Battle of Saint Gotthard

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Battle of Saint Gotthard
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
Date August 1, 1664
Location Szentgotthárd, Vas County, along the present-day Austro-Hungarian border
Result Decisive Austrian victory
Combatants
Austria
Holy Roman Empire
League of the Rhine
France
Ottoman Empire
Commanders
Raimondo Montecuccoli
Leopold Wilhelm of Baden-Baden
Count Coligny
Ahmed Köprülü
Strength
~ 40,000 including Imperial and French
troops [1]
~ 60,000 [citation needed]
Casualties
Minimal 10,000 [citation needed]

The Battle of Saint Gotthard (Hungarian: Szentgotthárd) was fought on August 1, 1664 between an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli and an Ottoman army under the command of Ahmed Köprülü. The battle took place at Szentgotthárd in Western Hungary, near the present-day Austro-Hungarian border. The Turks were militarily defeated but were able to negotiate the Peace of Vasvár, which was highly favorable to them.

[edit] Preparations

Ottoman dominance in Hungary began with the Battle of Mohács in 1526, which resulted in the conquest of most of Hungary by Suleiman the Magnificent. Meanwhile, the parts of Hungary that remained under Austrian control became known as Royal Hungary. Although the Ottomans had been in relative decline since the death of Suleiman I, Ottoman power saw a resurgance under the extremely capable Köprülü family, who sought to destroy the Austrian Habsburgs once and for all. They found their casus belli when the Habsburgs supported a Transylvanian rebellion against Ottoman rule.

Transylvania had escaped Ottoman conquest during the invasion of Hungary and retained its independence by playing off of their powerful neighbors: Poland, Austria and the Ottomans. They recognized Ottoman suzerainty and paid a tribute to the Porte but were given political and religious autonomy in return. In 1658, seeking new land for his principality, Prince George Rákóczy II invaded Poland with his Swedish allies in the Second Northern War. After initial success, he was defeated by the Poles and fled back to Transylvania. The Ottomans, when hearing about Rákóczy's un-authorized war, declared war on their vassal. It was not long before Grand Vizier Mehmed Köprülü (Vizier 1656-1661) defeated Rákóczy and conquered Transylvania. The new Transylvanian prince, Janos Kemény, fled to Vienna, seeking Austrian support.

Emperor Leopold I, not wishing to see Transylvania fall under direct Ottoman control, sent Montecuccoli into Hungary with his small army. Montecuccoli gave no direct support as he was severely outnumbered by the Ottomans. The Ottomans, meanwhile, completed the conquest of Transylvania and built up their forces in Ottoman Hungary. Leopold I, not wishing to face the Turks alone, summonded the Imperial Diet in January 1663.

Vas County - Hungary
Enlarge
Vas County - Hungary

[edit] Diplomatic efforts

More so than military power, the Austrian victory was achieved due to diplomatic efforts. Although Leopold personally objected to Protestantism, he had to rely on his Protestant German princes to provide military aid. Even worse was the military aid from France, which was (and continued to be until the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756) Austria's arch-nemesis. Despite numerous objections from some Protestant princes, help was not short in coming. The League of the Rhine - a French dominated group of German princes - agreed to send a corps of 6,000 men independently commanded by Count Coligny of France and Prince Johann Philipp of Mainz. By September 1663, Brandenburg and Saxony had also agreed to contingents of their own. In January 1664, the Imperial Diet agreed to raise 21,000 men, although this army did not yet exist other than on paper. Meanwhile, the Turks had declared war in April 1663, although they were slow in executing their invasion plans.

Raimondo Montecuccoli
Enlarge
Raimondo Montecuccoli

[edit] Battle

The Turkish invasion began in the spring of 1664, a full year after their declaration of war. This delay was key to the defense of Austria, as Montecuccoli was waiting for help to arrive. Finally in July 1664 the Imperial forces were assembled and they set out for the River Rába, which separated the Turkish forces from the Austrian duchy itself. If they were allowed to cross, the Turks could threaten both Vienna and Graz. Montecuccoli intercepted the Turks before they crossed the river but the division of command made effective deployment of troops impossible. On 1 August 1664 Turkish forces crossed the river near the monastery of Saint Gotthard and beat the Austrians back. Although initially plagued by disunity, Montecuccoli was finally able to convince Coligny and Leopold Wilhelm of Baden-Baden (commander of the Imperial detachment) to mass their forces and attack the Turkish troops, who were reorganizing in a nearby forest. The attack stunned the Turks, who fled in confusion back to the river, with a large number of them drowning. Due to the confusion of the panicked troops, Ahmed Köprülü (Vizier 1661-1676) was not able to send the rest of his army across the river and instead retired from the field.

Casualties were heavy on the Ottoman side and significantly, most of the casualties were in the elite corps of the army. Köprülü was left with an army of ill-trained irregulars and auxiliaries while Montecuccoli's casualties were light and mostly in the Imperial contingent. Despite the victory, the Austrians were still outnumbered nearly three to one[citation needed].

[edit] Aftermath

Although many in Europe, especially the Croat and Magyar nobility, expected the Austrians to finally liberate Hungary once and for all, Leopold abandoned the campaign. Many have criticized him for this decision (both in the past and the present) but at the time he wasn't left a choice. Although Montecuccoli's army was largely intact, there was no interest among the allies to liberate Hungary. Any invasion of Hungary would undoubtably have to be done without the help of the French and German troops. In addition, although the Magyar nobility was anxious to liberate Hungary from Turkish rule, they played little to no role in the battle. Leopold also noticed that the French officers had begun to fraternize with the Magyar nobles and encouraged them to rebel against Austrian rule. Without significant military aid from the Hungarian nobles (whom Leopold could neither trust nor count on), any liberation of Ottoman Hungary was out of the question.

In addition, Leopold had always been a member of the "Spanish faction" in Vienna. With the last Spanish Habsburg, Carlos II, about to die at any given moment, Leopold wanted to ensure that his hands were free for the inevitable struggle against Louis XIV of France. Although the liberation of Hungary was a strategic interest of the Habsburgs, it would have to wait until later. Throughout his reign, Leopold had always been more interested in the struggle against France rather than the Ottomans. Therefore, he signed the humiliating Peace of Vasvar, which did not take into account the Battle of Saint Gotthard. The Battle of Saint Gotthard is still significant, however, for it stopped any Turkish invasion of Austria, which certainly would have prolonged the war and led to an even more disastrous resolution. The Austrians would also use the twenty-year truce to build up their forces and begin the liberation of Hungary in 1683.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Jeremy Black & Rhoads Murphey, Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700. p.48-49 "At the battle of Saint Gotthard in August 1664 Raimondo Montecuccolli, supreme commander of a Habsburg force significantly strenghtened by units both from France and the Rhine confederates, still only managed to field an army of
    some 40,000 men.
    "

[edit] References

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