The siege of Belgrade was a successful attempt by
Imperial Habsburg troops under the command of the
Elector of Bavaria
The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
Maximilian II Emanuel to capture the city of
Belgrade from the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. The capture took place on 6 September 1688, after a month of siege, during the
Great Turkish War (1683–1699). By conquering Belgrade, the Imperialists gained an important strategic outpost, as the city had been the Ottoman's chief fortress in Europe, for more than a century and a half. The Turks recaptured it two years later only to lose it again to
Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th and 18th centuries. He ...
in
1717
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador to the Kingdom of Great Britain, is arrested in London over a plot to assist the Pretender to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart.
* ...
.
Background
The Ottoman Empire suffered several major defeats at war with the
Holy League, which significantly contributed to development of the crisis that resulted with the deposition of sultan
Mehmed IV
Mehmed IV ( ota, محمد رابع, Meḥmed-i rābi; tr, IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693) also known as Mehmed the Hunter ( tr, Avcı Mehmed) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the a ...
to advance into Ottoman territory. The Holy League decided to use this crisis to attack the Ottoman Empire. One of the main goals was the capture of Belgrade, one of the strongest Ottoman strongholds in Europe at that time.
Prelude
The forces of Holy League advanced toward Belgrade from two directions. The forces that advanced along river Sava were under the command of the emperor
Leopold I while forces that advanced along river Danube were under the command of the
elector of Bavaria
The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
,
Maximilian II Emanuel. According to the initial Ottoman plan, Yeğen Osman's forces moved from Belgrade to
Šabac
Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city ...
and further to Gradiška with the task not to allow the Leopold's army to cross to the right bank of Sava, while Hasan Pasha, Ottoman serasker of Hungary, stayed in Belgrade waiting for money and military reinforcements from Asia before advancing toward the enemy. After receiving the news that Leopold's army had already crossed Sava and captured
Kostajnica,
Gradiška and the region around the river
Una
Una and UNA may refer to:
Places
* 160 Una, the asteroid "Una", an asteroid named after the Faerie Queene character
* Una River (disambiguation), numerous rivers
* Una, Himachal Pradesh, a town in India
** Una, Himachal Pradesh Assembly constit ...
, Yeğen Osman returned to Belgrade.
Forces and commanders
The forces of the Holy League were led by Maximilian II Emanuel with
Prince Eugene of Savoy as one of his commanders. In this battle they had 98
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
of infantry, 77 and a half
escadrons of cavalry, and artillery forces of 98 cannons. The
Austrians
, pop = 8–8.5 million
, regions = 7,427,759
, region1 =
, pop1 = 684,184
, ref1 =
, region2 =
, pop2 = 345,620
, ref2 =
, region3 =
, pop3 = 197,990
, ref3 ...
were also accompanied by
Serbian volunteers and members of
Serbian Militia
The Serbian (Rascian) Militia ( lat, Rascianica militia; sr, Рашка Милиција or ) was a military unit of the Habsburg-Austrian army consisting of Serbs, that existed in ca. 1686–1704.
During the Great Turkish War (1686–99)
Af ...
under the command of
Jovan Monasterlija.
![Max II](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Max_II._Emanuel.png)
The Ottoman forces were commanded by
Yeğen Osman who was shortly before this battle appointed to the position of governor of Belgrade.
In early 1688 Yeğen Osman went to Belgrade with his forces and forcefully deposed
serdar Serdar may refer to
* Serdar (given name)
* Serdar (surname)
* SERDAR, a stabilized remote-controlled Ukrainian weapon station
* Serdar (city) in Turkmenistan, the capital of Serdar District
* Serdar (Ottoman rank), a military and noble rank of t ...
Hasan Pasha and captured his camp on the
Vračar
Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 56,333 inhabitant ...
hill. Total number of forces under his command in Belgrade was 25-30,000.
Battle
Maximilian began the movement of his forces on 30 July 1688 when they captured the Ottoman outpost near
Titel
Titel ( sr-Cyrl, Тител, hu, Titel) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town of Titel has a population of 5,247, while the population of the municipality of Titel is 15, ...
. Yeğen Osman positioned his troops around Belgrade to prevent the fleeing of its garrison and population.
Supported by the Christian population of Ottoman Serbia, his forces landed on
Ada Ciganlija
Ada Ciganlija ( sr-cyr, Ада Циганлија, ), colloquially shortened to Ada, is a river island that has artificially been turned into a peninsula, located in the Sava River's course through central Belgrade, Serbia. The name can also ref ...
, a river island near Belgrade's suburb
Ostružnica
Ostružnica ( sr-cyr, Остружница) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia, in the municipality of Čukarica. It has a population of 4,218 people (2011).
Geography
Ostružnica is located on the right bank of the Sava river, at the ...
. On 7 August they positioned pontoon bridges between Ada Ciganlija and the right bank of the river
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
. The first group of 500 Austrian soldiers crossed the bridge under fire from Yeğen Osman's artillery. When they established a foothold on the right bank of Sava, 10,000 supporting forces joined them. Yeğen Osman attacked them with the bulk of his forces, but the Austrians repelled his two attacks, captured more ground on the right bank of Sava, and brought additional forces. They besieged the city and subjected it to cannon fire for nearly a month.
A day after the army of the Holy Roman Empire crossed the Sava, a letter written by the emperor
Leopold I was brought to Yeğen Osman offering him Wallachia to desert the Ottomans and switch to their side. On 10 August, Yeğen Osman gave a letter with his answer to the Austrian envoy and dispatched him from his camp. Since Yeğen Osman requested the whole of
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...
and Bosnia, they did not make an agreement.
When Yeğen Osman realized that his forces were outnumbered, he burned his camp and both of the Serb populated Belgrade suburbs on the Sava and
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
. He then retreated to
Smederevo
Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
According to ...
and spent two days looting and burning it. Yeğen Osman left Smederevo and went to Niš via Smederevska Palanka. From Niš, he wrote reports about the siege to the Ottoman government requesting urgent military and financial support needed to defend Belgrade. He recommended the annihilation of the rebellious
rayah
A raiyah or reaya (from , a plural of "countryman, animal, sheep pasturing, subjects, nationals, flock", also spelled ''raiya'', ''raja'', ''raiah'', ''re'aya''; Ottoman Turkish رعايا ; Modern Turkish râiya or reaya; related to the Arabi ...
.
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The name ...
sent him 120 bags of gold and decided to mobilize the Muslim population of Rumelia to deal with the rebelling population of
Belgrade pashalik.
Upon refusal of his offer to accept the Ottoman garrison's surrender, Maximilian ordered an assault on 6 September. At first the Imperial forces wavered, but Maximilian, accompanied by
Prince Eugene of Savoy, rallied the forces and drove the garrison from the walls. Maximilian's forces lost 4,000 men in the assault, while the Turks lost some 5,000. During the two-year period of Habsburg rule, the Belgrade fortress and town were rebuilt. In 1690 the Ottomans returned to
besiege it and re-captured the city.
Images
File:Belgrade 1684.jpg, Belgrade in 1684
File:Map of fortifications of Belgrade in 1688.jpg, Map of the siege
File:1688 assault on Belgrade.jpg, Assault on Belgrade
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Military history of Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade
1688 in Europe
Belgrade 1688
Belgrade 1688
Belgrade 1688
17th century in Belgrade
Belgrade (1688)