| Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theOttoman–Venetian wars,Ottoman–Habsburg wars,Spanish–Ottoman wars and theOttoman–Portuguese confrontations | |||||||||
 Dante’s Gate in Spinalonga fort, the last remaining Venetian outpost on Crete | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Republic of Venice Austria(from 1716) Kingdom of Portugal(1716–1717) Order of Malta Papal States Spain[1] HimariotesHajduks |  Ottoman Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Daniele DolfinJohann Matthias von der SchulenburgAndrea PisaniEugene of Savoy | Silahdar Damat Ali PashaCanım Hoca Mehmed PashaKara Mustafa Pasha | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 40,000 killed and wounded 20,000 killed and wounded[3] | 80,000 killed and wounded[4] | ||||||||
TheSeventh Ottoman–Venetian War (also called theSecond Morean War,[5] theSmall War or, inCroatia, theWar of Sinj)[6] was fought between theRepublic of Venice and theOttoman Empire between 1714 and 1718. It was the last conflict between the two powers, and ended with an Ottoman victory and the loss of Venice's major possession in the Greek peninsula, thePeloponnese (Morea). Venice was saved from a greater defeat by the intervention ofAustria in 1716 and by some naval success. The war ended withTreaty of Passarowitz in 1718.
Following theOttoman Empire's defeat in thesecond siege of Vienna in 1683, theHoly League ofLinz gathered most European states (except for France, England and the Netherlands) in a common front against the Ottomans. In the resultingGreat Turkish War (1683–1699) the Ottoman Empire suffered a number of defeats such as the battles ofMohács andZenta, and in theTreaty of Karlowitz (1699), was forced to cede the bulk ofHungary to theHabsburg monarchy,Podolia toPoland-Lithuania, whileAzov was taken by theRussian Empire.[7]
Further south, theRepublic of Venice had launched its own attack on the Ottoman Empire, seeking revenge for successive conquests of itsoverseas empire by the Turks, most recently (1669) theloss ofCrete. Venetian troops, under the command of the able generalFrancesco Morosini (who becameDoge of Venice in 1688), were able early in the conflict to seize the island ofLefkada (Santa Maura) in 1684, thePeloponnese (Morea) peninsula (1685–1687) and parts ofContinental Greece, although attempts to conquerChalkis (Negroponte), recover Crete and hold on toChios failed. In the Treaty of Karlowitz, Venice gained recognition of its control over Cephalonia and the Morea, and restored the situation in the Aegean to its pre-warstatus quo, leaving only the island ofTinos in Venetian hands.[8][9][10]
The Ottomans were from the outset determined to reverse these losses, especially the Morea, whose loss had been keenly felt in the Ottoman court: a large part of the income of theValide sultan (the Ottoman queen-mothers) had come from there. Already in 1702, there were tensions between the two powers and rumours of war because of the Venetian confiscation of an Ottoman merchant vessel; troops and supplies were moved to the Ottoman provinces adjoining the Venetian "Kingdom of the Morea". The Venetian position there was weak, with only a few thousand troops in the whole peninsula, plagued by supply, disciplinary and morale problems. Nevertheless, peace was maintained between the two powers for twelve more years.[11] In the meantime, the Ottomans began a reform of theirnavy, while Venice found itself increasingly isolated diplomatically from the other European powers: the Holy League had fractured after its victory, and theWar of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) and theGreat Northern War (1700–1721) preoccupied the attention of most European states.[12] The Ottomans took advantage of the favourable international situation to settle their scores with Russia, inflicting on them a heavy defeat in theRusso-Turkish War of 1710–1711. This victory encouraged the Ottoman leadership and after the Russo-TurkishTreaty of Adrianople in June 1713, the way was open for an attack on Venice.[13][14]
A pretext was easy to find: the seizure of an Ottoman ship carrying the treasures of the formerGrand Vizier,Damad Hasan Pasha, as well as the Venetians' granting of sanctuary toDanilo I, thePrince-Bishop ofMontenegro, after he had launched an abortive revolt against the Turks. As a result, on 9 December 1714, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Venice.[15][16]
During the early months of 1715, they assembled an army ofc. 70,000 men inMacedonia under theGrand VizierSilahdar Damat Ali Pasha. On 22 May, Grand Vizier marched south fromThessalonica, arriving atThebes on 9 June, where he held a review of the troops.[17] Although the accuracy of his figures is open to doubt, the journal of the French interpreter Benjamin Brue, reports 14,994 cavalry and 59,200 infantry as present at Thebes on 9 June, with the total number of men involved in the campaign against the Morea placed at 110,364 (22,844 cavalry and 87,520 infantry).[18]
After a war council on 13 June, 15,000Janissaries underKara Mustafa Pasha were sent to captureLepanto, while the main body of the army under Yusuf Pasha and theAgha of the Janissaries moved onto theIsthmus of Corinth and the two fortresses ofAcrocorinth andNauplia, the main Venetian strongholds in the Morea.[17] In the meantime, the Ottoman Fleet, numbering 80 warships underCanum Hoca, had captured the last Venetian possessions in the Aegean, the islands ofTinos andAigina.[19]
The Venetians, who did not have any standing army and relied mainly on mercenaries, could only muster 8,000 men and 42 mostly small ships, under the command of the Captain-General Daniel Delfin.[20] This force was not only insufficient to meet the Ottoman army in the field, but also inadequate to man the many fortifications that the Venetians had built or enhanced during the past decades. In addition, the local Greek population disliked Venetian rule, something Damad Ali exploited, by ensuring that his troops respected their safety and property. Thus he was able to count on the good will of the Greeks, who provided his troops with ample provisions,[21] while the Venetians, who hoped to recruit a militia amongst the native population, were left isolated in their forts.[citation needed]
On 25 June, the Ottoman army crossed the Isthmus of Corinth and entered the Morea. The citadel of Acrocorinth, which controlled the passage to the peninsula, surrendered after a brief siege, on terms of safe passage for the garrison and the civilians. However, some Janissaries, eager for plunder, disobeyed Damat Ali's orders and entered the citadel. A large part of the garrison, including theprovveditore Giacomo Minoto, and most of the civilians were massacred or sold toslavery. Only 180 Venetians were saved and transported toCorfu.[22] These tragic events later inspiredLord Byron's poemThe Siege of Corinth.[citation needed]
After Corinth, the Ottomans advanced against Nauplia (Napoli di Romagna), the main base of Venetian power in the Morea. Nafplion was well-protected by several strong forts and had a garrison of 2,000 men. However, on 20 July, after onlynine days of siege, the Ottomans exploded amine under the bastions ofPalamidi and successfully stormed the fort. The Venetian defenders panicked and retreated, leading to a general collapse of the defence.[23]
The Ottomans then advanced to the southwest, where the forts ofNavarino andKoroni were abandoned by the Venetians, who gathered their remaining forces atMethoni (Modon). However, being denied effective support from the sea by Delfin's reluctance to endanger his fleet by engaging the Ottoman navy, the fort capitulated.[24] The remaining Venetian strongholds, including the last remaining outposts onCrete (Spinalonga andSouda), likewise capitulated in exchange for safe departure. Within a hundred days, the entire Peloponnese had been re-taken by the Ottomans.[21]
According to the OttomanistVirginia Aksan, the campaign had been "basically a walkover for the Ottomans". Despite the presence of sufficient materiel, the Venetian garrisons were weak, and the Venetian government unable to finance the war, while the Ottomans not only enjoyed a considerable numerical superiority, but also were more willing "to tolerate large losses and considerable desertion": according to Brue, no less than 8,000 Ottoman soldiers were killed and another 6,000 wounded in the just nine days of the siege of Nauplia.[25] Furthermore, unlike the Venetians, the Ottomans this time enjoyed the effective support of their fleet, which among other activities ferried a number of large siege cannons to support the siege of Nauplia.[26]
On 13 September, the Grand Vizier began his return journey, and on the 22nd, near Nauplia, received the congratulations of the Sultan. A week of parades and celebrations followed. On 10 October, theStandard of the Prophet was ceremonially placed in its casket, a sign that the campaign was over. The troops received six months' worth of pay on 17 October nearLarissa, and the Grand Vizier returned to the capital, for a triumphal entrance, on 2 December.[17]
After their success in the Morea, the Ottomans moved against the Venetian-heldIonian Islands. They occupied the island ofLefkada (Santa Maura), which the Venetians had taken in 1684, and the fort ofButrinto opposite thecity of Corfu. On 8 July 1716, an Ottoman army of 33,000 men landed onCorfu, the most important of the Ionian Islands.[27] Despite an indecisivenaval battle on the same day, the Ottoman land army continued its disembarkment and advanced towards the city of Corfu. On 19 July, after capturing the outlying forts of Mantouki, Garitsa, Avrami and of the Saviour, the siege began.[28]
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The defence was led by CountJohann Matthias von der Schulenburg, who had roughly 8,000 men at his command. The extensive fortifications and the determination of the defenders withstood several assaults. After a great storm on 9 August—which the defenders attributed to the intervention of Corfu's patron saint,Saint Spyridon—caused significant casualties among the besiegers, the siege was broken off on 11 August and the last Ottoman forces withdrew on 20 August.[28]
In the summer of 1715, the pasha ofBosnia marched against the Venetian possessions in Dalmatia, with an army that reputedly numbered 40,000 men. The Ottomans were defeated in a siege ofSinj, but the Ottoman threat to Dalmatia played a role in Austria's decision to intervene.[citation needed]
WithPope Clement XI providing financial support andFrance guaranteeing Austrian possessions in Italy, Austria felt ready to intervene. On 13 April 1716, EmperorCharles VI renewed his alliance with Venice, whereupon the Ottomans declared war on Austria. The Austrian threat forced the Ottomans to direct their forces away from the remaining Venetian possessions, but theSerenissima was too weak to mount any large-scale counter-offensive. Only its navy resumed a more aggressive stance, with naval actions between the Venetian and Ottoman fleets taking place in theAegean Sea, such as theBattle of Imbros and theBattle of Matapan a month later, but these were generally indecisive and did not affect the outcome of the war.[5] The only permanent Venetian success was the capture of the fortresses ofPreveza andArta in 1717. With the Austrian victories at theBattle of Petrovaradin and theSiege of Belgrade, however, the Ottomans were forced to sign theTreaty of Passarowitz. Although the Ottomans lost significant territories to Austria, they maintained their conquests against Venice in the Peloponnese and Crete, with the exception of Preveza (fell in 1717 to Venetians) and a few forts inHerzegovina (Imotski was taken in 1717).[29]
Following the end of the war, the Republic of Venice was reduced to ade facto Habsburg vassal, rather than an independent actor in international politics, untilits abolition in 1797.[17]