Over 300 years ago, Western Civilization was nearly overrun by Islam. The seeming unstoppable tide of Islam paused at Vienna. On September 11th, 1683, the king of Poland, John Sobieski, at the head of his Winged Hussars, the last heavy calvary in Europe, led an army down upon the besiegers. They swept the Muslim army from the field, and from that day, the grip of Islam upon Eastern Europe weakened. This battle was the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire.If you click on the title of this post, you'll be directed to the orgininal article on answers.com, together with more links, pictures, and so on. ----------Battle of Vienna
Part of the
Habsburg-Ottoman Wars of
1683-
1697The Battle of Vienna (
Turkish: İkinci Viyana Kuşatması) (as distinct from the
Siege of Vienna in 1529) took place on
September 11 and
September 12 1683 after
Vienna had been besieged by Turks for two months. It was the first large-scale battle of the
Habsburg-Ottoman Wars, yet with the most far-reaching consequences.
The siege itself began on
14 July 1683, by the Ottoman army commanded by
Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. The decisive battle took place on
12 September, after the united relief army of 70,000 men had arrived, pitted against the Ottoman army of approximately 138,000 men - although a large number of these played no part in the battle, as only 50,000 were experienced soldiers, and the rest less motivated supporting troops
[1]. King
Jan III Sobieski of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been made Commander in Chief of his own 30,000-man Polish forces and the 40,000 troops of Habsburg and their allies, led by
Charles V, Duke of Lorraine.
The battle marked the turning point in the 300-year struggle between the forces of the Central European kingdoms, and the
Ottoman Empire. Over the sixteen years following the battle, the
Habsburgs of
Austria, and their allies gradually occupied and dominated southern
Hungary and
Transylvania, which had been largely cleared by the Turkish forces.
Prelude
To capture the city of
Vienna had long been a strategic aspiration for the Ottoman Empire, due to its inter-locking control over Danubean (Black Sea-to-Western Europe) southern Europe, and the overland (Eastern Mediterannean-to-Germany) trade routes. During the years preceding the second siege, under the auspicies of grand viziers from the influential
Köprülü family, the Ottoman Empire undertook extensive logistical preparations this time, including the repair and establishment of roads and bridges leading into Austria, and logistical centers, as well as the forwarding of ammunition, cannons and other resources, from all over the Empire to these logistical centers, and into the Balkans.
Emperor Leopold I
On the political front, the Ottoman Empire had been providing military assistance to the Hungarians and to non-Catholic minorities, in Habsburg-occupied portions of
Hungary. There, in years preceding the siege, widespread unrest had become open rebellion, upon
Leopold I's insistent pursuit of
Counter-Reformation principles, and his burning desire of crushing
Protestantism. In 1681, Protestants and other anti-Habsburg forces, led by
Imre Thököly, were reinforced with a significant force from the Ottomans, who recognized Imre as King of "Upper Hungary" (eastern
Slovakia and parts of northeastern present-day Hungary, which he had earlier taken by force of arms, from the Habsburgs). This support went so far as explicitly promising the "Kingdom of Vienna" to the Hungarians, if it fell into Ottoman hands.
Sultan Mehmed IV
Yet, before the siege, a state of peace had existed for twenty years between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire, as a result of the
Peace of Vasvár.
In 1681 and 1682, clashes between the forces of Imre Thököly and the Habsburgs' military frontier (which was then northern Hungary) forces intensified, and the incursions of Habsburg forces into Central Hungary provided the crucial argument of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha in convincing the sultan,
Mehmet IV and his
Divan, to allow the operation of the Ottoman Army. Mehmet IV authorized Kara Mustafa Pasha to operate as far as
Győr (
Turkish: Yanıkkale,
German: Raab) and
Komarom (
Turkish: Komaron,
German: Komorn) castles, both in northwestern Hungary, and to besiege them. The Ottoman Army was mobilized on
January 21 1682, and war was declared on
August 6 1682.
"Jan III Sobieski at Vienna"
However, the forward march of Ottoman Army elements did not begin until
April 1 1683 from
Edirne in
Thracia. This strategic mistake provided ample time (almost 15 months) for Habsburg forces to prepare their defense, and to set up alliances with other Central European rulers.
During the winter, the Habsburgs and Poland concluded a treaty in which
Leopold would support
Sobieski if the Turks attacked
Kraków; in return, the Polish Army would come to the relief of Vienna, if attacked.
In the spring, the Turkish Army reached Belgrade in early May, then moved toward the city of Vienna. About 40,000
Tatar Forces arrived 40km east of Vienna on 7 July, twice as many as the Austrian forces in that area. After initial fights, Leopold retreats to
Linz with 80,000 inhabitants of Vienna.
The King of Poland prepared a relief expedition to Vienna during the summer of 1683, honoring his obligations to the treaty. He went so far as to leave his own nation virtually un-defended when departing from Cracow on 15 August. Sobieski covered this with a stern warning to
Imre Thököly, the leader of
Hungary (then an Ottoman satellite), whom he threatened with destruction if he tried to take advantage of the situation - which Thököly did.
Events during the Siege
The main Turkish army finally invested Vienna on
July 14. Graf Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg, leader of the remaining 11,000 troops and 5,000 citizens and volunteers, refused to capitulate.
The Viennese had demolished many of the houses around the city walls and cleared the debris, leaving an empty plain that would expose the Turks to defensive fire if they tried to rush the city. Kara Mustafa Pasha solved that problem by ordering his forces to dig long lines of trenches directly toward the city, to help protect them from the defenders as they advanced steadily toward the city.
As their 300 cannons were outdated and the
fortifications of Vienna were up to date, the Turks had a more effective use for the gun powder: undermining. Tunnels were dug under the massive city walls to blow them up with explosives, using
Sapping mines.
The Ottomans had essentially two options to take the city: the first, an all-out assault, was virtually guaranteed success since they outnumbered the defendants almost 20-1. The second was to lay siege to the city, and against all military logic, they chose the second. Historians have speculated that Kara Mustafa wanted to take the city intact for its riches, and declined an all-out attack in order to prevent the right of plunder which would accompany such an assault.
[2]Additionally, the Ottoman siege cut virtually every means of food-supply into Vienna,
[3] and the garrison and civilian volunteers suffered extreme casualties and fatigue became such a problem that Graf Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg ordered any soldier found asleep on watch to be shot. Increasingly desperate, the forces holding Vienna were on their last legs when in August, Imperial forces under
Charles V, Duke of Lorraine beat
Imre Thököly of
Hungary at Bisamberg, 5km north east of Vienna.
On 6 September, the Poles crossed the Danube 30km north west of Vienna at Tulln, to unite with the Imperial forces, and additional troops from
Saxony,
Bavaria,
Baden,
Franconia and
Swabia which had answered the call for a
Holy League that was supported by
Pope Innocent XI.
Only
Louis XIV of France,
Habsburg's rival, not only declined to help, but used the opportunity to attack cities in
Alsace and other parts of southern Germany, as in the
Thirty Years' War decades earlier.
During early September, the experienced 5000 Turkish
sappers repeatedly blew up large portions of the walls, the Burg
bastion, the Löbel
bastion and the Burg
ravelin in between, creating gaps of about 12m in width. The Austrians tried to counter by digging their own tunnels, to intercept the deposition of large amounts of gun powder in subterranean caverns.
The Turks finally managed to occupy the Burg
ravelin and the Nieder wall in that area on 8 September. Anticipating a breach in the city walls, the remaining Austrians prepared to fight in Vienna itself.
Staging the battle
The relief army had to act quickly, to save the city from the Turks, and to prevent another long siege in case they would take it. Despite the international composition and the short time of only six days, an effective leadership structure was established, undisputedly centered on the King of Poland and his heavy cavalry. The motivation was high, as this war was not as usual for the interests of kings, but for Christian faith and even God. And, unlike the crusades, the battleground was in the heart of Europe.
Kara Mustafa Pasha, on the other hand, was less effective despite having months of time to organize his forces, ensure their motivation and loyalty, and to prepare for the expected relief army attack. He had entrusted defence of the rear to the Khan of Crimea and his cavalry force, which numbered about 30,000.
There is serious questions as to how much the Tatar forces participated in the final battle at Vienna. Their Khan felt humiliated by repeated snubs by Kara Mustafa, and reportedly refused to make a strike against the Polish relief force as it crossed the mountains, where the heavy cavalry would have been vulnerable to such an assault from the lighthorse Tatars.
[4] Nor were they the only component of the Ottoman army to openly defy Mustafa, and to refuse assignments.
This left vital bridges undefended and allowed passage of the combined Habsburg-Polish army, which arrived to relieve the siege. Critics of this account say that it was Kara Mustafa Pasha, and not the Crimean Khan, who was held responsible for the failure of the siege.
The
Holy League forces arrived on the "
Kahlen Berg" (bare hill) above Vienna, signalling their arrival with bonfires. In the early morning hours of 12 September, before the battle, a mass is held for King Sobieski.
The Battle
The battle started before all units were staged. Early in the mornin
