui
in 1475, one of the greatest defeats of the Ottoman Empire until that time. Stephen was defeated the next year at
R?zboieni
(
Battle of Valea Alb?
), but the Ottomans had to retreat after they failed to take any significant castle (see
siege of Neam? Citadel
) as a plague started to spread in the Ottoman army. Stephen's search for European assistance against the Turks met with little success, even though he had "cut off the pagan's right-hand", as he put it in a letter.
1526?1566: Conquest of the Kingdom of Hungary
[
edit
]
Ottoman soldiers in the territory of present-day Hungary
The Ottoman campaign in Hungary in 1566, Crimean Tatars as vanguard
Since 1360s Hungary confronted with the Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom of Hungary led
several crusades, campaigns
and carried out several defence battles and sieges against the Ottomans. Hungary bore the brunt of the Ottoman wars in Europe during the 15th century and successfully halted the Ottoman advance. From 1490, after the death of King
Matthias of Hungary
, the royal power declined. In 1521, Hungary was invaded by Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent
, the border fortress
Belgrade
considered as the key and southern gate of the Kingdom of Hungary, after two previous sieges, the Ottomans captured this stronghold by the
Third Siege of Belgrade
. The Sultan launched an attack against the weakened kingdom, whose smaller army was defeated in 1526 at the
Battle of Mohacs
and King
Louis II of Hungary
died.
[22]
After the Ottoman victory in the
Battle of Mohacs
in 1526, only the southwestern part of the
Kingdom of Hungary
was actually conquered.
The Ottoman campaign continued between 1526 and 1556 with small campaigns and major summer invasions ? troops would return south of the
Balkan Mountains
before winter. In 1529, they mounted their first major attack on the
Austrian
Habsburg monarchy
, attempting to conquer the city of
Vienna
(
siege of Vienna
). In 1532, another attack on Vienna with 60,000 troops in the main army was held up by the small fort (800 defenders) of
K?szeg
in western Hungary, fighting a suicidal battle.
[24]
The invading troops were held up until winter was close and the Habsburg Empire had assembled a force of 80,000 at Vienna. The Ottoman troops returned home through Styria, laying waste to the country.
In the meantime, in 1538, the Ottoman Empire invaded
Moldavia
. In 1541, another campaign in Hungary took
Buda
and
Pest
(which today together form the Hungarian capital
Budapest
) with a largely bloodless trick: after concluding peace talks with an agreement, troops stormed the open gates of Buda in the night. In retaliation for a failed Austrian counter-attack in 1542, the conquest of the western half of central Hungary was finished in the 1543 campaign that took both the most important royal ex-capital,
Szekesfehervar
, and the ex-seat of the cardinal,
Esztergom
. However, the army of 35?40,000 men was not enough for
Suleiman
to mount another attack on Vienna. A temporary truce was signed between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires in 1547, which was soon disregarded by the Habsburgs.
In the major but moderately successful
Ottoman campaign of 1552
, two armies took the eastern part of central Hungary, pushing the borders of the Ottoman Empire to the second (inner) line of northern
vegvar
s (border castles), which Hungary originally built as defence against an expected second
Mongol invasion
?hence, afterwards, borders on this front changed little. For Hungarians, the 1552 campaign was a series of tragic losses and some heroic (but
pyrrhic
) victories, which entered folklore?most notably the fall of
Dregely
(a small fort defended to the last man by just 146 men,
and the
siege of Eger
. The latter was a major
vegvar
with more than 2,000 men, without outside help. They faced two Ottoman armies, which were surprisingly unable to take the castle within five weeks. (The fort was later taken in 1596.) Finally, the 1556 campaign secured Ottoman influence over Transylvania (which had fallen under Habsburg control for a time), while failing to gain any ground on the western front, being tied down in the second (after 1555) unsuccessful siege of the southwestern Hungarian border castle of
Szigetvar
.
The Ottoman Empire conducted another major war against the Habsburgs and their Hungarian territories between 1566 and 1568. The 1566
siege of Szigetvar
, the third siege in which the fort was finally taken, but the aged Sultan died, deterring that year's push for Vienna.
1522?1573: Rhodes, Malta and the Holy League
[
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]
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The siege of Malta ? Arrival of the Turkish Fleet
by
Matteo Perez d'Aleccio
Ottoman forces invaded and captured the island of
Rhodes
in 1522, after two previous failed attempts (see
Siege of Rhodes (1522)
).
The
Knights of Saint John
were banished to
Malta
, which was in turn besieged in 1565.
After a siege of three months, the Ottoman army failed to control all of the Maltese forts. Delaying the Ottomans until bad weather conditions and the arrival of Sicilian reinforcements, made Ottoman commander Kızılahmedli Mustafa Pasha quit the siege. Around 22,000 to 48,000 Ottoman troops against 6,000 to 8,500 Maltese troops, the Ottomans failed to conquer Malta, sustaining more than 25,000 losses,
including one of the greatest Muslim corsair generals of the time,
Dragut
, and were repulsed. Had Malta fallen, Sicily and mainland Italy could have fallen under the threat of an Ottoman invasion. The victory of Malta during this event, which is nowadays known as the
Great Siege of Malta
, turned the tide and gave Europe hopes and motivation. It also marked the importance of the
Knights of Saint John
and their relevant presence in Malta to aid Christendom in its defence against the Muslim conquest.
The Ottoman naval victories of this period were in the
Battle of Preveza
(1538) and the
Battle of Djerba
(1560).
Battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571
The
Mediterranean campaign
, which lasted from 1570 to 1573, resulted in the Ottoman conquest of
Cyprus
. A
Holy League
of Venice, the
Papal States
,
Spain
, the Knights of Saint John in Malta and initially
Portugal
was formed against the Ottoman Empire during this period. The League's victory in the
Battle of Lepanto (1571)
briefly ended Ottoman predominance at sea.
1570?1571: Conquest of Cyprus
[
edit
]
In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. About 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near
Limassol
on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to
Nicosia
. In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell?September 9, every public building and palace was looted. Word of the superior Ottoman numbers spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571.
Marco Antonio Bragadin
, Venetian commander of
Famagusta
flayed alive by the Turks after a year's
defense of the city
in 1571
The
fall of Famagusta
marked the beginning of the Ottoman period in Cyprus. Two months later, the naval forces of the
Holy League
, composed mainly of Venetian, Spanish, and Papal ships under the command of
Don John of Austria
, defeated the Ottoman fleet at the
Battle of Lepanto
in one of the decisive battles of world history. The victory over the Turks, however, came too late to help Cyprus, and the island remained under Ottoman rule for the next three centuries.
In 1570, the
Ottoman Empire
first conquered
Cyprus
, and
Lala Mustafa Pasha
became the first Ottoman governor of Cyprus, challenging the claims of Venice. Simultaneously, the
Pope
formed a coalition between the
Papal States
,
Malta
,
Spain
,
Venice
and several other Italian states, with no real result. In 1573 the Venetians left, removing the influence of the
Roman Catholic Church
.
1593?1669: Austria, Venice and Wallachia
[
edit
]
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Siege of
Esztergom
in 1595
1620?1621: Poland-Lithuania
[
edit
]
The
Battle of Khotyn
in 1621, during which a joint
Ukrainian Cossack
and
Polish
forces defeated the Ottomans and their
Tatar
allies
Wars fought over Moldavia. The Polish army advanced into Moldavia and was defeated in the
Battle of ?u?ora
. The next year, the Poles repelled the Turkish invasion in the
Battle of Khotyn
. Another conflict started in 1633 but was soon settled.
1657?1683 Conclusion of wars with Habsburgs
[
edit
]
Transylvania
, the Eastern part of the former Hungarian Kingdom, gained semi-independence in 1526, while paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire. In 1657, Transylvania under
George II Rakoczi
felt strong enough to attack the
Tatars
to the East (then the Empire's vassals), and later the Ottoman Empire itself, which had come to the Tatars' defence. The war lasted until 1662, ending in defeat for the Hungarians. The Western part of the Hungarian Kingdom (
Partium
) was annexed and placed under direct Ottoman control. At the same time, there was another campaign against Austria between 1663 and 1664. Despite being defeated in the
Battle of Saint Gotthard
on 1 August 1664 by
Raimondo Montecuccoli
, the Ottomans secured recognition of their conquest of
Nove Zamky
in the
Peace of Vasvar
with Austria, marking the greatest territorial extent of Ottoman rule in the former Hungarian Kingdom.
1672?1676: Poland-Lithuania
[
edit
]
The
Polish?Ottoman War (1672?1676)
ended with the
Treaty of ?urawno
, in which the Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth ceded control of most of its Ukrainian territories to the empire. The war showed the increasing weakness and disorder of the Commonwealth, who by the second half of the 17th century had started its gradual decline that would culminate a century later with the
partitions of Poland
.
Stagnation (1683?1828)
[
edit
]
1683?1699: Great Turkish War ? Loss of Hungary and the Morea
[
edit
]
Battle of Vienna
on 12 September 1683 by
Gonzales Franciscus Casteels
Siege of Ersekujvar
in what is today
Nove Zamky
, Slovakia, 1685
The
Great Turkish War
started in 1683, with a grand
invasion
force of 140,000 men
marching on Vienna, supported by
Protestant
Hungarian noblemen rebelling against Habsburg rule. To stop the invasion, another
Holy League
was formed, composed of Austria and Poland (notably in the
Battle of Vienna
), Venetians and the
Russian Empire
, Vienna had been besieged by the
Ottoman Empire
for two months. The battle marked the first time the Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Ottomans, and it is often seen as a turning point in history, after which "the Ottoman Turks ceased to be a menace to the Christian world".
[c]
In the ensuing war that lasted until 1699, the Ottomans lost almost all of Hungary to the
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I
.
After winning the Battle of Vienna, the Holy League gained the upper hand and reconquered Hungary (Buda and Pest were retaken in 1686, the former under the command of a Swiss-born convert to Islam). At the same time, the Venetians launched an
expedition into Greece
, which conquered the
Peloponnese
. During the 1687 Venetian attack on the city of
Athens
(conquered by the Ottomans), the Ottomans turned the ancient
Parthenon
into an ammunitions storehouse. A Venetian mortar hit the Parthenon, detonating the Ottoman gunpowder stored inside, partially destroying it.
The war ended with the
Treaty of Karlowitz
in 1699.
Prince Eugene of Savoy
first distinguished himself in 1683 and remained the most important Austrian commander until 1718.
18th century
[
edit
]
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The
Fourth Russo-Turkish War
took place in 1710?1711 in the basin of the
Pruth river
, as part of the
Great Northern War
. It was instigated by
Charles XII of Sweden
after the defeat at the
Battle of Poltava
, in order to tie down Russia with the Ottoman Empire and gain some breathing space in the increasingly unsuccessful campaign. The Russians were severely beaten but not annihilated, and after the
Treaty of the Pruth
was signed, the Ottoman Empire disengaged, allowing Russia to refocus its energies on the defeat of Sweden.
Austrian conquest of Belgrade: 1717 by
Eugene of Savoy
, during the
Austro-Turkish War (1716?1718)
The
Ottoman?Venetian War
started in 1714. It overlapped with the
Austro-Turkish War (1716?1718)
, in which Austria conquered the remaining areas of the former Hungarian Kingdom, ending with the
Treaty of Passarowitz
in 1718.
A war erupted again
with Russia in 1735 and Austria in 1737.
It lasted until 1739 when the
Treaty of Belgrade
was signed with Austria and the
Treaty of Ni?
with Russia.
The
Sixth Russo-Turkish War
started in 1768 and ended in 1774 with the
Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca
. As a result of this treaty, the
Crimean Khanate
became a Russian
client state
.
Another war with Russia
started in 1787 and
a concurrent war with Austria
followed in 1788; the Austrian war ended with the 1791
Treaty of Sistova
, and the Russian war ended with the 1792
Treaty of Jassy
.
An
invasion of Egypt and Syria
by
Napoleon I
of
France
took place in 1798?99, but ended due to British intervention.
Napoleon's capture of Malta on his way to Egypt resulted in the unusual alliance of Russia and the Ottomans resulting in a joint naval expedition to the
Ionian Islands
. Their successful capture of these islands led to the setting up of the
Septinsular Republic
.
19th century
[
edit
]
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Greek War of Independence
The
First Serbian Uprising
took place in 1804, followed by the
Second Serbian Uprising
in 1815. The result of this successful
Serbian Revolution
was the establishment of a semi-independent
Principality of Serbia
, and its acknowledgment by the Ottoman Empire (although
de jure
independent in domestic matters, the principality had to pay a yearly tax to the Porte and accept the permanent presence of the Ottoman army on its soil).
The
Eighth Russo-Turkish War
began in 1806 and ended in May 1812, just 13 days before
Napoleon's invasion of Russia
.
The
Moldavian?Wallachian (Romanian) Uprising
(starting simultaneously with the
Greek Revolution
).
The
Greek War of Independence
started in 1821. The Great Powers intervened from 1827 in support of the revolutionaries, including Russia (
Ninth Russo-Turkish War
). The
Treaty of Adrianople
ended the war in 1829, and forced the Ottomans to accept Greek independence (as the new
Kingdom of Greece
), more autonomy for Serbia and the Russian occupation of the Romanian principalities.
[35]
Ottoman decline (1828?1908)
[
edit
]
Ottoman capitulation at
Nikopol
, 1877
The decline of the Ottoman Empire included the following conflicts.
Albanian rebellions 1820?1822, 1830?1835, 1847.
Bosnian rebellions 1831?1836, 1836?1837, 1841.
War with Montenegro 1852?1853.
The Tenth Russo-Turkish War of 1853?56, better known as the
Crimean War
, in which the
United Kingdom
and
France
joined the war on the side of the Ottoman Empire. Ended with the
Treaty of Paris
.
Second war with
Montenegro
in 1858?1859.
War with Montenegro
, Bosnia and Serbia in 1862.
Cretan Uprising
in 1866.
The decision to increase taxes to Christian nations in the empire's Balkan provinces resulted in widespread outrage that lead to several revolts. The first was the
Herzegovinian Uprising
in 1875, followed by Bulgarian revolutionaries
starting an uprising
in April 1876 that was brutally suppressed (see
Batak massacre
). Later in June, Serbia and Montenegro
jointly declared war
on the empire. After six months of inconclusive fighting, international reaction to atrocities committed by Turkish troops forced intervention of the major European powers, which concluded a ceasefire. In December, the
Constantinople Conference
was organized to deal with the situation and resolve the crisis. However, the Ottoman Empire refused the proposed reforms and withdrew from the Conference.
Russia, inspired by
Pan-Slavism
and feeling support in the anti-Ottoman sympathies running throughout Europe, saw the chance to declare war on the Ottoman Empire and fulfill the union of all Orthodox nations in the Balkans under its mantle. That started the eleventh
Russo-Turkish War
in 1877, fought in the Balkans and in the Caucasus, with Russia leading a coalition with Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro. The coalition won the war, pushing the Ottomans all the way back to the gates of Constantinople. Russians and Ottomans signed the
Treaty of San Stefano
in early 1878. After deliberations at the
Congress of Berlin
, which was attended by all the Great Powers of the time, the
Treaty of Berlin (1878)
provided independence or autonomy for the Christian nations in the empire's Balkan territories, and drastically restructured the map of the region.
Shortly after the war, Austria-Hungary was allowed to militarily occupy Bosnia, which formally continued to be part of the Ottoman territories.
Eastern Rumelia
was granted some autonomy in 1878, but then rebelled and joined Bulgaria in 1885.
Thessaly
was ceded to
Greece
in 1881, but after
Greece attacked the Ottoman Empire
to help the Second Cretan Uprising in 1897, Greece was defeated in Thessaly. Crete would gain autonomy in 1898 after the
Cretan Revolt (1897?1898)
.
Dissolution (1908?22)
[
edit
]
Public demonstration in the Sultanahmet district of Constantinople, 1908
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Italo-Turkish War
[
edit
]
In 1911, Italy invaded
Ottoman Tripolitania
(During the
colonisation of Africa
, Tripolitania became
Libya
), which was controlled by the
Ottoman Empire
. The war ended with the Italian annexation of the Tripolitania.
Ilinden?Preobrazhenie Uprising
[
edit
]
Bulgaro-Macedonian insurrection from 1903. See
Ilinden?Preobrazhenie Uprising
.
1912?13: Balkan Wars
[
edit
]
Surrender of
Ioannina
by
Esat Pasha
to the Greek Crown Prince
Constantine
during the
First Balkan War
.
Two
Balkan Wars
, in 1912 and 1913, entailed further action against the Ottoman Empire in Europe. The
Balkan League
first conquered Macedonia and most of
Thrace
from the Ottoman Empire, and then fell out over the division of the spoils. Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, after several rebellions and uprisings. This reduced Turkey's possessions in Europe (
Rumelia
) to their present borders in
Eastern Thrace
.
World War I
[
edit
]
World War I
(1914?1918) became the ultimate cause of the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire
, which formally ended in 1922. However, during wartime operations the Empire prevented the British
Royal Navy
from reaching
Constantinople
, stopping an Entente invasion in the
Battle of Gallipoli
(1915?1916). Nevertheless, under the provisions of the
Treaty of Lausanne
(1923) the Empire ultimately fell.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The Ottomans were able largely to maintain military parity until taken by surprise both on land and at sea in the Russian war from 1768 to 1774.
- ^
...in Bosnia Jajce under Hungarian garrison held until 1527.
- ^
The defeat of the Ottoman Army outside the gates of Vienna 300 years ago is usually regarded as the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire. But Walter Leitsch asks whether it was such a turning point in the history of Europe? ... However, it marks a turning point: not only was further Ottoman advance on Christian territories stopped, but in the following war that lasted up to 1698 almost all of Hungary was reconquered by the army of Emperor Leopold I. From 1683 the Ottoman Turks ceased to be a menace to the Christian world. ... The battle of Vienna was a turning point in one further respect: the success was due to the co-operation between the troops of the Emperor, some Imperial princes and the Poles. ... However the co-operation between the two non-maritime neighbours of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, the Emperor and Poland, was something new. ... Walter Leitsch is Professor of East European History and Director of the Institute of East and Southeast European Research at the University of Vienna.
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Davies 1997
, p. 448
- ^
Lock 2006
, p. 200
- ^
Lock 2006
, pp. 202?203
- ^
Davies 1997
, pp. 544?545
- ^
Babinger, Franz (1992),
Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time
, Princeton University Press, p. 25,
ISBN
978-0-691-01078-6
,
John Hunyadi accompanied by the cardinal-legate Giuliano Cesarini.
- ^
a
b
Zidari?, ?eljko (2019-09-10).
... As Only True Men Can: Nikola Zrinski's Last Stand at Sziget
. ?eljko Zidari?.
- ^
Palffy, Geza (2001).
"The Impact of the Ottoman Rule on Hungary"
(PDF)
.
Hungarian Studies Review
(in Hungarian).
28
(1?2). Hungarian Studies Association of Canada, National Szechenyi Library: 109?132.
- ^
Castles and History in Northern Transdanubia (2007)
.
- ^
Bushkovitch, Paul (2012).
A concise history of Russia
. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 169.
ISBN
978-0521543231
.
References
[
edit
]
- Aksan, Virginia (2007).
Ottoman Wars, 1700?1860: An Empire Besieged
. Pearson Education Ltd.
ISBN
978-0-582-30807-7
.
- "The Crusader Period"
.
All About All Crusades, A Chronological Time-table
. Archived from
the original
on 21 October 2007
. Retrieved
22 April
2021
.
- "The Battle of Mohacs, 1526"
.
World History at KMLA
. Korean Minjok Leadership Academy. 17 November 2004.
- Cassola, Arnold (1999).
The 1565 Great Siege of Malta and Hipolito Sans's La Maltea
. Malta: Publishers Enterprise Group.
- "Castles and History in Northern Transdanubia"
. Archived from
the original
on 16 October 2007
. Retrieved
22 April
2021
.
- Cline, Austin (25 June 2019).
"Expansion of the Ottoman Empire From 1300?1600"
.
Learn Religions
. Dotdash
. Retrieved
22 April
2021
.
- Davies, Norman
(1997).
Europe: A History
.
Pimlico
.
ISBN
978-0-7126-6633-6
.
- "Dregelypalank"
.
IranyMagyarorszag!
. 2021
. Retrieved
22 April
2021
.
- "The End of Europe's Middle Ages ? Ottoman Turks"
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-09-03
. Retrieved
2017-09-07
.
- Finkel, Caroline (2004).
Osman's Dream
. Basic Books.
- Gavran, Fra Ignacije (5 October 2017).
"Od zauze?a Bosne do podjele Provincije (1463?1514) ? From the book "Suputnici bosanske povijesti", Svjetlo rije?i, Sarajevo 1990"
.
Bosna Srebrena
(in Serbo-Croatian). Franciscan Province "Bosna Srebrena"
. Retrieved
2 February
2021
.
- "Habsburg-Ottoman War, 1683?1699"
.
World History at KMLA
. Korean Minjok Leadership Academy. 13 July 2005.
- Kakissis, Joanna (2011). "Athens & the Islands".
National Geographic Society
.
- Leitsch, Walter (July 1983).
"1683: The Siege of Vienna"
.
History Today
.
33
(7)
. Retrieved
19 December
2014
.
- Lock, Peter (2006).
Routledge Companion to the Crusades
.
Routledge
.
ISBN
978-0-415-39312-6
.
- Macfie, Alexander Lyon (1996).
The Eastern Question 1774?1923
(2nd ed.).
doi
:
10.4324/9781315841946
.
ISBN
978-1315841946
.
- Mommsen, Theodor E. (1941). "The Venetians in Athens and the Destruction of the Parthenon in 1687".
American Journal of Archaeology
. 45, No. 4 (October?December 1941).
- Pinson, Mark (1996) [1993].
The Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Historic Development from Middle Ages to the Dissolution of Yugoslavia
(2nd ed.). United States:
President and Fellows of Harvard College
.
ISBN
0-932885-12-8
. Retrieved
6 May
2012
.
- "1683 Siege of Vienna"
.
RateItAll
. RateItAll, Inc. Archived from
the original
on 22 October 2007
. Retrieved
22 April
2021
.
- Smitha, Frank E.
"Ottoman Decline"
.
MacroHistory and World Report
. Frank E. Smitha
. Retrieved
22 April
2021
.
- Smitha, Frank E. (2005).
"16th Century Timeline: 1501 to 1600"
.
MacroHistory and World Report
. Frank E. Smitha. Archived from
the original
on 26 May 2008
. Retrieved
22 April
2021
.
- Stavrianos, L.S. (1958).
The Balkans since 1453
. NYU Press.
ISBN
978-0814797662
.
- Tomkinson, John L.
Venetian Athens: Venetian Interlude (1684?1689)
. Anagnosis Books. Archived from
the original
on 30 June 2017
. Retrieved
14 August
2012
.
- Tyerman, Christopher (2019).
The World of the Crusades
.
Yale University Press
.
ISBN
978-0-300-21739-1
.
- Urban, William L. (2006). "Baltic Crusades". In Murray, Alan V. (ed.).
The Crusades: An Encyclopedia
. Vol. I: A?C. ABC-CLIO. pp. 184?192.
ISBN
978-1-57607-862-4
.
- Woodhead, Christine (2008). "New Views on Ottoman History, 1453?1839".
The English Historical Review
.
123
. Oxford University Press.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Anderson M.S.
The Eastern Question 1774?1923: A Study in International Relations
(1966)
online
- Crawley, C.W.
The Question of Greek Independence, 1821?1833
(1930).
online
- Gerolymatos, Andre.
The Balkan Wars
(2008).
- Jefferson, John (2012).
The Holy Wars of King Wladislas and Sultan Murad: The Ottoman-Christian Conflict from 1438?1444
.
Leiden
:
Brill Publishers
.
ISBN
978-90-04-21904-5
.
External links
[
edit
]