War 101: Second Vienna Siege and Great Turkish War

                                                                                  Introduction;

                             The Importance of Second Vienna Siege and Great Turkish War

Mehmed IV. (Credit: Wikipedia)

        The late seventeenth century of the Ottoman Empire was quite important for both Turkish and European history. Wars with Habsburg Monarchy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ensured the Ottoman Empire to reach its peak power and territorial expansion. Especially, the era of Mehmed IV and, more significantly, the “Köprülü Family” ought to be investigated carefully. However, the war that happened in the same era of the Ottoman Empire (17th century) prepared the demise of Ottoman hegemony and dominance throughout interior and exterior status. The Second Vienna Siege was extremely crucial for changing the power balances in European states. Because of this incident, the economy, bureaucracy, and stabilization of the Ottoman Empire started to melt. “The Second Vienna Siege and Great Turkish War” so is important for World history in terms of beginning a new era in Europe.

                                                                        From Ibrahim I to Ahmed III, 

                                                     Ottoman political and military situation

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha (Credit: Wikipedia)

              Firstly, at the time of Ibrahim I (1640-1648), Ottoman Empire found itself in a kind of situation that started the Crete war, which lasted until 1669. In spite of Ibrahim’s predecessor Murad IV’s effective and strict ruling of the state, Ottoman Empire was taken by young Mehmed IV in a negative time thanks to his mental patient father Ibrahim I. In order to overcome this sort of terrible circumstance, one of the experienced Ottoman elite, “Köprülü Mehmed Pasha,” was in charge by order of Turhan Sultan. Köprülü Mehmed’s sophistication to the Ottoman Empire assured it to gain its old power towards Europe. After Köprülü Mehmed’s positive Grand Vizierate, his son Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed succeeded him and became one of the respectful Grand Viziers of Ottoman History. His achievements like conquering Crete in 1669, defeating Habsburg Monarchy in 1664 (Vasvar Treaty), and prevailing on Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1672 (Bucaş Treaty) promoted Ottoman dominance towards Europe. Thereafter, his brother-in-law Kara Mustafa Pasha took the Ottoman Grand Vizierate and defeated Russian Empire in 1681 through the Bahçesaray Agreement. After these incidents, Ottoman Empire decided to attack Austria, and an army under the commandership of Kara Mustafa Pasha launched from Istanbul to Vienna, and the Second Vienna Siege started. However, this siege was a disaster for the Ottoman Empire, and from 1683 to 1699 Ottoman Empire started to lost its territories in Europe. Finally, the Treaties of Karlowitz and Istanbul were agreed upon, and Ottoman Empire entered the 18th century with negative circumstances.

                                                                     Causes of the Second Vienna Siege: 

                         The Incidents that led Vienna Siege and Great Turkish War to happen

Kara Mustafa Pasha (Credit: Wikipedia)

            To begin with, the incidents that happened before the Second Vienna siege identified the decision of war such as; personal aims of Kara Mustafa Paşa, the attitude of Habsburgs to Hungary, and Tököli İmre’s rebellion. First of all, as a member of the Köprülü Family, Kara Mustafa Paşa was seen as one of the successful commanders of the Ottoman Empire through the Bahçesaray treaty. According to İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, because of the achievements that made by previous Köprülü members especially Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed, made Kara Mustafa Paşa ambitious to success more what Fazıl Ahmed had done. Therefore, Kara Mustafa Paşa decided to break the Ottoman-Habsburg peace treaty by creating inaccurate news and letters from both Hungarian territory and Janissaries who would love to fight with “infidels.” Secondly, the attitude of catholic Habsburg towards protestant Hungarian people, which made the Ottomans angry. From the Mohaç war in 1526, Ottoman Empire kept most of the Hungarian territories in hand. However, Habsburg Monarchy forced protestant Hungarian people to change their belief as catholic. Thereupon, Hungarian rebels under the command of “Tököli İmre” launched a rebellion against Austria and sought assistance from Europe. Though Köprülü Fazil Ahmed dismissed Tököli İmre’s offer to Ottoman Empire at first, afterward; Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Paşa gave attention. In addition, Tököli İmre served himself as commander of the Ottoman Army and gained respect from Ottoman authority by his victories. To sum up, the events which manifested pre-Second Vienna siege determined the declaration of war, such as; personal goals of Kara Mustafa Paşa, behaviour of Habsburgs to Hungary, and Tököli İmre’s rebellion.

                                            Results of the Second Vienna Siege and Great Turkish War:

                                                Results that determined the fate of the Europe

Peace negotiations in Karlowitz. (credit Wikipedia)

            Initially, the results of the Second Vienna Siege were quite impactful and negative for the Ottomans, on the one hand, positive for Austria, Russia, Venice, and less positive for Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the other hand. In terms of the Ottoman Empire, it was stated that the Ottoman Empire lost its old power and dominance throughout Europe politically and militarily. Hungary (except Temesvar) was given to Austria, Mora and some parts of Bosnia were given to Venice, Polodia was given to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Azak castle & its environment were given to Russian Tsardom by Karlowitz and Istanbul treaties. Not following technological sophistication in Europe, the debasement of the Ottoman Akçe and interior politics exhausted Ottoman Empire very severely. Upon this misfortune, the loss of the Great Turkish war made Ottoman Empire not to consider gaining territories again. Ottoman Empire that changed its perspective from gaining lands to defending lands would continue until the Turkish Independence War. Furthermore, with the loss of the war, Ottoman understood the prevailing of West, and from this time to until the end of the “Tulip Era,” the empire started to act like a Western Country. On the other hand, the earnings of the Holy League were precious. Austria and Venice consisted of their hegemonies towards their new lands while Russian Empire under Petro I, planning to the strategy of warm water commerce and annexing Crimean Khanate. However, although Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was seen as the winner of the war, the booties and exploitation that the Crimean Army made suffered Polish-Lithuanians. Sequel to Karlowitz and Istanbul, to take back its lost lands, Ottoman Empire would attack Austria and Venice again, which concluded with the treaty of Passarowitz that made Ottomans enter the “Tulip Era.” Because of these events, the structure of Europe started to change, and European states located their perspectives from defending to attacking Ottoman lands. In conclusion, the end of the Second Vienna Siege and Great Turkish War were quite effective and misfortune for the Ottomans on the one hand, beneficial for Austria, Russia, Venice and less beneficial for Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the other hand.

          In conclusion, the Second Vienna Siege and Great Turkish War are crucial for history. In the aftermath of these occasions, the nature of Europe started to change, and Ottoman Empire would never become the strongest empire again.

   Sources used during this writing

• Uzunçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı. “Osmanlı Tarihi III. Cilt I. Kısım”, Turkey/Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu publishing, 2009.
• Website link: https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/merzifonlu-kara-mustafa-pasa
• Website link: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Treaty-of-Vasvar
• Finkel, Caroline. “Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire”, United States/NY: Basic Books, 2006.
• Website link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna

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