1,752
edits
Changes
no edit summary
==Background==
The Ottomans had in the seventeenth century ruled a vast empire that encompassed the Balkans, modern day Turkey and much of the Middle East since the fifteenth century. They had captured Byzantium in 1453 and ended the Byzantine Empire. They Successive Sultans had launched repeated attacks or ''jihads'' on the Christian kingdoms of Europe for many centuries. By the 1680s the main defense against the Ottomans was the Hapsburg Empire<ref>Alan Palmer, The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire (New York, Barnes & Noble Publishing, 1992), p. 113</ref>. This was a large empire that was centered on the German-speaking lands of modern Austria and its capital was Vienna. The Hapsburg Empire and the Ottomans had long contested the control of central Europe and for the control of Hungary. In 1529 the Ottomans had laid siege to Vienna but had been beaten back. This has also led to the partition of Hungary between the Turks and the Hapsburgs. However, the Catholic Hapsburgs distrusted and occasionally persecuted many of their Hungarian subjects who were Protestants <ref> Palmer, p. 113</ref>. The Catholic forces moved into an area of Hungary that had been traditionally a de facto buffer zone between the Hapsburgs and the Ottomans. This gave the Ottomans the excuse that they had long wanted to drive their armies into the heart of Europe. Since the death of Suleiman, the Magnificent the Ottomans had been in decline, but this had been reversed by a series of energetic Viziers. They had reformed the army and had built up the infrastructure of the Empire. The Hapsburg intervention into Hungary was the perfect opportunity for the Turks to capture Vienna. They wanted the city so that they could control vital land trade routes and to potentially fatefully weaken the Hapsburgs.
[[File: Walka o sztandar turecki.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Ottoman and Polish cavalry clashing outside Vienna]]
==The Battle and siege==
Some 150,000 Turkish troops entered Austrian territory and they were allied with the Hungarians. Some 40,000 Crimean Tartars also joined the army of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Viziers had long planned for this invasion and they had laid meticulous plans. However, the winter meant that the actual invasion was delayed and this gave the Austrians some time to prepare. The main Ottoman army arrived outside the gates of Vienna on 14 July. On the same day, the commander Kara Mustafa demanded the surrender of the city. The Viennese and the garrison vowed to fight on as earlier the Turks had massacred the inhabitants of a town that had surrendered on terms. The Ottomans cut off the city from the rest of the Hapsburg lands. The city's defenders had cleared the area around the surrounding city walls. This created a free-fire zone for the Imperial troops <ref> Palmer, p. 221</ref>. In response, the Ottomans established a network of trenches. The Turks had excellent artillery and they employed almost 150 pieces of cannon and they also dug tunnels under the Hapsburg walls to place mines under the fortifications. The walls of the city were in a state of disrepair but the garrison and the citizens improvised and strengthen the fortifications. By September 1683 a small relief force of the Imperial army had arrived. The Hapsburg Emperor had previously fled the city. Despite this, the Viennese garrison was under great stress and the commander became so concerned that Graf Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg ordered any soldier malingering or asleep on duty to be ‘summarily shot’ <ref> Palmer, p. 223</ref>. It seemed that the Austrian garrison was on the verge of defeat and the Ottomans on the threshold of a great victory. However, the Austrians had been very active on the diplomatic front and they had received the backing of the Pope, who also supplied much-needed funds. Louis XIV of France refused to help the Austrians, who he viewed as his arch enemy. The Poles under their King John III Sobieski conditionally agreed to participate in the relief of Vienna and joined the Holy League, the name given to the anti-Ottoman alliance<ref>Nicolle, David. Armies of the Ottoman Turks 1300–1774 (Osprey Publishing, 1983), p. 214</ref>.
