Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna in 1683 (Turkish: ?kinci Viyana Ku?atmas?) (as distinct from the Siege of Vienna in 1529) was the first large-scale battle of the Habsburg-Ottoman Wars, yet with the most far-reaching consequences. The battle pitted a Habsburg army of about 100,000 troops and their allies, led by Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, a 30,000-man relief force under Jan III Sobieski, King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, against the Ottoman army, commanded by Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, which numbered approximately 140,000 men, although a large number of them played no part in the battle. The siege itself began in July 14, 1683, and the decisive battle took place on September 12, 1683.

Siege

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. One goal of this digging was to decrease the stability of the walls around Vienna. Additionally, the Ottoman siege cut virtually every means of food-supply into Vienna, and the population began to starve. (For example, the Viennese cavalry had to start killing their own horses for food. After the later retreat of the Turkish army, the Polish army reported many horse thefts.)

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Sobieski, the King of Poland, began planning a relief expedition to Vienna during the summer of 1683 (warned ahead of time by the Turkish declaration of war a year earlier), when the hard-pressed Turks launched an all-out offensive against Austria. The Ottoman Empire and the Habsburgs had clashed repeatedly for more than 150 years, and Kara Mustafa Pasha planned an expedition to put an end to this situation. Starting in March, the Turkish Army moved toward the city, and finally invested it on July 14. The previous winter, the Habsburgs and Poland had concluded a treaty in which the Leopold would support Sobieski if the Turks attacked Kraków; in return, the Polish Army would come to the relief of Vienna, if and when it came under attack.

Related Topics:
July 14 - Leopold - Sobieski - Kraków

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The Polish king honored his obligations to the letter; going so far as to leave his own nation virtually un-defended. He 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.

Related Topics:
Imre Thököly - Hungary

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The battle began with the Turkish forces tunneling trenches towards the city walls, as Kara Mustafa Pasha managed to take part of the walls of Vienna by exploding mines under them, entrusting the defence of the rear to the Khan of Crimea and its cavalry force, which numbered about 30,000. Yet, due to their previous confrontations, and his subsequent humiliation in previous War Councils, the Khan of Crimea did not make dispositions to defend the rear against Sobieski. After learning of the arrival of Polish forces, the Khan instead retreated his forces, and left vital bridges virtually undefended; allowing the passage of the combined Habsburg-Polish army, which arrived to relieve the siege of the city.

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