Battle of Vienna

This article is about the 1683 battle. For the 1945 battle, see Vienna offensive. For the American Civil War battle, see Battle of Vienna, Virginia. For other uses, see Siege of Vienna.
Siege and Battle of Vienna
Part of the Great Turkish War, the Ottoman–Habsburg wars, and the Polish–Ottoman War

Battle of Vienna, 12 September 1683
DateSiege: 14 July – 12 September 1683
(1 month, 4 weeks and 1 day)
Battle: 12 September 1683[2]
Location
Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire (now Vienna, Austria)
48°14′6″N 16°20′6″E / 48.23500°N 16.33500°E / 48.23500; 16.33500 (Türkenschanzpark)
Result Christian coalition victory[2]
Territorial
changes
  • Coalition of Christians establishes Holy League to further push back the Ottomans
  • Beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire
  • Beginning of the Great Turkish War
  • Ottomans fail to take Vienna, coalition (later the Holy League) forces invade territories in Hungary and the Balkans under Ottoman rule
Belligerents

Ottoman Empire

Vassal states:

Holy League:

Austria Habsburg Monarchy

 Poland–Lithuania

border=no Cossack Hetmanate

 Wallachia (secretly)[1]
Commanders and leaders
Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha Executed
Kara Mehmed of Diyarbakir
Ibrahim of Buda
Abaza Sari Hüseyin
Pasha of Karahisar
Murad Giray
Moldavia George Ducas (POW)
Transylvania Michael I Apafi
Wallachia Șerban Cantacuzino		 Holy Roman Empire Charles of Lorraine
Holy Roman Empire Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg
Holy Roman Empire Georg Rimpler †
Holy Roman Empire John George III
Holy Roman Empire Georg Friedrich of Waldeck
Holy Roman Empire Julius Francis, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
Holy Roman Empire Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria
Holy Roman Empire Eugene of Savoy
Holy Roman Empire Livio Odescalchi[1]
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth John III Sobieski
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Marcin Kątski
Wallachia Șerban Cantacuzino (secretly)
Strength

120,000 soldiers to 65,000 soldiers during 60 days of siege with around 60 guns[3]
90,000 to 40,000 soldiers during 60 days of siege[3]

150,000 as of 10 September 1683,[4] down from 170,000 at the start of the campaign, according to documents on the order of battle found in Kara Mustafa's tent.[5] [Note 1] – alternative estimates

Approximately 150 cannons[6]

Viennese garrison:
11,000 soldiers[11] + 5,000 volunteers[11]
312 guns but only 141 operational[11]
(strength on 10 September 1683)

Relief force:
65,000 soldiers with 165-200 guns[12]

According to Podhorodecki:
47,000 Germans and Austrians with some 112 guns[13]
27,000 Poles with 28 guns[14]

Total:
90,000 but some left behind to guard bridges near Tulln and camps, plus 2,000 Imperial cavalry (not included above) left behind the Danube.[15]

[Note 2] – alternative estimates
Casualties and losses

Total casualties:
~66,000–79,000

Casualties during the siege: 48,544 killed, 25% desertion and unknown number of deaths from diseases[3]

Casualties during the battle: 8,000–20,000[19]: 661 

Captured: ~10,000[19]: 661 

Total casualties:
16,500–20,000

Casualties during the siege: 12,000[6]

Casualties during the battle: 4,500[19]: 661 


3,500 dead or wounded (1,300 Poles)[20]

The Battle of Vienna[a] took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 12 September 1683[2] after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, both under the command of King John III Sobieski, against the Ottomans and their vassal and tributary states. The battle marked the first time the Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Ottomans. The defeat was a turning point for Ottoman expansion into Europe, after which they would gain no further ground.[21][Note 3] In the ensuing war that lasted until 1699, the Ottomans would cede most of Ottoman Hungary to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.[21]

The battle was won by the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the latter represented only by the forces of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (the march of the Lithuanian army was delayed, and they reached Vienna after it had been relieved).[22] The Viennese garrison was led by Feldzeugmeister of the Holy Roman Imperial Army Ernst Rüdiger Graf von Starhemberg, an Austrian subject of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. The overall command was held by the senior leader, the King of Poland, John III Sobieski, who led the relief forces.

The forces of the Ottoman Empire and its vassal states were commanded by Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. The Ottoman army numbered approximately 90,000[6] to 300,000[7][8][9][10] men (according to documents on the order of battle found in Kara Mustafa's tent, initial strength at the start of the campaign was 170,000 men[5]). They began the siege on 14 July 1683. Ottoman forces consisted, among other units, of 60 ortas of Janissaries (12,000 men paper-strength) with an observation army of some 70,000[23] men watching the countryside. The decisive battle took place on 12 September, after the arrival of the united relief army.

Some historians maintain that the battle marked a turning point in the Ottoman–Habsburg wars, a 300-year struggle between the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires. During the 16 years following the battle, the Austrian Habsburgs would gradually conquer southern Hungary and Transylvania, largely clearing them of Ottoman forces. The battle is noted for including the largest known cavalry charge in history.

  1. ^ a b "Participarea lui Șerban Cantacuzino la cel de-al Doilea Asediul Vienei". Historia (in Romanian). 20 November 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Finkel, Caroline (2006). Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1923. Basic Books. pp. 286–87. ISBN 978-0-465-02396-7. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Forst de Battaglia, Otto (1982), Jan Sobieski, Mit Habsburg gegen die Türken, Styria Vlg. Graz, p. 215 of 1983 Polish translated edition
  5. ^ a b Wimmer, Jan (1983), Wiedeń 1683, MON, p. 306
  6. ^ a b c d e Bruce Alan Masters, Gábor Ágoston: Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, Infobase Publishing, 2009, ISBN 1438110251, 584.
  7. ^ a b Harbottle, Thomas (1905), Dictionary of Battles, E.P. Sutton & Co, p. 262
  8. ^ a b Clare, Israel (1876), The Centennial Universal History: A Clear and Concise History of All Nations, with a Full History of the United States to the Close of the First 100 Years of Our National Independence., J. C. McCurdy & Co., p. 252
  9. ^ a b Drane, Augusta (1858), The Knights of st. John: with The battle of Lepanto and Siege of Vienna., Burns and Lambert, p. 136
  10. ^ a b American Architect and Building News. 29.767 (1890): 145. Print.
  11. ^ a b c Podhorodecki, Leszek (2001), Wiedeń 1683, Bellona, p. 83
  12. ^ a b c d Şakul, Kahraman (2021). II. Viyana Kuşatması Yedi Ejderin Fendi (in Turkish). İstanbul: Timaş Publishing. pp. 394–395. ISBN 978-6050835663.
  13. ^ Podhorodecki, Leszek (2001), Wiedeń 1683, Bellona, p. 106
  14. ^ Podhorodecki, Leszek (2001), Wiedeń 1683, Bellona, p. 105
  15. ^ Podhorodecki, Leszek (2001), Wiedeń 1683, Bellona, pp. 83, 106
  16. ^ Tucker, Spencer (2010). Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict. ABC-CLIO. p. 215. ISBN 978-1598844290. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  17. ^ a b Austria's Wars of Emergence, Michael Hochedlinger
  18. ^ The Enemy at the Gate, Andrew Wheatcroft. 2008.
  19. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Tucker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Podhorodecki, Leszek (2001), Wiedeń 1683, Bellona, pp. 140–141
  21. ^ a b c Leitsch, Walter (July 1983). "1683: The Siege of Vienna". History Today. 33 (7). Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  22. ^ Davies, Norman (1982), God's Playground, a History of Poland: The Origins to 1795, Columbia University Press, p. 487
  23. ^ Bruce, George (1981). Harbottle's Dictionary of Battles. Van Nostrand Reinhold.


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