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| Ottoman–Habsburg wars | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theOttoman wars in Europe andSpanish–Ottoman wars | |||||||
 Left to right from the top: thesiege of Vienna, thesiege of Szigetvár, theLong Turkish War, theBattle of Saint Gotthard, theBattle of Vienna, thesiege of Belgrade | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
Vassal states:
Allies: | Non-Habsburgstates of the Holy Roman Empire: Non-Habsburg allies:Holy League allies: | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Mediterranean: 900,000–1,000,000 deaths (1470–1574)[6] | |||||||
TheOttoman–Habsburg wars were fought from the 16th to the 18th centuries between theOttoman Empire and theHabsburg monarchy, which was at times supported by theKingdom of Hungary,Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,The Holy Roman Empire, andHabsburg Spain. The wars were dominated by land campaigns in Hungary, includingTransylvania (today inRomania) andVojvodina (today inSerbia),Croatia, andcentral Serbia.
By the 16th century, the Ottomans had become a serious threat to European powers, with Ottoman ships sweeping awayVenetian possessions in theAegean andIonian seas and Ottoman-supportedBarbary pirates seizing Spanish possessions in theMaghreb. TheProtestant Reformation,French–Habsburg rivalry and the numerous civil conflicts of theHoly Roman Empire distracted Christians from their conflict with the Ottomans. Meanwhile, the Ottomans had to contend withSafavid Empire and also to a lesser extent theMamluk Sultanate, which wasdefeated by the Ottomans underSelim I rule and later fully incorporated into the empire.
Initially, theOttoman conquests in Europe made significant gains with adecisive victory at Mohács, and reducing around one third of central Hungary to the status of anOttoman tributary.[7] Later, thePeace of Westphalia and theWar of the Spanish Succession in the 17th and 18th centuries respectively left theAustrian Empire as the sole firm possession of the House of Habsburg. After thesiege of Vienna in 1683, the Habsburgs assembled a large coalition of European powers known as theHoly League to fight the Ottomans and regain control over Hungary.[8] TheGreat Turkish War ended with the decisive Holy League victory atZenta. The wars ended after Austria's participation in the war of1787–1791, which Austria fought allied with Russia. Intermittent tension between Austria and the Ottoman Empire continued throughout the nineteenth century, but they never fought each other in a war and ultimately found themselves allied inWorld War I, after which both empires were dissolved.
Historians have focused on thesecond siege of Vienna of 1683, depicting it as a decisive Austrian victory that savedWestern civilization and marked the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Recent historians have taken a broader perspective, noting that the Habsburgs at the same time resisted internal separatist movements and were fightingPrussia andFrance for control of central Europe. The key advance made by the Europeans was an effectivecombined arms doctrine involving the cooperation of infantry, artillery and cavalry. Nevertheless, the Ottomans were able to maintain military parity with the Habsburgs until the middle of the eighteenth century.[9] HistorianGunther E. Rothenberg has emphasized the non-combat dimension of the conflict, in which the Habsburgs built up military communities that protected their borders and produced a steady flow of well-trained, motivated soldiers.[10]
While the Habsburgs were occasionally the Kings of Hungary and Emperors of theHoly Roman Empire (almost always of the Holy Roman Empire after the 15th century), the wars between the Hungarians and the Ottomans included other dynasties as well. Naturally, theOttoman Wars in Europe attracted support from the West, where the advancing and powerful Islamic state was seen as a threat to Christendom in Europe. The Crusades ofNicopolis (1396) and ofVarna (1443–44) marked the most determined attempts by Europe to halt the Turkic advance into Central Europe and theBalkans.[11]
For a while the Ottomans were too busy trying to put down Balkan rebels such asVlad Dracula andSkanderbeg. However, the defeat of these and other rebellious vassal states opened up central Europe to Ottoman invasion. The Kingdom of Hungary now bordered the Ottoman Empire and itsvassals.
TheOttoman conquest of Bosnia in 1463 brought their frontier closer to the Habsburg lands underFrederick III, setting the stage for more intense incursions. The Ottomans raidedCarniola in 1469 and launched almost annual raids intoStyria after 1471.[12]Carinthia saw five Turkish incursions into its territory between 1473 and 1483, with much plundering and killing at the hands of Ottoman cavalry. These raids led to theCarinthian Peasant Revolt of 1478, as peasants, left unprotected by the nobility, tried to defend themselves and formed a peasants' league to organize their own defense.[13] The raids also prompted the construction of defensive structures like fortified churches and castles (tabor).[14] In 1491, Ottoman raids in the Habsburg territories of Styria and Carniola ended after a significant Ottoman defeat by theKingdom of Croatia at theBattle of Vrpile.
After KingLouis II of Hungary was killed at theBattle of Mohács in 1526, his widow QueenMary of Austria fled to her brother the Archduke of Austria,Ferdinand I. Ferdinand's claim to the throne of Hungary was further strengthened by his marriage toAnne, the sister of King Louis II and the only family member claimant to the throne of the shattered kingdom. Consequently, Ferdinand I was elected King ofBohemia, and at theDiet of Pozsony he and his wife were elected king and queen of Hungary. However another assembly of the nobility electedJohn Zápolya, who as thevoivode of Transylvania had gained popularity among the magnates (and who had closer ties to the Ottoman Sultan), setting the stage for a conflict between the Hapsburgs and the Ottoman Empire.[15]
| Austro-Ottoman conflicts | Spanish-Ottoman Algerian Mediterranean conflicts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Date | Result | Name | Date | Result |
| 1529–1533 | Ottoman victory | Conquest of Tunis (1535) | 1535 | Spanish victory | |
| 1534–1537 | Ottoman victory | Apulia expedition (1537) | 1537 | Ottoman victory | |
| 1540–1547 | Ottoman victory | Battle of Preveza (1538) | 1538 | Ottoman victory | |
| 1551–1562 | Ottoman victory | Algiers expedition (1541) | 1541 | Algerian victory | |
| 1565–1568 | Ottoman victory | Siege of Nice (1543) | 1543 | Christian victory | |
| 1593–1606 | Inconclusive | Expedition to Mostaganem (1558) | 1558 | Algerian victory | |
| 1663–1664 | Inconclusive | Battle of Djerba (1560) | 1560 | Ottoman victory | |
| 1683–1699 | Habsburg victory | Siege of Oran (1563) | 1563 | Spanish victory | |
| 1716–1718 | Habsburg victory | Great Siege of Malta (1565) | 1565 | Christian victory | |
| 1737–1739 | Ottoman victory | Battle of Lepanto (1571) | 1571 | Christian victory | |
| 1788–1791 | Inconclusive | Conquest of Tunis (1574) | 1574 | Ottoman victory | |
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TheAustrian lands were in miserable economic and financial conditions, thus Ferdinand desperately introduced the so-called Turkish Tax (Türken Steuer). Despite this, he was not able to collect enough money to pay the expenses of the defense costs of the Austrian lands. His annual revenues only allowed him to hire 5,000mercenaries for two months, thus Ferdinand asked help from his brotherCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and started to borrow money from rich bankers like theFugger family.[16]
Ferdinand I attacked Hungary, a state severely weakened by civil conflict, in 1527, in an attempt to drive out John Zápolya and enforce his authority there. John was unable to prevent Ferdinand's campaigning, which led to the capture ofBuda and several other key settlements along the Danube. Despite this, the Ottoman sultan was slow to react and only came to the aid of his vassal when he launched an army of about 120,000 men on 10 May 1529.[17] The Austrian branch of Habsburg monarchs needed the economic power of Hungary for the Ottoman wars. During the Ottoman wars the territory of former Kingdom of Hungary shrunk by around 70%; despite these territorial and demographic losses, the smaller, heavily war-tornRoyal Hungary remained economically more important than Austria or Kingdom of Bohemia at the end of the 16th century,[18] as it was Ferdinand's largest source of revenue.[19]
The earliest type of Turkishhand cannons are called as "Şakaloz", which word came from the Hungarian hand cannon "Szakállas puska" in the 15th century.[20]
Although OttomanJanissaries adopted firearms in battles since the beginning of the 16th century, the Ottoman usage of the handheld firearms spread much more slowly than in the Western Christian armies.Wheellock firearms were unfamiliar for Ottoman soldiers until thesiege of Székesfehérvár in 1543, despite the fact they had been used for decades by Christian armies in Kingdom of Hungary and in Western Europe. According to a report from 1594, the Ottoman soldiers had not adopted the pistol yet.[21]
In 1602, thegrand vizier reported from Hungarian front about the firepower superiority of the Christian forces:
"in a field or during a siege we are in distressed position, because the greater part of the enemy forces are infantry armed with muskets, while the majority of our forces are horsemen, and we have very few specialists skilled in the musket"[22]
According to Alvise Foscarini's (Venetian ambassador inConstantinople) report in 1637,
Ottoman sultanSuleiman the Magnificent easily wrested from Ferdinand most of the gains he had achieved in the previous two years – to the disappointment of Ferdinand I, only the fortress ofPozsony resisted. Considering the size of Suleiman's army and the devastation wrought upon Hungary in the previous few years it is not surprising that the will to resist one of the world's most powerful states was lacking in many of the recently garrisoned Habsburg settlements.[24]
The Sultan arrived at Vienna on 27 September 1529. Ferdinand's army was some 16,000 strong – he was outnumbered roughly 7 to 1 and the walls of Vienna were an invitation to Ottoman cannon (6 ft thick along some parts). However, the heavy cannons on which the Ottomans relied to breach the walls were all abandoned on the way to Vienna, after they got stuck in mud due to heavy rainfall.[25][26] Ferdinand defended Vienna with great vigour. By 12 October, after much mining and counter-mining an Ottoman war council was called and on 14 October the Ottomans abandoned the siege. The retreat of the Ottoman army was hampered by the resistance of Pozsony, which attempted to attack Ottoman forces. Early snowfall made matters worse, and it would be another three years before Suleiman could campaign in Hungary.
After the defeat at Vienna, the Ottoman Sultan had to turn his attention to other parts of his domain. Taking advantage of this absence, Archduke Ferdinand launched an offensive in 1530, recapturingEsztergom and other forts. An assault on Buda was only thwarted by the presence of Ottoman Turkish soldiers.
As in the previous Austrian offensive, the return of the Ottomans forced the Habsburgs in Austria to go on the defensive. In 1532, Suleiman sent a massive Ottoman army to take Vienna. However, the army took a different route toKőszeg. After adefence by a mere 700-strong force led by theCroatian earlNikola Jurišić, the defenders accepted an "honorable" surrender of the fortress in return for their safety. The Sultan then withdrew, content with his success, and recognizing the limited Austrian gains in Hungary, while forcing Ferdinand to recognize John Zápolya as King of Hungary.Tatar raiders plunderedLower Austria and carried off many people intoslavery.[27]
While the peace between the Austrians and the Ottomans would last for nine years, John Zápolya and Ferdinand found it convenient to continue skirmishes along their respective borders. In early 1537, the Ottomansanjak-bey of Bosnia,Gazi Husrev-beg, occupied the town ofPožega in Slavonia.[28] Ferdinand, under pressure from the local nobility, decided to respond by launchingan offensive in Slavonia in 1537, sending one of his ablest generals[29] to takeOsijek. The siege failed and led to theBattle of Gorjani, which was another Ottoman triumph.[29] Nevertheless, Ferdinand was recognized by theTreaty of Nagyvárad as the heir of the Kingdom of Hungary.
After the death of John Zápolya in 1540, Ferdinand's inheritance was robbed, given instead to John's son,John Sigismund Zápolya. Attempting to enforce the treaty, the Austrians advanced on Buda where they experienced another defeat by Suleiman; the elderly Austrian GeneralWilhelm von Roggendorf proved to be incompetent. Suleiman then finished off the remaining Austrian troops and proceeded tode facto annex Hungary. By the time a peace treaty was enforced in 1551, Habsburg Hungary had been reduced to little more than border land.
In 1552 two Ottoman armies crossed the border into the Hungarian kingdom. One of them – led byHadim Ali Pasha – started a campaign against the western and central part of the country while the second army – led byKara Ahmed Pasha – attacked the fortresses in theBanat region. Ottoman troops conquered nine-tenths of the castles in theHont andNógrád counties. The Habsburg army underErasmus von Teufel [de] made a belated attempt to stop the Ottoman troops atPlášťovce (thenPalást), but was completely defeated in a two-daybattle of Palást, and 4,000 German and Italian prisoners were deported to Constantinople. The two armies united underSzolnok, then besieged and conquered theSzolnok Castle, and turned against the gate of Upper Hungary,Eger. At the end of the July there was an enormous gap in the Hungarian border castle system.
In September 1552 the forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Kara Ahmed Pasha laid siege toEger Castle, located in the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, but the defenders led byIstván Dobó repelled the attacks and defended the castle. Thesiege of Eger (1552) become an emblem of national defense and patriotic heroism in Hungary's occupations
By orders of the king in 1553 and 1578, large areas ofCroatia adjacent to the Ottoman Empire were carved out into theMilitary Frontier (Vojna krajina orVojna granica) and ruled directly from Vienna's military headquarters. In the zone of theCroatian Military Frontier, the Habsburg king-emperors promised free land and freedom of religion to people who came to the area with the majority of the population beingSerbs andVlachs.[30]Carinthian,Carniolan andStyrian nobility agreed to partially finance the Military Frontier in order to hold off the Ottomans in Croatia/Slavonia and therefore prevent them from invading their own lands.[31]
In 1554, the town ofFiľakovo in south-central Slovakia with the castle of the same name was conquered by the Turks and was the seat of asanjak until 1593, when it was reconquered by the Imperial troops. On 27 March 1562, Hasszán, thesanjak-bey of Fülek (Fiľakovo) castle, defeated the Hungarian army of theUpper Lands at theBattle of Szécsény [sk].
After the seizure ofBuda by the Turks in 1541, west and north Hungary recognized a Habsburg as king ("Royal Hungary"), while the central and southern counties were occupied by the Sultan ("Ottoman Hungary"), and the east became thePrincipality of Transylvania. The vast majority of the seventeen and nineteen thousands Ottoman soldiers in service in the Ottoman fortresses in the territory of Hungary were Orthodox and Muslim Balkan Slavs instead of ethnic Turkish people.[32] Southern Slavs were also acting asakinjis and other light troops intended for pillaging in the territory of present-day Hungary.[33][page needed]
There were wasted opportunities on both sides in the Little War; Austrian attempts to increase their influence in Hungary were just as unsuccessful as the Ottoman drives to Vienna. Nonetheless, there were no illusions as to the status quo: the Ottoman Empire was still a very powerful and dangerous threat. Even so, the Austrians would go on the offensive again, their generals building a bloody reputation for so much loss of life. Costly battles like those fought at Buda and Osijek were avoided but not absent in the upcoming conflicts. In any case Habsburg interests were split between fighting for devastated European land under Islamic control, trying to stop the gradualdecentralization of Imperial authority in Germany, and for Spain's ambitions in North Africa, theLow Countries andagainst the French. Nevertheless, the Ottomans, while hanging on to their supreme power, could not expand as they had in the days of Mehmet and Bayezid. To the east lay further wars against their Shi'ite opponents, theSafavids. Both theFrench (since 1536) and theDutch (since 1612) occasionally worked together against the Habsburgs with the Ottomans.
Suleiman the Magnificent led one final campaign in 1566, ending at thesiege of Szigetvár. The siege was meant to be only a temporary stop before taking on Vienna. However, the fortress withstood against the Sultan's armies. Eventually the Sultan, already an old man at 72 years (ironically campaigning to restore his health), died. The Royal Physician was strangled[34] to prevent news from reaching the troops and the unaware Ottomans took the fort, ending the campaign shortly afterward without making a move against Vienna.[35]
Peace was finally concluded inAdrianople in 1568 and renewed in 1576, 1584, and 1591. War would not again break out between the Habsburgs and Ottomans until 1593, in theLong Turkish War. However, throughout this period of peace small-scale warfare continued, a conflict known as the "Little War" (German:Kleinkrieg).[36] In 1571 the Turks destroyed theHodejov castle and in 1575 they conquered theModrý Kameň castle. In 1588 there was a battle near the town ofSzikszó, where the Hungarian army defeated the Turks.
Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire rapidly began displacing its Christian opponents at sea. In the 14th century, the Ottomans had only a small navy. By the 15th century, hundreds of ships were in the Ottoman arsenal taking on Constantinople and challenging the naval powers of the Italian republics ofVenice andGenoa. In 1480, the Ottomansunsuccessfully laid siege toRhodes, the stronghold of theKnights of St. John. When the Ottomansreturned in 1522, they were more successful and the Christian powers lost a crucial naval base.
Between 1526 and 1533, Ottoman corsairTurgut Reis landed several times at the ports of theKingdom of Sicily and theKingdom of Naples, while intercepting the ships which sailed betweenSpain andItaly, capturing many of them.
Hayreddin Barbarossa, who set sail for the Mediterranean with the strong fleet he had prepared in the winter of 1533–1534, devastated the coasts of theKingdom of Naples and thenconquered Tunis on 16 August 1534. In retaliation,Charles V led a massiveHoly League of 60,000 soldiersagainst the Ottoman city of Tunis. After Hayreddin Barbarossa's fleet was defeated by a Genoese one, Charles' army put 30,000 of the city's residents to the sword.[37] Afterwards, the Spanish placed a friendlier Muslim leader in power. The campaign was not an unmitigated success; many Holy League soldiers succumbed to dysentery,[citation needed] only natural for such a large overseas army. Furthermore, much of Barbarossa's fleet was not present in North Africa and the Ottomans won a victory against the Holy League in 1538 at theBattle of Preveza in western Greece.
Castelnouvo, which was captured by the Genoese AdmiralAndrea Doria (at the service ofHabsburg Spain) in the same year to be used as a base against the Ottomans in the future,was recaptured by Barbarossa in 1539 in a siege in which the 6,000-man Spanish garrison was annihilated.[38]
In 1541, Charles led anamphibious attack on the Ottoman stronghold ofAlgiers, which was defended byHasan Agha, an Italian renegade fromSardinia. As Charles put ashore,Andrea Doria's accompanying fleet was battered by a storm and many ships were lost. Charles's land force marched toward Algiers, butsorties byJanissaries halted the advance, and Charles withdrew.
In 1544,Algeriancorsairs sailed into the Bay of Naples andraided it. They then took an estimated 7,000 Neapolitan slaves.[39] In 1544, Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the island ofIschia, taking 4,000 prisoners, and enslaved some 2,000–7,000 inhabitants ofLipari.[40][41]
In 1554, Turgut Reis sailed to the Adriatic Sea and landed atVieste in the Kingdom of Naples, capturing andsacking the city, killing 5,000 of its inhabitants and enslaving 6,000.[42][43] In 1558, the Ottoman Empire launched araid on the Balearic Islands. The Ottoman forces, led by admiralsPiali Pasha and Turgut Reis, enslaved over 4,000 inhabitants and ravaged the islands.[44] In 1558, the Ottomans attackedReggio Calabria and took most of its inhabitants as slaves toTripoli.[45] In 1563, Turgut Reis landed at the shores of the province ofGranada andcaptured coastal settlements in the area likeAlmuñécar, along with 4,000 prisoners. In April 1563 he supported the fleet ofSalih Reis with 20 galleys during the Ottomansiege of Oran, bombarding the Fortress ofMers-el-Kebir.
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_De_belegering_van_Malta_(serietitel)%2c_RP-P-OB-36.422.jpg)
Despite the loss of Rhodes,Cyprus (an island farther from Europe than Rhodes) remained Venetian. When the Knights of St. John moved toMalta, the Ottomans found that their victory at Rhodes only displaced the problem; Ottoman ships came under frequent attacks by the Knights, as they attempted to stop Ottoman expansion to the West. Not to be outdone, Ottoman ships struck many parts of southern Europe and around Italy, as part of their wider war, allied with France against the Habsburgs (SeeItalian Wars). The situation finally came to a head when Suleiman, the victor at Rhodes in 1522 and at theBattle of Djerba, decided in 1565 to destroy the Knights' base at Malta. The presence of the Ottoman fleet so close to the Papacy alarmed the Spanish, who began assembling first a small expeditionary force (that arrived in time for the siege) and then a larger fleet to relieve the island. The ultra-modern star-shaped fort ofSt Elmo was taken only with heavy casualties including the Ottoman generalTurgut Reis, and the rest of the island was too much. Even so,Barbary piracy continued and the victory at Malta had no effect on Ottoman military strength in the Mediterranean.
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The death of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566 broughtSelim II to power. Known by some as "Selim the Sot", he assembled a massive expedition to take Cyprus from Venice. An option that Selim opted out of was to assist the Moorish rebellion that had been instigated by the Spanish crown to root out disloyal Moors. Had Selim succeeded in landing in the Iberian peninsula, he may have been cut off, for after he had captured Cyprus in 1571 he suffered a decisive naval defeat at theBattle of Lepanto. TheHoly League, assembled by the Pope to defend the Island, arrived too late to save it (despite 11 months of resistance atFamagusta); having collected so much of Europe's available military strength, the Holy League was better supplied with ammunition and armor and inflicted a blow on the Ottomans. The chance to retake Cyprus was wasted in the typical squabbling that followed the victory, so that when the Venetians signed a peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1573, they did so according to Ottoman terms.
By the end of Suleiman's reign, the Empire spanned approximately 877,888 sq mi (2,273,720 km2), extending over three continents: mainly Europe, Africa and Asia.[46] In addition, the Empire became a dominant naval force, controlling much of theMediterranean Sea.[47] By this time, the Ottoman Empire was a major part of the European political sphere. The Ottomans became involved in multi-continental religious wars whenSpain andPortugal were united under theIberian Union led by the Habsburg monarchPhilip II of Spain, the Ottomans as holders of theCaliph title, meaning leader of all Sunni Muslims worldwide, and Iberians, as leaders of the Christian crusaders, were locked in a worldwide conflict, with zones of operations in the Mediterranean sea[48] and Indian Ocean[49] where Iberians circumnavigated Africa to reach India, and in the way, wage wars upon the Ottomans and its local Muslim allies and likewise the Iberians passed through newly ChristianisedLatin-America andsent expeditions that traversed the Pacific to Christianize the partially MuslimPhilippines and use it as a base to further attack the Muslims in the far east.[50] In which case, the Ottomans sent armies to aid its easternmost vassal and territory, theSultanate of Aceh in Southeast Asia.[51][52] During the 17th century, the bloody worldwide conflict between the Ottoman Caliphate and Iberian Union was nevertheless a stalemate, since both powers wereat similar population, technology and economic levels.
During the 1500s, The Luzones were a people coming from Luzon, Philippines[53] that had trade and military networks across South,[54] Southeast, and East Asia,[55] and had found employment both for the Ottoman and Portuguese sides back when the Ottomans concentrated assistance to Southeast Asian Sultanates on their new protectorate, theSultanate of Aceh[56] and the Portuguese conquered Malacca.Luzon, where the Luzones were from were divided among Islamized and Pagan peoples (Buddhist, Hindu, and Animist) who fought each other.[57] Nevertheless, Luzones found employment as officials across the region such as the following cases. Due to the invasion ofHindu Tondo by theSultanate of Brunei which set up the MuslimRajahnate of Maynila as a puppet-state, the prince of Manila and grandson of Sultan Bolkiah, named Rajah Ache, served as the admiral of the Bruneian navy and had suppressed a Buddhist revolt in Southwest Borneo at the city of Loue[58] as well as served as the enforcer of Bruneian interests in Luzon. Likewise, after theOttoman expedition to Aceh, the Ottoman commander, Heredim Mafamede sent out from Suez by his uncle, Suleiman, Viceroy of Cairo, when his fleet later took Aru on the Strait of Malacca, which contained 4,000 Muslims from Turkey, Abyssinia, Malabar, Gujarat and Luzon, and following his victory, Heredim left a hand-picked garrison there under the command of aLuzones Filipino by the name of Sapetu Diraja. Sapetu Diraja, was then assigned by the Sultan of Aceh the task of holding Aru (northeast Sumatra) in 1540.[59] The Luzones even joined the attempt for a Muslim reconquest of Malacca against the Portuguese. Luzon mercenaries also participated in an unsuccessful attempt to retake Malacca in 1525 with the help of Portuguese renegade Martin Avelar. The "captain of the Luces" sailed in the flagship with warriors Joao de Barros considered "the most warlike and valiant of these parts."[60] However, the Luzones also found employment inPortuguese Malacca, and one of them,Regimo Diraja was appointed asTemenggung (Jawi: تمڠݢوڠ[61] (Governor and Chief General) over the natives[62] and he even controlled and policed the trade between the Indian Ocean, theStrait of Malacca, theSouth China Sea,[63] and themedieval maritime principalities of the Philippines.[64][65] The dual allegiance to the Ottomans and Portuguese, of Filipinos (Lucoes) who had trade networks across East, Southeast and East Asia had effects on Turkish interests in the Indian Ocean because Luzon eventually gave their allegiance toHabsburg controlled Spain at a later date.
1521 saw the beginnings of the Spanish and Habsburg conquest of the Philippines (Including Luzon) by Conquistadors from either Spain or Mexico. TheFerdinand Magellan expedition passed through the Philippines and attempted to conquer the HinduRajahnate of Cebu but only succeeded temporarily. Afterwards, in 1543,Ruy López de Villalobos arrived at the islands of Leyte and Samar and named themLas Islas Filipinas in honor ofPhilip II of Spain, at the timePrince of Asturias and himself a Habsburg, as the name was eventually expanded to label the whole archipelago ofThe Philippines.[66]
European colonialization began in earnest when Spanish explorerMiguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565 and formed the first European settlements in Cebu. Beginning with just five ships and five hundred men accompanied by Augustinian monks, and further strengthened in 1567 by two hundred soldiers, he was able to repel the Portuguese and create the foundations for the colonialization of the Archipelago. In 1571, the Spanish, their Latin-American recruits and their Filipino (Visayan) allies, commanded by able conquistadors such as Mexico-bornJuan de Salcedo (who was in love with Tondo's princess,Kandarapa) attackedMaynila, a vassal-state of the Brunei Sultanate and liberated plus incorporated thekingdom of Tondo as well as establishingManila as the capital of theSpanish East Indies.[67][68] The Spanish employed the divide and conquer policy of pitting the various Animist, Hindu and MuslimFilipino kingdoms against each other to rapidly conquer a divided people.[69] After the initial conquest, control of the archipelago was cemented by a steady flow of Spanish, Mexican and Peruvian settlers and soldiers from Europe andLatin-America,[70] as the Philippines was governed under the Mexico-basedViceroyalty of New Spain until the onset of Mexican independence.
The fall of BruneianManila to Habsburg Spain had disastrous after effects to Muslim interests, especially among the Bruneians, Ottomans, andAcehnese as the formerlyMuslim city-state became a center ofChristian crusading against most of the Sultanates of Southeast Asia. The Bruneians raised several fleets to retake Manila but they were frustrated. However, the Spanish inManila grew afraid of the power ofBrunei and one Spaniard namedMelchor Davalos warned of the constant migration of even the Turks/Ottomans to Borneo as well as other Muslims from the Middle East. Melchor Davalos was so warry he complained to the Spanish king.[71]
Persians and Arabs and Egyptians and Turks brought [Muhammad's] veneration and evil sect here, and even Moors from Tunis and Granada came here, sometimes in the armadas of Campson [Kait Bey], former Sultan of Cairo and King of Egypt... Thus it seems to me that these Moros of the Philippine Islands [are] mainly those who, as had been said, come from Egypt and Arabia and Mecca, and are their relatives, disciples and members, and every year they say that Turks come to Sumatra and Borneo, and to Ternate, where there are now some of those defeated in the famous battle which Señor Don Juan de Austria won.
— Melchor Davalos
Increasing tension between Spain and Brunei plus its oppressed allies in the Philippines, mainly the Sultanates ofSulu,Maguindanao andLanao, which was spurred on by the continual Ottoman and Arab migrations into Brunei some of whom were even defeated veterans of theBattle of Lepanto contrasted with the Spanish andLatin-American migrations to the Philippines, eventually erupted into the violence of theCastille War against Brunei and theSpanish-Moro Wars.
The time the Castilian War broke out was a time of religious fervor in Europe and many parts of the world, when a single state religion was followed. In Spain, the state religion wasRoman Catholicism, obliging followers of other faiths such as Jews and Muslims to convert to this religion. Spain had recently finished a 700-year-old war to reconquer and re-Christianise Spain, which had been invaded by the Muslims under theUmayyad Caliphate since the 8th century AD. The long process of reconquest, sometimes through treaties, mostly through war, is known as theReconquista. The hatred of Spaniards against the Muslims that once invaded Spain fueled theCastilian War against the similarly Muslim Bruneians. This war also started theSpanish–Moro Wars in the Philippines against theSultanate of Sulu andSultanate of Maguindanao.
In 1576, the Spanish Governor in Manila,Francisco de Sande, had arrived from Mexico. He sent an official mission to neighbouring Brunei to meet SultanSaiful Rijal. He explained to the Sultan that they wanted to have good relations with Brunei and also asked for permission to spread Christianity in Brunei (Roman Catholicism in Brunei was a legacy brought by Spaniards). At the same time, he demanded an end to Bruneiproselytism of Islam in the Philippines. Sultan Saiful Rijal would not agree to these terms and also expressed his opposition to theevangelisation of the Philippines, which he deemed part ofDar al-Islam. In reality, de Sande regarded Brunei as a threat to the Spanish presence in the region, claiming that "theMoros from Borneo preach the doctrine of Mohammed, converting all the Moros of the islands".[72][73]
Spain declared war in 1578. In March that year, the Spanish fleet, led by de Sande himself, acting asCapitán General, started their journey towards Brunei. The expedition consisted of 200 Spaniards and 200 Mexicans, 1,500Filipino natives, and 300 Borneans.[74] The campaign was one of many, which also included action inMindanao andSulu.[75][76] The racial make-up of the Christian side was likely diverse, as documents a few decades later showed that the infantry was composed ofMestizos,Mulattoes, and "Indians" (From Peru and Mexico), led by Spanish officers who had worked together with native Filipinos in military campaigns across Southeast Asia.[77] The Muslim side though was also equally racially diverse. In addition to the native Malay warriors, the Ottomans had repeatedly sent military expeditions to nearbyAceh. The expeditions were composed mainly ofTurks,Egyptians,Swahilis,Somalis,Sindhis,Gujaratis, andMalabars.[78] These expeditionary forces had also spread to other nearby Sultanates such as Brunei and had taught localmujahideen new fighting tactics and techniques on how to forge cannons.[79]
The fighting was fierce but Spain succeeded in invading the capital of Brunei at that time,Kota Batu, on 16 April 1578, with the help of two disgruntled Bruneinoblemen, Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna. The former had travelled to Manila to offer Brunei as atributary of Spain for help to recover the throne usurped by his brother, Saiful Rijal.[80] Spain agreed that if they succeeded in conquering Brunei, Pengiran Seri Lela would indeed become the Sultan, while Pengiran Seri Ratna would be the newBendahara.
Sultan Saiful Rijal and Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Abdul Kahar were forced to flee to Meragang, then toJerudong, where they made plans to chase the conquering army away from Brunei. In the meantime, Spain suffered heavy losses due to acholera ordysentery outbreak.[81][82] They were so weakened by the illness. However, this war entering the national conscience as a heroic episode, with the Spaniards being driven out byPengiran Bendahara Sakam Ibni Sultan Abdul Kahar and a thousand native warriors to restore back the Sultan's power over the Empire. The Spanish return to Manila on 26 June 1578, after just 72 days. Before doing so, they burned the mosque, a high structure with a five-tier roof. Afterwards, peaceful relations were restored between the Spaniards and Bruneians. However, a legacy of Castilian-Bruneian war is theConspiracy of the Maharlikas when the Bruneian aristocracy of Manila attempted an uprising against Spain with Japan and Brunei as allies. The conspiracy was suppressed and the conspirators were exiled toGuerrero, Mexico which later became a center of theMexican war of independence against Spain.[83] The onset of theIberian Union resulted in the takeover by the Spanish Habsburgs of the territories held by Portugal across the world, and in this period, the Habsburgs conducted the ongoingOttoman–Portuguese confrontations in the Indian Ocean and theMediterranean Sea.
After the death of Suleiman in 1566, Selim II posed less of a threat to Europe. Though Cyprus was captured at long last, the Ottomans failed against the Habsburgs at sea (see above, Battle of Lepanto). Selim died not too long after, leaving in power his sonMurad III, a hedonist who spent more time at his Harem than at the war front. Under such deteriorating circumstances, the Empire found itself at war with the Austrians yet again. In the early stages of the war, the military situation for the Ottomans worsened as the Principalities ofWallachia,Moldova andTransylvania each had new rulers who renounced their vassalship to the Ottomans. At theBattle of Sisak, a group ofghazis sent to raid the insubordinate lands inCroatia were thoroughly defeated by tough Imperial troops fresh from savage fighting in the Low Countries. In response to this defeat, the Grand Vizier launched a large army of 13,000 Janissaries plus numerous European levies against the Christians. When the Janissaries rebelled against the Vizier's demands for a winter campaign, the Ottomans had captured little other thanVeszprém.
Technological disadvantages also significantly worsened the Ottoman positions in Hungary.
In 1594 an even larger army was assembled by the Grand VizierSinan Pasha. In the face of this threat, the Austrians abandoned a siege ofGran, a fortress that had fallen during Suleiman's career, and then lostRaab. For the Austrians, their only comfort in the year came when the fortress ofKomárno held out long enough against the Vizier's forces to retreat for the winter.
Despite the success of the previous year, the situation for the Ottomans worsened yet again in 1595. A Christian coalition of the former vassal states along with Austrian troops recaptured Esztergom and marched southward down the Danube.Michael the Brave, the prince of Wallachia started a campaign against the Turks (1594–1595), conquering several castles near the LowerDanube, includingGiurgiu,Brăila,Hârşova, andSilistra, while his Moldavian allies defeated the Turks inIaşi and other parts of Moldavia.[84] Michael continued his attacks deep within the Ottoman Empire, taking the forts ofNicopolis, Ribnic, andChilia[85] and even reaching as far asAdrianople (Edirne),[86] the former Ottoman capital city; no Christian army had set foot in the region since the days of theByzantine Empire under the Palaiologoi.
Following the defeat of the Ottoman army in Wallachia (see theBattle of Călugăreni) and the series of unsuccessful confrontations with the Habsburgs (culminating in the devastating siege and fall of Ottoman-heldEsztergom), and alarmed by the success and proximity of the threat, the new SultanMehmed III strangled his 19 brothers to seize power and personally marched his army to the north west of Hungary to counter his enemies' moves. In 1596 Egerfell to the Ottomans. At the decisiveBattle of Keresztes, a slow Austrian response was wiped out by the Ottomans. Mehmet III's inexperience in ruling showed when he failed to reward the Janissaries for their efforts in battle; rather he punished them for not fighting well enough and thereby incited a rebellion.
The Austrians renewed the war against their enemies in the summer of 1597 with a drive southward, takingPápa,Tata, Raab (Győr) andVeszprém. Further Habsburg victories were achieved when a Turkish relief force was defeated at Grosswardein (Nagyvárad). Enraged by these defeats, the Turks replied with a more energetic response so that by 1605, after much wasted Austrian relief efforts and failed sieges on both sides, only Raab remained in the hands of the Austrians. In that year a pro-Turkish vassal prince was elected leader of Transylvania by the Hungarian nobles and the war came to a conclusion with thePeace of Zsitva-Torok.
The Long Ottoman-Habsburg War (1593–1606) marked a significant period in the history of the Ottoman-Habsburg conflicts, featuring innovations in military tactics and technology. During this time, the Ottoman army, particularly its elite Janissary corps, demonstrated an increasing reliance on firearms, challenging the prevailing notion that the Ottomans were technologically inferior to their European counterparts. Scholars have debated whether the Ottoman adoption of volley fire represented an independent development or an emulation of European methods.[87]
Contrary to conventional views that the Ottomans lagged behind European innovations, recent studies indicate that the Janissaries employed a form of musketry volley fire during the war. Ottoman sources describe how Janissary musketeers lined up in three ranks, firing in sequence to maintain continuous fire while others reloaded. This tactic, first recorded in battle in 1605, suggests that the Ottomans had developed or adopted volley fire techniques well before many European armies fully implemented them.[87]
The Janissaries were traditionally placed in the center of the battlefield, positioned behind chained artillery wagons (Wagenburg), and played a decisive role in engagements such as the Battle of Mezökeresztes (1596). Ottoman chronicles describe their firepower as instrumental in repelling Habsburg advances, with successive volleys preventing enemy infantry from closing in.[87] This challenges the long-held perception that Ottoman victories in this period were primarily due to numerical superiority rather than tactical sophistication.
The Ottoman use of volley fire during the Long War has been a point of contention in the broader "Military Revolution" debate. Some historians argue that the Military Revolution was a uniquely European phenomenon, characterized by the development of standing armies, extensive use of firearms, and complex battlefield formations. However, evidence suggests that the Ottomans, despite their distinct military organization, were active participants in these developments. The rapid expansion of musket-bearing soldiers within the Ottoman army and the integration of new formations, such as the sekbans (irregular riflemen), indicate a parallel evolution rather than stagnation.[87]
Furthermore, the Hungarian theater of war during this period became a site of mutual military adaptation. The Ottomans encountered new European fortifications, such as the trace italienne, and sophisticated siege tactics. In response, they refined their artillery techniques and introduced new defensive strategies, including counter-battery fire and fortification improvements in border provinces.[87] Additionally, the adoption of the pétard, an explosive device originally used by Habsburg forces, demonstrates Ottoman adaptability in weaponry.[87]
The Long War ended with the Treaty of Zsitvatorok in 1606, marking a shift in Ottoman-Habsburg relations. Unlike previous treaties that reaffirmed Ottoman superiority, Zsitvatorok recognized the Habsburg emperor as an equal to the Ottoman sultan, reflecting a changing balance of power. While the war did not yield significant territorial changes, it influenced Ottoman military reforms in the early 17th century. The increased reliance on firearms and the refinement of battlefield tactics laid the groundwork for subsequent Ottoman campaigns against European adversaries.[87]
The debate over Ottoman participation in the Military Revolution continues, but evidence from the Long War suggests that the Ottomans were not passive observers. Instead, they actively engaged in military innovation, challenging Eurocentric narratives that portray them as technologically stagnant. The integration of volley fire, strategic adaptations in siege warfare, and continued investment in firearms indicate that the Ottoman army remained a formidable force well into the early modern period.[87]
After Ottoman victories atRhodes (1522),Chios (1566) andCyprus (1570);Crete (1669) was the last major island in the Eastern Mediterranean to be brought under the control of the Ottoman Empire.[88] Before Ottoman capture, Crete was one of the largest and most prominent overseas holdings of theRepublic of Venice.[89] The island was significant to the Ottomans not only for its strategic position along shipping routes between Istanbul and Egypt, but also for its role as a safe harbor for pirates.[88]
In July 1644, an Ottoman ship bound for Egypt, carrying the former Chief Black Eunuch of the Harem, thekadi of Cairo, and many pilgrims heading to Mecca, was besieged and captured by theKnights of Malta.[90] In response, the Ottomans in 1645 amassed a sizable fleet with no stated target, although many believed it would sail on Malta.[91] Taking advantage of surprise, the Ottomans began their campaign on Crete in June 1645.[92] Between 1645 and 1648, the Ottomans captured nearly the entire island, and in May 1648 began a siege on the capital,Candia (modernHeraklion).[93]
Even though the Ottomans held nearly universal control over the island, thesiege of Candia would go on for 21 years. The situation was complicated by naval engagements against Christian fleets in the Aegean, as well as internal political turmoil including the deposition of SultanIbrahim in favor of his son,Mehmed IV.[94] During this same period, the Ottoman–Venetian war raged on several other fronts, notably a campaign inDalmatia and several Venetian attempts to blockade theDardanelles.[95] In 1666, after the resolution of several other fronts, the Ottomans dispatched sizeable reinforcements towards Crete, under the personal command ofGrand VizierKöprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha.[96] Over the final two years of the siege, the Venetians, bolstered by Ottoman infighting and expecting reinforcements from France, refused several offers of peace treaties.[97] After a failed attempt by French soldiers underFrançois de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort to break the Ottoman siege, the city surrendered on 5 September 1669.[98] With this victory, the Ottomans secured their first major territorial gain in almost a century, and simultaneously ended 500 years of Venetian rule over Crete.[88]
In August 1652,Ádám Forgách organized the defense against the marauding Ottomans, which he faced nearVeľké Vozokany in Upper Hungary (present-day Slovakia). He defeated the Turkish troops in the two-dayBattle of Vezekény.
In 1663, the Ottomans launched aninvasion of the Habsburg Monarchy. Theyconquered the fortress ofNové Zámky, crossed theVáh river and invadedMoravia. The war ended at theBattle of St. Gotthard. The battle was won by the Christians, chiefly through the attack of 6,000 French troops led byFrançois d'Aubusson de La Feuillade andJean de Coligny-Saligny.[99] The Austrians were unable to follow up on this victory due to the intervention ofLouis XIV on the Rhine; in such circumstances the Protestant allies of the Catholic Habsburgs would have proven unreliable, wanting instead to have the Austrians and themselves fight the French in a German coalition. The Ottomans therefore turned their attention north again against thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. By now, the kingdom had fallen into a terrible state; theSejm had divided loyalties and the treasury was bankrupt. It is therefore noteworthy thatJohn III Sobieski, king of Poland, led a decisive victory against the Ottomans at the SecondBattle of Khotyn.
Restless, the Ottomans were to have another chance in 1682, when the Grand Vizier marched a massive army into Hungary and to Vienna in response to Habsburg raids into Ottoman controlled Hungary.
In 1683, after 15 months of mobilizing forces, the Grand Vizier reached Vienna to find the city well defended and prepared. Worst for the Vizier were the numerous alliances established by the Austrians, including with Sobieski. When the siege of Vienna began in 1683, Sobieski and his coalition of Germans and Poles arrived just as Vienna's defense was becoming untenable. In one of history's truly decisive battles, and simultaneously the Ottomans' high watermark; they were defeated and the siege lifted.
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In 1686, two years after [anunsuccessful siege of Buda, a renewed European campaign was started to enterBuda, the erstwhile capital of medieval Hungary. This time, theHoly League's army was twice as large, containing over 74,000 men, including German, Croat, Dutch, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Czech, Italian, French, Burgundian, Danish and Swedish soldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen, and officers, the Christian forcesreconquered Buda. (See:Siege of Buda)
In 1687, the Ottomans raised new armies and marched north once more. However,Charles V, Duke of Lorraine intercepted the Turks at theSecond Battle of Mohács and avenged the loss inflicted over 160 years ago by Suleiman the Magnificent. The Ottomans continued to resist the southward-pressing Austrians, denying them an opportunity to negotiate from a position of strength. Only when the Ottomans suffered yet another disastrous battle at theBattle of Zenta in 1697 did the Ottomans sue for peace; the resultingTreaty of Karlowitz in 1699 secured territories, the rest of Hungary and overlordship of Transylvania for the Austrians.
Throughout Europe Protestants and Catholics hailedPrince Eugene of Savoy as "the savior of Christendom" – English volunteers, including a son ofPrince Rupert (nephew ofCharles I of England) and Protestants from as far as Scotland fought in the Prince's army. For the Ottomans, the years between 1683 and 1702 were a sad time; 12 Grand Viziers were deposed in 19 years – the legacy of what was at one time underKöprülü Mehmed Pasha the most powerful position of one of the most powerful Empires in the world.
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Although theGreat Turkish War was a disaster for the Ottomans, the Habsburgs were soon drawn into another destructive European war (theWar of the Spanish Succession) against the French, their traditional rivals.
Brimming with confidence after their victories over the Russians in 1711 (Pruth River Campaign) and over the Venetians in 1715 (Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718)), the Ottomansdeclared war on the Habsburg monarchy in 1716 and marched north from Belgrade in July under the command of Grand VizierAli Pasha. The invasion was a catastrophe, however, and the Ottoman army was broken and the Grand Vizier killed at theBattle of Petrovaradin in August by an outnumbered Austrian army under the command ofPrince Eugene of Savoy, who went onto capture Belgrade a year later. At the subsequentTreaty of Passarowitz in 1718, the Austrians gained possession of theBanat of Temeswar,Serbia andOltenia.
Austria joinedRussiain war against the Ottomans in 1737. At theBattle of Grocka in 1739 the Austrians were defeated by the Ottomans. As a result, with theTreaty of Belgrade (1739), conquests in Serbia and Wallachia were undone. The Habsburgs ceded Serbia (including Belgrade), the southern part of the Banat of Temeswar and northernBosnia to the Ottomans, and theBanat of Craiova (Oltenia), gained by the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, toWallachia (an Ottoman subject), and set the demarcation line to the riversSava andDanube.
TheAustro-Turkish War (1788–91) was an inconclusive struggle and Austrian territorial gains were meager in theTreaty of Sistova. The Austrians had occupied large territories includingBosnia, Belgrade andBucharest but found themselves threatened by the imminentFrench Revolutionary Wars and diplomatic tensions withPrussia who threatened intervention. The gains from the enterprise came in the form of the town ofOrșova in Wallachia and two small towns on the Croatian frontier. This conflict was the last time the two powers came into direct conflict, although political and military tensions remained.
For the next 100 years, the Austrians and the Ottomans both began to slowly lose their power to the French, British, Prussians and Russians. Both the Ottomans and the Austrians lacked the heavy industry of their other European counterparts, but the Ottomans were further behind than the Austrians. Thus, Ottoman power decayed faster than Austrian power. In the Balkans, the increasingly prevalentnationalistic cries for independence became a bigger problem for the more militarily incompetent Ottomans. After 1867, the Austrians compromised with the Hungarians to formAustria-Hungary, thus preventing a major ethnic group from rebelling in the shorter term. The same benefits could not be had with the Ottomans.
Efforts to catch up with European technology led officers and intellectuals to study abroad—a plan that backfired for the Ottomans when these individuals brought back European ideas ofEnlightenment andegalitarianism. These ideas subsequently clashed with the traditional Turkish-dominated, autocratic,millet system of the Ottomans. Therefore, Ottoman power collapsed more rapidly than Austrian power, and they were powerless to stop Bosnia from being occupied in 1878 (officiallyannexed in 1908).
Austria and the other great powers (Britain, Prussia, Russia) saved the Ottoman dynasty from early collapse against the rebelliousEgypt in theOriental Crisis of 1840. British, Austrian and Ottoman ships attacked ports in Syria and Alexandria, and the allies tookAcre, causing Egypt to give up its attempt to replace Ottoman control across the Middle East.
Relations between Austria and the Ottomans began to improve when they saw a common threat in Russia and a common ally inGermany in countering the threat of the Tsar. The Ottomans had hoped the Germans would industrialize their nation to defend itself against the Russians, who had taken the "anti-Turk crusade" to a more committed level, driving the Turks out of the Crimea and Caucasus. Meanwhile, the German Empire appealed to the Austrians through a common culture, language and the lenient terms imposed after theAustro-Prussian War. The Austrians were in no hurry to see Russia advance at the cost of the Ottomans towards their borders. Thus, in the years before World War I, the two former enemies found themselves allies against the French, the Russians and the British. In 1918, theAustro-Hungarian Empire surrendered to partition under the Treaties ofSaint Germain andTrianon, as did the Ottomans under theTreaty of Sèvres.
the Ottomans were able largely to maintain military parity until taken by surprise both on land and at sea in the Russian war from 1768 to 1774.
To pursue their mission of conquest, the Spaniards dealt individually with each settlement or village and with each province or island until the entire Philippine archipelago was brought under imperial control. They saw to it that the people remained divided or compartmentalized and with the minimum of contact or communication. The Spaniards adopted the policy of divide et impera (divide and conquer).
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