 The official document of the treaty | |
| Context | Great Turkish War of 1683–1699 |
|---|---|
| Drafted | From 16 November 1698 |
| Signed | 26 January 1699 (1699-01-26) |
| Location | Karlowitz,Military Frontier,Habsburg monarchy(nowSremski Karlovci,Serbia) |
| Signatories | |
| Parties |
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| Languages | |
TheTreaty of Karlowitz, concluding theGreat Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which theOttoman Empire was defeated by theHoly League at theBattle of Zenta,[1] was signed in Karlowitz (present-daySremski Karlovci,Serbia), in theMilitary Frontier of theHabsburg Monarchy, on 26 January 1699. Also known as "The Austrian treaty that saved Europe", it marks the end of Ottoman control in much ofCentral Europe, with their first major territorial losses in Europe, beginning the reversal ofalmost three centuries of expansion (1299–1683). The treaty established theHabsburg monarchy as the dominant power of the region.[2]
Following a two-month congress between the Ottoman Empire on one side, and theHoly League of 1684– a coalition of theHoly Roman Empire (HRE), thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, theRepublic of Venice, andPeter the Great– thetsar of Russia,[3] a peace treaty was signed on 26 January 1699.[2]
On the basis ofuti possidetis, the treaty confirmed the territorial holdings of each power.[2] The Habsburgs received from the Ottomans theEğri Eyalet,Varat Eyalet, much of theBudin Eyalet, the northern part of theTemeşvar Eyalet, and parts of theBosnia Eyalet. That corresponded to much ofHungary,Croatia, andSlavonia. ThePrincipality of Transylvania remained nominally independent, but was subject to the direct rule of Austrian governors.[2]
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth recoveredPodolia with the undestroyed fortress atKamianets-Podilskyi (Although the fortress in Kamianets was not recaptured in the 1698campaign). Therefore, the areas that were lost 27 years earlier in theTreaty of Buchach in 1672 were regained. In return, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth gave back captured fortresses inMoldova. The treaty also assumed the release of prisoners, the displacement of the Buda Tatars from Moldova, the end of Tatar raids, the rendition of fugitives (Cossacks to the Commonwealth, Moldovans to Ottomans), and the cessation of tribute payments by the commonwealth. The commonwealth never again had a military conflict with Ottomans.[2][4]
Venice obtained most ofDalmatia, along with theMorea (thePeloponnese peninsula ofsouthern Greece), though the Morea was restored to the Turks within 20 years by theTreaty of Passarowitz.[2] There was no agreement about theHoly Sepulchre, although it was discussed in Karlowitz.[5]
The Ottomans retainedBelgrade, theBanat of Temesvár (nowTimișoara), as well as suzerainty overWallachia andMoldavia. Negotiations with theTsardom of Russia for a further year, under a truce agreed at Karlowitz, culminated in theTreaty of Constantinople of 1700, in which the Sultan ceded theAzov region toPeter the Great.[2] (Russia had to return the territories eleven years later after the failedPruth River Campaign and theTreaty of the Pruth in 1711.)[citation needed]
Commissions were set-up to devise the new borders between the Austrians and the Turks, with some parts disputed until 1703.[2] Largely through the efforts of the Habsburg commissionerLuigi Ferdinando Marsili, the Croatian andBihać borders were agreed-upon by mid-1700, and the borders at Temesvár by early 1701, leading to a border that was demarcated by physical landmarks for the first time.[2]
The acquisition of around 60,000 square miles (160,000 km2) of Hungarian territories at Karlowitz, and of theBanat of Temesvár 18 years later by theTreaty of Passarowitz, enlarged theHabsburg monarchy to its largest extent to that point, cementing theArchduchy of Austria as a dominant regional power.[2] It was later increased further in size by the acquisition ofPolish territories in 1772 and 1795, by theannexation ofDalmatia in 1815, and by theannexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908.[citation needed]
The treaty was a watershed moment in the history of the Ottoman Empire, which, for the first time,lost substantial amounts of territory after three-and-a-half centuries of expansionism in Europe. Although the Ottoman borders in the region would wax and wane over the next 100 years, never again would there be any further acquisition of territory on a scale seen during the reigns ofMehmed the Conqueror,Selim the Grim, orSuleiman the Magnificent in the 15th-16th centuries. Indeed, after the mid-1700s, the Ottoman frontier was largely delimited to the south of theSava River and the Balkans proper, and would be further pushed southward as the 19th century began.[citation needed]
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