The Entire History of the Siege of Vienna 1683

#siegeofvienna #documentary #history

CHECK OUT OUR MAP STORE HERE: https://www.redbubble.com/people/MapStory/shop

WATCH THIS AND ALL OUR VIDEOS OVER ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ONNqWZ8qsl6DIyIp0uR8s?si=a444627f2aa343d7

WATCH THIS AND ALL OUR VIDEOS COMPLETELY AD-FREE OVER ON OUR SUBSTACK: https://thisishistory.substack.com/?r=2zq5ao&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklist

12th September 1683, Vienna.

The Ottoman army, led by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha, had been besieging the Austrian capital for the best part of two months. Despite his best efforts, the city had not yet fallen, and time was running out. That morning, a coalition relief army made up of Polish, German, and Austrian forces arrived on the outskirts of Vienna and began to engage the besieging Ottoman troops.

The battle had raged all day, but at around 5 p.m., just as Kara Mustafa was planning one last all-out assault to take the city, an officer from his Janissary corps burst into his tent, panic-stricken, and began pointing outside — exclaiming news the Ottoman Vizier did not want to hear.
On the western side of the battlefield, the Polish King, John III Sobieski, had formed up four immense contingents of cavalry, ready to charge. With a wave of his sword, the King of Poland — at the head of his elite winged hussars — gave the order to attack. Eighteen thousand horsemen thundered down the hillside towards the Ottoman positions, each of them determined to break the siege with the tips of their lances.

The largest cavalry charge in history had just been unleashed.

The Siege and Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 12 September 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, both under the command of King John III Sobieski, against the Ottomans and their vassal and tributary states. The battle marked the first time the Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Ottomans. The defeat was a turning point for Ottoman expansion into Europe, after which they would gain no further ground. In the ensuing war that lasted until 1699, the Ottomans would cede most of Ottoman Hungary to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.

The battle was won by the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the latter represented only by the forces of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (the march of the Lithuanian army was delayed, and they reached Vienna after it had been relieved). The Viennese garrison was led by Feldzeugmeister of the Holy Roman Imperial Army Ernst Rüdiger Graf von Starhemberg, an Austrian subject of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. The overall command was held by the senior leader, the King of Poland, John III Sobieski, who led the relief forces.

The forces of the Ottoman Empire and its vassal states were commanded by Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. The Ottoman army numbered approximately 90,000 to 300,000 men (according to documents on the order of battle found in Kara Mustafa's tent, initial strength at the start of the campaign was 170,000 men. They began the siege on 14 July 1683. Ottoman forces consisted, among other units, of 60 ortas of Janissaries (1,000 men paper-strength) with an observation army of some 70,000 men watching the countryside. The decisive battle took place on 12 September, after the arrival of the united relief army.

Some historians maintain that the battle marked a turning point in the Ottoman–Habsburg wars, a 300-year struggle between the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires. During the 16 years following the battle, the Austrian Habsburgs would gradually conquer southern Hungary and Transylvania, largely clearing them of Ottoman forces. The battle is noted for including the largest known cavalry charge in history.