Why was the Ottoman Empire defeated in Vienna?

First of all, we have to understand the historical background.

It can be said that in the 16th century, the main theme of European wars can actually be summarized as the war between the Habsburg alliance between Spain and Austria and the blasphemy alliance between France and Ottoman. After the Iberian wedding, Spain, which combined Aragon and Castile-Leon Kingdom, became the strongest country in Europe. Due to the marriage with the Austrian Habsburg family, the Spanish throne also became the territory of the Habsburg family. At the peak, King Charles V of Spain was even elected as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Spain's overseas colonization is also in full swing, forming the first empire that never sets. Therefore, the alliance between Habsburg, Austria and Spain was the strongest force in Europe in the 16th century. The geopolitics of France is very dangerous because of the Habsburg Alliance. The northern Netherlands lowlands, the eastern Rhine and the Alps are the territories of the holy Roman empire, and the southern Pyrenees mountains are the territories of Spain. It can be said that France is surrounded by the Habsburg Alliance. In the 16th century, not only did France's ambition for Italy go bankrupt many times, but also the Burgundy region in China was in jeopardy because of the inheritance dispute with Spain. On this premise, France turned against the religious fanaticism in the Middle Ages and chose to form an alliance with the pagan Osman in the face of national interests. This "alliance of iris and crescent moon" was simply notorious in Europe at that time.

In Ottoman, the powerful Ottoman always maintained an advantage. Under the leadership of Suleiman, Osman captured most of Hungary and made the first siege of Vienna in 1529, but failed due to the arrival of winter. In the battle for the Mediterranean, Osman basically controlled the whole eastern Mediterranean, but was finally defeated by the Spanish Armada in the naval battle. Since then, Ottoman and Habsburg have waged a long tug-of-war, and its main expansion direction has shifted to the Middle East.

However, Spain's strength didn't last long, and the Dutch rebellion in the Netherlands eventually led to the eighty-year war with the Dutch, which made Spain feel overwhelmed. At the beginning of the 17th century, the widespread spread of Protestantism made the Holy Roman Empire tense, and the Protestant states in the north made Austria in the south a headache. Finally, in 1618, when the Thirty Years' War broke out, Spain, as the guardian of Catholicism and the boss of the Habsburg family, naturally sided with the emperor Austria, and blocked the first wave of Danish attacks. However, the second wave of attack was led by Sweden, a lion in the north. Gustav Adolphus's military reform greatly improved the fighting capacity of the Swedish army. Although the great king died in Luzen, Habsburg suffered the heaviest blow.

France, which had been watching the Thirty Years' War coldly, finally stood in the foreground from behind the scenes. Under the diplomatic instigation of Li Sailiu, France joined the war. In the end, France completely defeated the Habsburg Alliance, and the Holy Roman Empire had to sign the Westphalia Contract in 1648. All states had independent diplomatic rights and Protestantism had equal status. The Holy Roman Empire officially became an empty shell, and Alsace was ceded to France, acknowledging the influence of France on Lorraine. The northern Baltic coast was ceded to Sweden. Spain began to decline under the double blow of the 8-year war and the 3-year war. After France extended its strength to Alsace and Lorraine, it realized its ambition of "natural territory". In the Franco-Dutch war of 1678, it further eroded the lowland territory of Spain, and under the rule of Louis XIV, the sun king, France became the overlord of Europe. Sweden took the whole Baltic Sea into its arms and became a bully in the north.

I took advantage of your illness and killed you. I learned that Austria was defeated in the Thirty Years' War. In 1663, Osman launched the fourth Turkish-Austrian War against Austria. However, this time, due to the brave resistance of Austria, Hungary and Croatia, and more importantly, even Louis XIV of France, the biggest enemy of the Holy Roman Empire, supported 6 soldiers for the Holy Roman Empire. Turkey came back in vain and had to sign a 2-year contract with Austria. During the armistice, Osman launched wars against Poland, Lithuania and Russia in succession, and Poland was defeated, but Sejm of Poland refused to recognize the contract and prepared a larger army to fight again. Russia and Osman were tied, and the two countries confirmed the Dnieper River as the border of their territory and signed a 2-year contract.

speaking, Russia has solved most of the nomadic forces of Tatar at this time, and its colonization in Siberia has been fruitful. More importantly, in the Polish-Russian War of 1654-1667, Russia pushed Poland for the first time and ate a large area of Ukraine and Belarus, becoming a new force to be reckoned with in Europe. What is more noteworthy is that in 1681, Russia and Turkey signed a 2-year contract, and in 1682, the Tsar died. It never occurred to Osman that the newly succeeded czar would be an ambitious emperor and the greatest czar in Russia. His name is Peter romanov, also known as Peter I, and later called Peter the Great.

Of course, Osman couldn't leave it at that. After 2 years of preparation, a new opportunity came. In 1679, the worst Black Death broke out in Vienna, and two-thirds of the population died. Osman secretly instigated the rebellion against Habsburg and Protestant forces in Hungary. Finally, in 1683, Osman decided to do it himself and sent the declaration of war to the court in Vienna, and the Great Turkic War broke out.

That's the background.

What was the purpose of the Ottoman attack? If Istanbul (Constantinople) is the bridgehead of Osman's entry into Europe, Vienna is the wall of the core region of Western Europe. Ottoman attacked mainly Orthodox countries and non-core Catholic areas (including Hungary, Croatia, Rhode Island, etc.), but once Vienna is captured, the hinterland of Catholic-Protestant departments in the west and north will face the threat directly, and Osman will have the capital to go south to Italy. At the same time, Vienna is the core of the whole holy Roman Empire and the base camp of the Habsburg family. Taking Vienna will make the holy Roman Empire even more chaotic. In trade, Vienna is the only way for caravans to travel from West Asia to Germany. It is an important trading node with rich cities.

But why did Osman lose in the Great Turkic War? 1, military aspects (1) Military reform in Western Europe During the Thirty Years' War, due to the excellent performance and strong fighting capacity of the Swedish army, many countries in Western Europe began to imitate Gustav's reform in Sweden, established a standing army belonging to the country, and made great progress in artillery tactics. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the holy Roman Empire army has been greatly improved.

(2) Ottoman artillery was insufficient. During the Ottoman siege of Vienna, the Ottoman army had 13 field guns and 19 caliber guns. There are 37 guns on the defenders of the Holy Roman Empire, so the number of Ottoman guns is insufficient

(3) Before the siege of Vienna, Ottoman first captured Peshittolstov in the south of Vienna. However, Persitolstov was slaughtered by the Ottoman army after surrendering. This made the defenders in Vienna choose to stick to the end and refuse to surrender.

(4) The timely arrival of the excellent Polish King Jan sobieski and the powerful Polish winged cavalry King Jan sobieski in the Vienna War turned the tide. In the Battle of Vienna, he led the largest cavalry charge in history, with * * * 18, cavalry and 3, Polish cavalry, which broke the Ottoman defense line in one fell swoop. After this battle, Jan sobieski was called the Polish lion.

(5) The Ottoman army is complicated. Besides his own army, there are also the troops of his client countries Moldavia and Transylvania, the cavalry of Crimean Tatar tribe and the Hungarian rebels against Habsburg. However, the Tatar cavalry refused to obey orders, while other troops were actually weak in combat and could only rely on Osman's own army.

(6) Osman's improper tactical command and army mutiny

When the reinforcements arrived, the commander-in-chief of Osman's army, Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, chose to divide his troops, some of them resisted the arrival of the reinforcements, while others continued to besiege the city, hoping to capture Vienna before the arrival of Polish reinforcements. However, not only did the city not fall, but also the defense line was broken. The Ottoman army lost 2, soldiers in the siege and 15, soldiers under the Polish army. This also directly led to the commander-in-chief being ordered to be executed by Sultan Mohammed IV after retreating.

However, this has not changed the status quo of the Ottoman army's retreat. After losing the original Hungarian capital in the Battle of Budapest, Ottoman suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Mohcs in 1687. The Holy Roman Empire lost 1, soldiers with only 6 soldiers' lives.

The continuous failure made Ottoman soldiers unhappy, and the commander chose to be directly killed by angry soldiers for fear. Sudan's own army: Janissary and Sipahis marched directly into Istanbul under the command of junior officers themselves. In the end, Ottoman courtiers and officers decided to directly depose Sultan Mohammed IV and establish Suleiman II.

but this can't solve the chaos of the Ottoman empire. Finally, in the Battle of Zenta in Serbia in 1697, Ottoman made a fatal mistake, and they chose to cross the Tisza River. The troops of the Holy Roman Empire seized Ottoman's mistake and launched a surprise attack on Ottoman soldiers crossing the river. Turkish soldiers crowded on the bridge and became the best target of artillery. The whole war became a massacre, with 3, Ottoman soldiers killed, 1, of whom drowned, while only 2, soldiers were lost and only 4 people were killed in the Holy Rome.

The war finally forced Mustafa II, the current Sultan, to sign the Karlovits Contract, and Osman abandoned Hungary and Transylvania.

2, diplomacy

(1) Osman waited for 15 months, giving Austria diplomatic space

Osman waited for 15 months to avoid the failure of the first siege of Vienna, that is, the siege in winter. This gave the Habsburg family in Austria enough time to find enough allies and move their base camp out of Vienna. During this period, the Pope announced the establishment of the holy alliance, and Austria established an offensive and defensive alliance with Poland. Osman actually dug a bigger pit for himself

(2) Osman made too many enemies

In 1663-1683, Osman went to war against Poland and Russia continuously, which made the two countries more alert to Osman. Moreover, due to Poland's defeat in the Polish-Turkish War, the administrative efficiency of Sam was low. It is well known that Polish aristocratic democracy is so inefficient. However, due to the threat of Ottoman, it quickly formed an army and joined holy alliance.

(3) Russia's midway entry

There is a great conflict between Russia and Osman's national interests in the Black Sea. Russia has always been eager to gain access to the Black Sea, but Osman controls the Crimean Tatar tribes. More unfortunately, the 2-year contract between Russia and Turkey was signed in 1682, and the new czar succeeded to the throne in 1683, and he was also the greatest and most ambitious Peter the Great in Russian history. When Peter the Great learned that Osman had declared war on the Holy Roman Empire, he immediately tore up the armistice treaty, joined holy alliance, and joined hands with his old enemy Poland. This is the first time that Russia has actively intervened in the European Union. But for Osman, it is a bad news, which means that Osman will be under pressure from three parties.

(4) The failure of French containment

In fact, Osman had to use France to contain the Holy Roman Empire when he entered Europe. By the same token, if France wants to March into God, it also needs the attack of Osman. Louis XIV, the king of the sun, naturally understood this. In 1688, he took advantage of Austria's opportunity to deal with Ottoman to attack the lowlands. But he neglected that Spain was strong enough and the whole of Europe was hostile to Habsburg, so France could use the blasphemy alliance to contain the Habsburg family. But nowadays, France itself is the hegemon of Europe. In 1678, the French-Dutch war encroached on a large number of lowland territories, which made all the hostility converge on France. Today, the looting in troubled waters is even more dissatisfied with the whole of Europe.

in 1686, countries led by Austria established the League of Augsberg against France. In 1689, after England and Scotland joined, the Grand Alliance was established. In 1688, France's looting in troubled waters directly led to the 9-year war, and Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland, Brandenburg (later Prussia), Sweden, Portugal, the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Principality of Savoy, the Principality of Saxony, and the Principality of Valentino joined the war against France. Even the most powerful France can't compete with the whole Europe. In 1698, France had to return duchy of lorraine and give up the land east of the Rhine. Because France has touched public anger, Austria can also focus on dealing with Osman.

3. Politically (1) The fall of the Guards

The Ottoman Guards (Janissary) have always been the pride of the Turks. Guards have always been screened by Devirme. In the captured Christian provinces, Osman obtained Christian slave boys aged 8-18 (because Muslims can't be slaves), let them believe in Islam, abide by Turkish traditions, and train their own guards with rigorous training. These guards can't even get married or even grow beards. Although they are slaves, these guards will still have their own salaries, and those who perform well can even enter the court and give them the status of first-class citizens. Under such a system, the Turkish Guards maintained excellent combat effectiveness.

However, the system of the Guards added a new social stratum to Osman: the Guards. Moreover, the promotion system of the guards made more and more guards enter the court and gained great power. They began to grab more privileges and powers, and Sudan had to give in. Gradually, the Guards began to allow marriage and childbirth, grow beards, and let their descendants have the right to enter the army, which forced the Guards to expand their enrollment. The price of enrollment expansion is that the original strict training is gone, and the combat effectiveness of the elite has also dropped sharply. After the Battle of Mohac in the Great Turkic War, the Guards even violated their absolute loyalty to Sudan and marched into Istanbul. They also began to interfere in and refused to reform, which eventually overhead Sudan, leading to the collapse of Ottoman political situation

(2) Successive changes in the throne and the decline of kingship. In the 16 years of the war from 1683 to 1699, Osman changed four sultans

Mohammed IV, ruling from 1648 to 1687.