Siege of Vienna (1529)
Siege of Vienna | |||||||
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Part of the Bartel Beham | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Ottoman Empire Moldavia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Suleiman the Magnificent Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
≈ 17,000–21,000[2] |
≈ 120,000–125,000 (only 100,000 were available during the siege)[3] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown, with presumably high civilian fatalities[4] More than 1,500 dead (10% of the besieged)[5] | 15,000 wounded, dead or captured[4] |
The siege of Vienna, in 1529, was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire to capture the capital city of Vienna, Austria, Holy Roman Empire. Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottomans, attacked the city with over 100,000 men, while the defenders, led by Niklas Graf Salm, numbered no more than 21,000. Nevertheless, Vienna was able to survive the siege, which ultimately lasted just over two weeks, from 27 September to 15 October, 1529.
The siege came in the aftermath of the 1526 Battle of Mohács, which had resulted in the death of Louis II, King of Hungary, and the descent of the kingdom into civil war. Following Louis' death, rival factions within Hungary selected two successors: Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, supported by the House of Habsburg, and John Zápolya. Zápolya would eventually seek aid from, and become a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, after Ferdinand began to take control of western Hungary, including the city of Buda.
The Ottoman attack on Vienna was part of the empire's intervention into the Hungarian conflict, and in the short term sought to secure Zápolya's position. Historians offer conflicting interpretations of the Ottoman's long-term goals, including the motivations behind the choice of Vienna as the campaign's immediate target. Some modern historians suggest that Suleiman's primary objective was to assert Ottoman control over all of Hungary, including the western part (known as
The failure of the siege of Vienna marked the beginning of 150 years of bitter military tension between the Habsburgs and Ottomans, punctuated by reciprocal attacks, and culminating in a second siege of Vienna in 1683.
Background
In August 1526, Sultan
Following the Diet of
Prelude
Ottoman army
In the spring of 1529, Suleiman mustered a large army in
Suleiman launched his campaign on 10 May, 1529 and faced numerous obstacles from the onset.[16] The spring rains that are characteristic of south-eastern Europe and the Balkans were particularly heavy that year, causing flooding in Bulgaria and rendering parts of the route used by the army barely passable. Many large-calibre cannons and artillery pieces became hopelessly mired or bogged down, leaving Suleiman no choice but to abandon them,[17] while camels brought from the empire's Eastern provinces, not used to the difficult conditions, were lost in large numbers. Sickness and poor health became common among the janissaries, claiming many lives along the perilous journey.[18]
Suleiman arrived in
Defensive measures
As the Ottomans advanced towards Vienna, the city's population organised an ad-hoc resistance formed from local farmers, peasants, and civilians determined to repel the inevitable attack. The defenders were supported by a variety of European mercenaries, namely German Landsknecht pikemen and professional Spanish harquebusiers, sent by Charles V, who was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain.[20][21]
Queen Mary of Hungary, who was the sister of Charles V, in addition to 1,000 German
The Spanish were under the command of Marshal Luis de Ávalos, with captains Juan de Salinas, Jaime García de Guzmán, Jorge Manrique, and Cristóbal de Aranda. This elite infantry excelled in the defense of the northern area and with discretion fire prevented the Ottomans from settling in the Danube meadows, near the ramparts, where they could have breached with enough space to work. These elite soldiers also built additional palisades and trap pits that would be essential during the siege.[citation needed]
The
Siege
The Ottoman army that arrived in late September had been depleted during the long advance into Austrian territory, leaving Suleiman short of camels and heavy artillery. Many of his troops arrived at Vienna in poor health after the tribulations of the long march through the worst of the wet season.[
As the Ottoman army settled into position, the Austrian garrison launched sorties to disrupt the digging and
More rain fell on 11 October, and with the Ottomans failing to breach the walls, the prospect of victory began to fade. In addition, Suleiman was facing critical shortages of food, water and other supplies, while casualties, sickness, and desertions began to take their toll. The janissaries began voicing their displeasure at the lack of progress, demanding a decision on whether to remain or abandon the siege. The Sultan convened an official council on 12 October to deliberate the matter. It was decided to attempt one final, major assault on Vienna, an "all or nothing" gamble.[22] The assault was launched on 14 October, but despite extra rewards being offered to the troops, it was beaten back, with the defenders' arquebuses and long pikes proving decisive.[23] The following day, with supplies running low and winter approaching, Suleiman called off the siege and ordered a withdrawal to Constantinople.[24][25]
With unusually heavy snowfall, conditions deteriorated. The Ottoman retreat was hampered by muddy roads along which their horses and camels struggled to pass. Pursuing Austrian horsemen took many stragglers prisoner, although there was no Austrian counter-attack. The Ottomans reached Buda on 26 October, Belgrade on 10 November and their destination, Constantinople, on 16 December.[26][27]
Aftermath
Some historians[
The 1529 campaign produced mixed results. Buda was brought back under the control of the Ottoman vassal
References
- ISBN 978-0-521-29163-7. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- ^ Turnbull says the garrison was "over 16,000 strong". The Ottoman Empire, p. 50; Keegan and Wheatcroft suggest 17,000. Who's Who in Military History, p. 283; Some estimates are just above 20,000, for example: "Together with Wilhelm von Roggendorf, the Marshal of Austria, Salm conducted the defense of Vienna with 16,000 regulars and 5,000 militia." Dupuy, Trevor, et al., The Encyclopedia of Military Biography, p. 653.
- ^ Turnbull suggests Suleiman had "perhaps 120,000" troops when he reached Osijek on 6 August. The Ottoman Empire, p. 50; Christopher Duffy suggests "Suleiman led an army of 125,000 Turks". Siege Warfare: Fortresses in the Early Modern World 1494–1660, p. 201. For higher estimates, see further note on Suleiman's troops.
- ^ a b c d Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326–1699. New York: Osprey, 2003. p. 51
- ^ a b https://repositorio.uam.es/bitstream/handle/10486/1235/17116_C6.pdf?sequence=1 [bare URL PDF]
- ^ It was an "afterthought towards the end of a season of campaigning". Riley-Smith, p. 256; "A last-minute decision following a quick victory in Hungary". Shaw and Shaw, p. 94; Other historians, including Stephen Turnbull, regard the suppression of Hungary as the calculated prologue, to an invasion further into Europe: "John Szapolya [sic] became a footnote in the next great Turkish advance against Europe in the most ambitious campaign of the great Sultan's reign." Turnbull, p .50.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-1317895701.
- ^ Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326–1699. New York: Osprey, 2003. p. 49
- ^ Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326–1699. New York: Osprey, 2003. pp. 49–50
- ^ Turnbull suggests Suleiman had "perhaps 120,000" troops when he reached Osijek on 6 August. Turnbull, p. 50; Very high figures appear in nineteenth-century histories, for example that of Augusta Theodosia Drane in 1858, "more than 300,000 men"; such estimates may derive from contemporary accounts: the Venetian diarist Marino Sanuto, on 29 October 1529, for example, recorded the Turkish army as containing 305,200 men (mentioned in Albert Howe Lyber's The Government of the Ottoman Empire in the Time of Suleiman the Magnificent, p. 107). Modern books sometimes repeat the higher figures—for example, Daniel Chirot, in The Origins of Backwardness in Eastern Europe, 1980, p. 183, says "some 300,000 men besieged Vienna in 1529"; an alternative figure appears in Islam at War: "The sultan's army of 250,000 appeared before the gates of Vienna in the first siege of that great city", Walton, et al., 2003, p. 104.
- ISBN 963-326-320-4p. 165.
- ^ In April, the diploma by which Suleiman confirmed Ibrahim Pasha's appointment as serasker included the following: "Whatever he says and in whatever manner he decides to regard things, you are to accept them as if they were the propitious words and respect-commanding decrees issuing from my own pearl-dispensing tongue." Quoted by Rhoads Murphey in Ottoman Warfare 1500–1700, p. 136.
- ^ a b c d e Turnbull, pp. 50–51.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-9004288881.
- ^ Stavrianos, p. 77.
- , who was too stretched by his war with France to spare more than a few Spanish infantry to the cause.
- ISBN 978-1-59420-225-4
- ^ Spielman, p. 22.
- ^ Stavrianos, p. 78.
- ^ Early Modern Wars 1500–1775 p. 18
- ^ Holmes et al p. 953
- ISBN 978-0-595-27521-2.
- ISBN 978-90-04-28888-1.
- ^ Wheatcroft (2009), p. 59.
- ^ Tracy, p. 140.
- ^ Riley-Smith, p. 256.
- ISBN 978-1-107-03442-6.
- ^ Entry on Salm. Dupuy, et al., p. 653.
- ^ Louthan, p. 43.
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