!!!Türkenkriege

Turkish Wars: In 1354 the Ottomans began to establish themselves in 
the Balkans, conquered Serbia in the what is known in Austria as the 
"Battle on the Amselfeld" (Battle of Kosovo Polje) on June 16 
(1389), in 1396, 1444 and 1448 Christian forces were defeated and 
Constantinople (Istanbul) was taken by Ottoman forces on May 5 
(1453), after these victories the Ottomans began to advance towards 
central Europe. There are four periods of Ottoman-Habsburg relations:

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1) the period of Turkish attacks up to 1526: At first Hungary was 
attacked, but this resulted in a victory of the Hungarian troops near 
Belgrade in 1456. In 1473, 1476, 1478, 1480 and 1483 the Turks 
advanced towards parts of Carinthia and southern Styria (eastern 
Slovenia).

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2) Ottoman attacks between 1526-1683: After Sueleyman II had 
taken Belgrade in 1521 and defeated the Hungarian forces in 1526 near  
Mohács  Ferdinand I, the Habsburg archduke of Austria, 
claimed the now vacant throne of Hungary and the conflict between the 
Ottomans and the Habsburgs reached a climax. In response the Ottomans 
advanced towards Lower Austria in 1529 and laid siege to Vienna from 
September 27 to October 15; the second great campaign in 
1532, notable for the brilliant Christian defence of Guens (now 
Koeszeg, Hungary) ended as a mere foray into Austrian border 
territories (Ybbs valley).

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Between 1540-1547 the Ottomans occupied central Hungary (1541) and 
established a "pashalik" (a region under direct and 
permanent military occupation by the Ottomans with its main centre at 
Buda), these campaigns led to the emergence of three distinct zones: 
Ottoman Hungary in central Hungary along the middle Danube, Habsburg 
Hungary in the extreme north (Slovakia) and west and Transylvania, a 
vassal state dependent on the Ottomans. There were some truces (in 
1547 and in 1562 in Constantinople, in 1568 in Adrianople, none of 
them permanent) and the Habsburgs were accepted as rulers of northern 
Hungary in return for the payment of an annual tribute. The Estates of 
Austria and Inner-Oesterreich had to defend the borders and built 
fortifications in western Hungary and Croatia. After having recaptured 
one of the most important bastions at Raab (Gyoer) in 1598 a long 
drawn-out war (1593-1606) with the Turks was ended and the Peace of  
Zsitvatorok was negotiated in which for the first time the Habsburg 
Emperor was recognised as equal partner to the Sultan. The payment of 
the annual tribute was ended by giving an "honorary gift" of 
200,000 gulden. In the following decades especially during the period 
of the Thirty Years´ War, relations were improved. In 1663 a new 
war broke out, partly due to of French intervention. On August 1 
in 1664 Duke Raimund  Montecuccoli gained a military success at  
Mogersdorf, but in Hungary dissatisfaction with the peace agreement 
negotiated in Vasvár (Eisenburg) in 1664 was spreading. E.  
Thoekoely von Kesmark the leader of the Hungarian rebels and 
acknowledged by the Ottomans as King of Hungary had asked the Turks 
for help, whereupon in 1683 grand vizier  Kara Mustafa organised a 
large Turkish army and marched towards Vienna and laid siege on Vienna 
on July 14 ( Turkish Sieges of Vienna); at the same time southern 
Lower Austria was being pillaged by the Tatars. On 
September 12, 1683 King John III  Jan III 
Sobieskiof Poland and Duke  Karl V (Charles) of Lorraine took 
over the command of the relieving army, which dispersed the Turks.

\\
3) Austrian attacks (1683-1791): In 1683 Habsburg forces invaded 
Hungary and occupied Gran (Esztergom). On September 2, 1686 
Ofen (Buda) was taken by Karl of Lorraine; Transylvania was occupied 
and became part of Habsburg territory, on September 6, 1688 
Margrave Max Emanuel of Bavaria conquered Belgrade. The furthest 
advance to Niš was made on September 4, 1689 by 
Margrave Louis (Ludwig Wilhelm) of Baden. On 
October 18, 1690 Belgrade was recaptured by the Turks. On 
August 19, 1691 Louis of Baden gained a victory at Slankamen 
and finally on September 11, 1697 Prince  Eugène of 
Savoy gained a decisive victory near  Zenta. In the Treaty of 
Carlowitz, concluded on January 26, 1699 large parts of 
Hungary fell to the Habsburg Emperor (with the exception of the Banat 
of Temesvár).

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When the Turks attacked possessions of the Venetians in 1716 Austria 
intervened and Prince Eugène defeated the Turks on 
August 5 near  Peterwardein and also gained an important victory 
on August 16, 1717 near Belgrade. The Treaty of  Passarowitz 
concluded on July 21, 1718 gave the Habsburgs the largest 
territory on the Balkans they were ever to rule: northern Serbia (with 
Belgrade), a strip along the frontier of northern Bosnia, the Banat of 
Temesvár and Walachia Minor. In the 18%%sup th/%  century 
The Habsburgs formed an alliance with Russia and entered into two more 
armed conflicts, in which, however, no further victories were gained: 
the first war lasted from 1737 to 1739 and was ended by the Peace of 
Belgrade on September 18, 1739, resulting in the loss of the 
territories acquired in 1718. The second war was begun by 
Joseph II in 1788 and was ended on August 4, 1791 by 
the Peace of  Sistowa (Svischtov) without any major changes in 
territory.

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4) the Ottoman Empire as a "weak" neighbour of the Habsburg 
monarchy (1791-1918): It was of great importance to the Habsburg 
Monarchy that the position of European Turkey was not weakened. Russia 
served as protecting power for several Balkan countries, which 
succeeded in reaching independence (Greece in 1830, Rumania in 1859, 
Serbia and Bulgaria in 1878, and Albania in 1913). At the Congress of 
Berlin in 1878 Austria-Hungary was allowed to occupy  
Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was annexed in 1908. During the Balkan Wars 
(1912-1913) Austria-Hungary tried in vain to protect Turkey, which 
later formed an alliance with the Central Powers in the First World 
War.

!Literature
F. Suraya, Das ottomanische Herrschaftsgebiet von 
1350-1650, in: H. Kellenbenz (ed.), Handbuch der europaeischen 
Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, vol. 3, 1986; Die Steiermark, 
Bruecke und Bollwerk, exhibition catalogue, Schloss Herberstein 1986; 
J. P. Niederkorn, Die europaeischen Maechte und der "Lange 
Tuerkenkrieg" Kaiser Rudolfs II. (1593-1606), Archiv fuer 
oesterreichische Geschichte 135, 1993; T. M. Barker, 
Doppeladler und Halbmond, Entscheidungsjahr 1683, 1982 (English 
version 1967); Die Osmanen und Mitteleuropa. Internationaler Kongress 
fuer Militaergeschichte in Wien 1983, 1984; G. Heiss and G. 
Klingenstein (eds.), Das Osmanische Reich und Europa 1683-1789, 1983; 
W. Oehlinger, Wien zwischen den Tuerkenkriegen, 1998.


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