The First Siege of Vienna by the Musulman Turks
Ottoman Siege of Vienna, 1529
A.) Prehistory of the Siege
In 1526 an Ottoman Army of 100,000 crushed the Hungarian Army of 25,000 in the Battle of Battle of Mohacs. King Louis II. of Hungary fell; the country no longer could function as a bulwark for Christian Europe against the Ottoman Empire.
Vienna was the capital of the Austrian lands, one of the three residences of Emperor Charles V., who because of his many obligations, resided there only temporarily.
B.) The First Ottoman Siege of Vienna
An Ottoman Army of c. 100,000 defeated King Ferdinand's troops off Buda; King Ferdinand, brother of Emperor Charles V., withdrew into Vienna, which was defended by a garrison c. 20,000 men strong. The Ottoman Turks encircled Vienna, inflicted severe damage on her suburbs and on the surrounding vineyards, but withdrew after only 25 days. Ferdinand requested his brother to come to his aid; no action by the Emperor, with the object to relieve Vienna, is documented.
C.) The Legacy
The old city walls proved inadequate; after the Ottoman withdrawal, the fortifications were modernized, turning Vienna into a fortress city. However, 154 years would pass until an Ottoman army would test the city defenses again.
The first Ottoman siege of Vienna was not the great turning point in the history of christian-muslim history, rather a minor event. The Ottoman besiegers lacked determination, breaking off the siege after only 25 days. One major objective - to chase King Ferdinand out of Hungary - they had already achieved. Emperor Charles V. equally gave little attention to the siege. The theory of a Franco-Ottoman understanding, the Ottoman siege merely being intended to draw the Emperor's attention away from his French foe, thus is far more plausible. However, by the time the Ottoman troops arrived off Vienna, Francis had been decisively defeated (see Franco-Habsburg War). The Ottoman side rejected peace offers; a peace treaty was only signed in 1553.
Ottoman army
In spring 1529, Suleiman mustered a great army in Ottoman Bulgaria, with the aim of securing control of Hungary and reducing the threat posed at his new borders by Ferdinand and the Holy Roman Empire. Various historians have estimated Suleiman's troop strength at anything from 120,000 to more than 300,000 men.[10] As well as units of sipahi, or light cavalry, and elite janissary infantry, the Ottoman army incorporated a contingent of Christian Hungarians fighting for their new Turkish ruler. Suleiman acted as the commander-in-chief, and in April he appointed his grand vizier, a former Greek slave called Ibrahim Pasha, as serasker, a commander with powers to give orders in the sultan's name.[11]
Suleiman launched his campaign on 10 May 1529 and faced obstacles from the outset.[12] The spring rains characteristic of south-eastern Europe were particularly heavy that year, causing flooding in Bulgaria and rendering parts of the route barely passable. Many large-calibre guns became hoplessly mired and had to be left behind, and camels were lost in large numbers.
Suleiman arrived in Osijek on 6 August. On 18 August, on the Mohács plain, he met up with a substantial cavalry force led by John Zápolya, who paid him homage and helped him recapture several fortresses lost since the Battle of Mohács to the Austrians, including Buda, which fell on 8 September.[13] The only resistance came at Bratislava, where the Turkish fleet was bombarded as it sailed up the Danube.[12]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vienna
Ottoman Siege of Vienna, 1529
A.) Prehistory of the Siege In 1526 an Ottoman Army of 100,000 crushed the Hungarian Army of 25,000 in the Battle of Mohacs. King Louis II. of Hungary fell; the country no longer could function as a bulwark for christian Europe against the Ottoman Empire. Vienna was the capital of the Austrian lands, one of the three residences of Emperor Charles V., who because of his many obligations, resided there only temporarily.
B.) The First Ottoman Siege of Vienna An Ottoman Army of c. 100,000 defeated King Ferdinand's troops off Buda; King Ferdinand, brother of Emperor Charles V., withdrew into Vienna, which was defended by a garrison c. 20,000 men strong. The Ottoman Turks encircled Vienna, inflicted severe damage on her suburbs and on the surrounding vineyards, but withdrew after only 25 days. Ferdinand requested his brother to come to his aid; no action by the Emperor, with the object to relieve Vienna, is documented.
C.) The LegacyThe old city walls proved inadequate; after the Ottoman withdrawal, the fortifications were modernized, turning Vienna into a fortress city. However, 154 years would pass until an Ottoman army would test the city defenses again. The first Ottoman siege of Vienna was not the great turning point in the history of christian-muslim history, rather a minor event. The Ottoman besiegers lacked determination, breaking off the siege after only 25 days.
One major objective - to chase King Ferdinand out of Hungary - they had already achieved. Emperor Charles V. equally gave little attention to the siege. The theory of a Franco-Ottoman understanding, the Ottoman siege merely being intended to draw the Emperor's attention away from his French foe, thus is far more plausible. However, by the time the Ottoman troops arrived off Vienna, Francis had been decisively defeated (see Franco-Habsburg War). The Ottoman side rejected peace offers; a peace treaty was only signed in 1553. Ottoman army
In spring 1529, Suleiman mustered a great army in Ottoman Bulgaria, with the aim of securing control of Hungary and reducing the threat posed at his new borders by Ferdinand and the Holy Roman Empire. Various historians have estimated Suleiman's troop strength at anything from 120,000 to more than 300,000 men.[10] As well as units of sipahi, or light cavalry, and elite janissary infantry, the Ottoman army incorporated a contingent of Christian Hungarians fighting for their new Turkish ruler. Suleiman acted as the commander-in-chief, and in April he appointed his grand vizier, a former Greek slave called Ibrahim Pasha, as serasker, a commander with powers to give orders in the sultan's name.[11]
Suleiman launched his campaign on 10 May 1529 and faced obstacles from the outset.[12] The spring rains characteristic of south-eastern Europe were particularly heavy that year, causing flooding in Bulgaria and rendering parts of the route barely passable. Many large-calibre guns became hoplessly mired and had to be left behind, and camels were lost in large numbers.
Suleiman arrived in Osijek on 6 August. On 18 August, on the Mohács plain, he met up with a substantial cavalry force led by John Zápolya, who paid him homage and helped him recapture several fortresses lost since the Battle of Mohács to the Austrians, including Buda, which fell on 8 September.[13] The only resistance came at Bratislava, where the Turkish fleet was bombarded as it sailed up the Danube.[12]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vienna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna
The SECOND SIEGE OF VIENNA
After the death of Koprulu Ahmed Pasha, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha held the viziership in November 5, 1676. Hungary had revolted against Austria and wanted Ottoman authority again. Mustafa Pasha declared Emeric Thokely king to the central Hungry.
After, Emeric Thokely took the leadership of the Hungarians, he rebelled against the King of Austria Leopold I. Thokely asked for an Ottoman assistance and Mustafa Pasha had besieged Vienna in July 14, 1683.
The siege took 60 days. Mustafa Pasha was waiting for a fatal attack but the Pope sent the King of Poland to Vienna to defend the city.
The Austrian and the Polish armies defeated the Ottoman army. The Ottomans withdrew through Belgrade. With the withdrawal of the Ottomans, Austrians entered Hungary, and invaded Vishgrad, Uyvar and Budapest.
This was the second siege of Vienna and the Ottomans failed to capture the city for the second time.
After, this defeat Sultan Mehmet IV* was dethroned with the decision of council. Prince Suleyman replaced him in November 8, 1687.
http://www.osmanli700.gen.tr/english/sultans/19index.html
A Turkish Legend
(in German - Translation into English follows)
Die türkische Sage von "Der Stadt des Goldenen Apfels" erzählt folgendes: Sultan Süleyman brachte es nicht übers Herz den Stephansturm zu beschießen. Er sagte: "Eines Tages wird dieser Turm ja doch ein Minare für den islamischen Gebetsruf an einem Gotteshaus der Muslims sein. Also soll er auch mein Wahrzeichen tragen!" Der Sultan schickte eine massive zwei Zentner schwere Goldkugel in die Stadt, die an der Turmspitze zu St. Stephan angebracht wurde. http://www.turkin.net/kunst/osmanen_belagerung1.htm
The Turkish tale of "The City of the Golden Apple" is told as follows; "Sultan Suleyman did not find it in his heart to shoot at the steeple of St. Stephen's church in Vienna. He said: "One day this steeple, this towering steeple, will be a minaret from which the muezzin will call to prayer the Faithful to a Muslim mosque. It should therefore bear my sign." The sultan sent a massive golden globe into the city that was fastened onto the the steeple of St. Stephen's.
This did not come to pass; the Turks were repulsed at the walls of Vienna in 1683.
"Return from Vienna" by Józef Brandt, Polish-Lithuanian army returning with loot of the Ottoman forcesHumiliation of Muslims and the coming Siege of Vienna
by Blake Gartner
11 April, 2007
http://www.islam-watch.org/GlobalPolitician/Coming-Muslims-Siege-Vienna.htm
The “Zionist entity” is at the forefront of the clash between the West and Islam. And yet, it is a tiny country, less than half the size and population of Netherlands. World Jewry stands at just 13 million people, so it has never been a titan in global affairs. The two dominant world religions in a constant clash with each other since the 7th century have been Islam and Christianity.
Today’s war between the West and Islam – whether against the Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan or against the rioters on the streets of Paris – is an extension of the inevitable clash of titans. When Napoleon marched on Egypt, defeating the Arabs with extreme ease,
Christendom seemingly won. The Ottoman Empire fell as a result of WWI and the West forgot about the Islamic threat. But Muslims did not. Muslims felt humiliated.
The only thing people dislike more than being attacked is being ignored. The West ignored the Middle East, seeing it as an uncultured backwater useful only for its oil resources. But to Muslims, everything from the defeat to Napoleon to the dismantling of the Caliphate by Ataturk is “humiliation”. At times it seems like “humiliation” is the Muslims’ favorite word. They do not lose wars – they get humiliated. They do not suffer from economic stagnation – they get humiliated. They do not compromise on a UN resolution – they get humiliated. Reading Islamic press one sees the word “humiliation” with spectacular frequency.
What Muslims claim to want is “respect”. But what is respect? The Islamic vision of “respect” is to be the dominant global power. It is to have the military power, the economic wealth and the international prestige to get what they want, whenever they want. Any compromise in any forum is immediately condemned as “humiliation” due to their weakness – a humiliation that naturally should be countered by pressing their political and military muscle.
But Islam was indeed a dominant power for much of its history. Today it is hard to imagine Morocco defeating Spain, Tunisia conquering Italy and Turkey marching up to Vienna, but it did happen in the past. Muslims were the dominant power in the world for many centuries, and it is that “Golden Age” that today’s generation, whether Islamists or Nationalists, seek to re-capture.
The first millennium of its existence was an almost unmitigated success for Islam. From its roots in the Arabian peninsula, it first spread its wings to Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and North Africa – all of which were then part of the Christian world, culturally closer to the West than to the Arab states we see there today. Armenians, during the war of 640-652, were among the few able to stop the onrush of Islamic forces, preserving Armenia and Georgia as Christian nations to this day.
With the Middle East under their control, Muslims proceeded to take over Spain, Portugal, Sicily, and much of France, reaching 2/3 of the way to Paris. In the first half of the 9th century, Rome and most of what is now Italy fell to the newly dominant Religion of Submission (islam means “submission”).
Before the rise of water travel enabling countries along the Atlantic Ocean, (England, Spain, Portugal, Holland, France) to set up empires, the dominant military and economic powers were located in southern Europe and Middle East – that being the trades routes where people exchanged not only goods, but information and ideas. Northern and western Europe was mired in what are commonly known as the Dark Ages. These were not the powers that could stop the Islamic invasion.
The ever-shrinking Byzantine Empire struck back in the 840’s, but its limited successes were soon turned back as Muslims sacked Messina in 842, Enna in 859, Syracuse in 878, Catania in 900.
In 904, Thessalonica, the second-largest Byzantine city, was taken over by Arabs from Tunisia. Seven years later, the Byzantines suffered another embarrassing defeat in Crete.
After a brief respite, Muslims sensed another opportunity to spread their religion and civilization to the “darkness of barbarism and unbelief”, when the Byzantine rulers decided to disband most of their military, preferring to pay mercenaries when troubles arouse. The Byzantine army consisted largely of the elderly officers and untrained young kids (for centuries after its destruction, the word “Byzantine” was used to mean “effeminate decadence”).
Faced with the decaying of what was arguably the only stable, viable state in Europe, the West was again on the brink of annihilation. In 1095, Pope Urban II hoped to organize Christendom around a fight for Jerusalem, a tactic frequently used before and after by Muslims. But the first military engagement failed miserably, as the Turks slaughtered almost every man sent into battle. The second battle was much more successful and some of the lands previously lost to Muslims were recovered.
The Crusaders established the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099. At its height, the Crusader Kingdom was about the size of Israel and West Bank. For more than a hundred years, Muslims could do little about the new country, fighting occasional wars, mostly to contain the Christians.
But in the 12th century, a Jihad on Jerusalem was organized. In 1187, settlers lost Jerusalem – it was now the Kingdom of Jerusalem... without Jerusalem. A small strip of land along the seaside of what is now Israel and the southern half of Lebanon was all that remained. Subsequent Crusades recovered Jerusalem, but all was lost when Sultan Khalil captured Acre, the new capital of the Kingdom, and proceeded to either slaughter or enslave all remaining settlers.
The Crusades were a failure. Islam won, forever reinforcing its sense of invincibility against the infidels. I’ve heard many Muslims say, “It took us 200 years to defeat the Crusader Kingdom. Israel has existed less than 60. We have another 140 to destroy it, and we will.”
But Islam did not stop at the defeat of the Crusader Kingdom. In the 15th century, the Turks finally destroyed the Byzantine Empire, conquering its capital Constantinople.
At the other end of Europe, much of Spain and Portugal was under Islamic rule for 781 years until 1492. Faced with Arab Muslims threatening from the West and Turkish Muslims threatening from the East, Europe struck back with a vengeance again. Spain and Portugal were won back, pushing Islam back into North Africa. But just like the first time when the West responded to Islamic aggression with violent Crusades, the new European attempt to defend itself and even the genocidal Inquisition fell short of taking back everything that was lost. Constantinople remained part of the Islamic world.
In 1526, Sultan Suleiman conquered most of Hungary, with Bulgaria already under his control. Three years later, the Turks reached all the way to Vienna and laid siege to it. The city stood up only because it was attacked too late by a Turkish force that was too tired from prior battles. In 1532, the Ottomans tried again, but faced stiff resistance in western Hungary.
For 150 years, the Ottomans tried to jump from southeastern Europe into its heartland before the epic Battle of Vienna. This time, the siege began in July of 1683. During the siege, 10,000 Viennese troops were surrounded by 140,000 Turks. They would probably fail, and allow Islam into the center of Europe, but King Jan III Sobieski of Poland sent a 30,000 man army to protect the city, possibly saving the Western civilization. The Battle of Vienna began on September 11. When the battle was over next day, 4,000 Christians had been killed – and 15,000 Muslims. Vienna survived again.
The rest is history. The Enlightenment and later the Industrial Revolution sent the West far ahead of Islam. In the 19th century, Napoleon showed just show dominant Christendom was over Islam. The Caliphate was eliminated when the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. The West stopped fearing Muslims, viewing them as nothing more than “oil cows”. And Islam truly ceased being a power.
That, of course, is what the West wanted to believe. Truth is that Christendom still didn’t recover most of the territories lost since the rise of Islam. Constantinople (now Istanbul), Egypt, Syria, Bosnia and Chechnya were all Christian lands in the past.
Islam did not invade the West continuously for a thousand years. Instead, there were many generations of peace, but that peace was eventually always interrupted by Muslim attacks on Europe. Each time Christians lost large parts of their territory, then fought back, but never fully recovered the lost territories.
For two centuries now, the West was strong enough to ignore the threat from the south. But Muslims felt “humiliated” because they did not have the strongest army, the wealthiest economy and the dominant political power.
Islam began to resurge in the 1960s (some say in the 1920s, but Islamists weren’t strong enough until after Israel “humiliated” Arab nationalists in 1967). First came terror. Then global Jihad. In the 1990s, massive Islamic immigration into Europe began to threaten a demographic takeover. Islam is on the move again. Will Vienna be under siege once more?
This article appeared in Global Politician and is published here* with mutual consent. *At Islam Watch
http://www.islam-watch.org/GlobalPolitician/Coming-Muslims-Siege-Vienna.htm
[emphasis in red mine. lw]
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*Re Mehmet (Mohammed) IV, see
http://islamic-danger.blogspot.com/2006/10/fear.html
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