| Hungarian campaign of Suleiman | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theOttoman–Habsburg wars Habsburg–Ottoman war of 1529–1533 | |||||||||
 "The Great Gun", a 1518 allegorical representation byAlbrecht Dürer of the Turkish menace for the German lands. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Habsburg Austria Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Bohemia Kingdom of Croatia Ferdinand's Hungarian kingdom | Ottoman Empire Moldavia John Szapolyai's Hungarian kingdom | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Ferdinand I | Suleiman the Magnificent Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha John Szapolyai Peter IV Rareș | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | 120,000 soldiers[1] (including 12,000 Janissaries)[2] 20,000 camels 300 guns 6,000 Hungarian horsemen[2] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 20,000 dead (soldiers and civilians)[2] | 40,000 dead[2] | ||||||||
Suleiman I's campaign of 1529 was launched by theOttoman Empire to take theAustrian capitalVienna and thereby strike a decisive blow, allowing the Ottomans to consolidate their hold onHungary. This was in response toFerdinand I's daring assault onOttoman Hungary.
Suleiman's march toVienna was also an attempt to assist his vassal, John Szapolyai who claimed the throne of Hungary. Suleiman sent his army of 120,000 strong north on the 10 May 1529. His campaign was marked by speedy success, on September 8Buda surrendered to theOttomans and John Szapolyai was installed as King ofHungary. Suleiman then went further takingEsztergom,Tata,Komárom andGyőr[1] so that much ofFerdinand I's gains the previous two years were lost. On 27 September, Suleiman reachedVienna.
The arrival of the Sultan's massive host in Central Europe caused much panic acrossEurope -Martin Luther, who had believed that the Ottomans were God's punishment against the sins of Christians[3] modified his views and wrote the bookthe War with the Turks in 1529 urging that "the scourge of God" should be fought with great vigour. However, when Suleiman beganbesieging Vienna it would prove to be his first and most decisive blunder.