| Great Turkish War | |||||||||
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| Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars, Polish-Ottoman Wars, Ottoman–Venetian Wars and Russo-Turkish Wars. | |||||||||
Sobieski at Vienna by Juliusz Kossak |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Holy Roman Empire Tsardom of Russia Cossack Hetmanate Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Republic of Venice Kingdom of Hungary Kingdom of Croatia Spain Serbian rebels Albanian rebels Greek rebels Bulgarian rebels Electorate of Bavaria |
Ottoman Empire Crimean Khanate |
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The Great Turkish War refers to a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and contemporary European powers, then joined into a Holy League, during the second half of the 17th century.
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After Bohdan Khmelnytsky's rebellion, when the Tsardom of Russia acquired parts of Eastern Ukraine from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, some cossacks stayed in the southeast of the Commonwealth. Their leader, Petro Doroshenko, wanted to connect the rest of Ukraine with the Ottoman Empire, starting a rebellion against Hetman (Polish army commander) John III Sobieski. The Sultan Mehmet IV, who knew that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was weakened due to internal conflicts, attacked Kamieniec Podolski, a large city on the border.
The small Polish force resisted the Siege of Kamieniec Podolski for two weeks but was then forced to capitulate. The Polish Army was too small to resist the Ottoman invasion and could only score some minor tactical victories. After three months, the Poles were forced to sign the Treaty of Buchach in which they agreed to surrender Kamieniec Podolski, Podolia and to pay tribute to the Ottoman Sultan.[2]
When the news about the defeat and treaty terms reached Warsaw, the Sejm refused to pay the tribute and organized a large army under Jan Sobieski. Subsequently, the Poles won the battle of Chocim in 1673. After King Michael’s death in 1673, Jan Sobieski was elected king of Poland. He subsequently tried to defeat the Ottomans for four years, with no success. The war ended on October 17, 1676 with the Treaty of Żurawno in which the Turks only retained control over Kamieniec Podolski.
This Turkish attack also led in 1676 to the beginning of the Russo-Turkish Wars.
After a few years of peace, the Ottoman Empire attacked the Habsburg Empire. The Turks almost captured Vienna, but John III Sobieski led a Christian alliance that defeated them in the Battle of Vienna which stalled the Ottoman Empire's hegemony in south-eastern Europe.
A new Holy League was initiated by Pope Innocent XI and encompassed the Holy Roman Empire (headed by Habsburg Austria), Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Venetian Republic in 1684,[3] joined by Russia in 1686. The second Battle of Mohács was a crushing defeat for the Sultan.
Russia's involvement marked the first time the country formally joined an alliance of European powers. This was the beginning of a series of Russo-Turkish Wars, which continued into the 20th century. As a result of the Crimean campaigns and Azov campaigns, Russia captured the key Ottoman fortress of Azov.
Following the decisive Battle of Zenta in 1697 and lesser skirmishes (such as the battle of Podhajce in 1698), the League won the war in 1699 and forced the Ottoman Empire to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz.[4] The Ottomans ceded most of Hungary, Transylvania and Slavonia to the Habsburg Empire while Podolia returned to Poland. Most of Dalmatia passed to Venice, along with the Morea (the Peloponnesus peninsula), which the Ottomans regained in the Treaty of Passarowitz of 1718.