Holy Roman Empire
Crown of Bohemia
Saxony
Austria
Kingdom of Hungary[1]
Kingdom of Croatia[1]
Transylvania
Wallachia
Moldavia
Spain
Zaporozhian Host
Serbian hajduks
Papal States
Tuscany
Knights of St. Stephen
Duchy of Ferrara
Duchy of Mantua
Republic of Ragusa
Duchy of Savoy
Ottoman Empire
Crimean Khanate
Nogai Horde
Commanders and leaders
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Vincenzo I Gonzaga
Hermann Christof von Russwurm
Karl von Mansfeld
Ruprecht von Eggenberg
Giorgio Basta
István Bocskai
Michael the Brave
Starina Novak
Sultan

Sultan Murad III, Ottoman Emperor
Sultan

Sultan Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor
Sultan

Sultan Ahmed I, Ottoman Emperor
Koca Sinan Pasha
Lala Mehmed Pasha
Tiryaki Hasan Pasha
Damat Ibrahim Pasha
Telli Hasan Pasha †
Strength
95,000[2][3]
160,000–180,000[2][3]
Casualties and losses
Unknown, heavy
Unknown, heavy
v
t
e
Long Turkish War
Sisak
Veszprém
Tata (1)
Székesfehérvár (1)
Romhány
Banat
Győr
_5.jpg/502px-Püspökvár_(4258._számú_műemlék)_5.jpg)
Győr (1)
Călugăreni
Giurgiu
Esztergom
Brest
Eger
Keresztes
Herzegovina
Tata (2)
Győr
_5.jpg/502px-Püspökvár_(4258._számú_műemlék)_5.jpg)
Győr (2)
Buda

Buda (1)
Şelimbăr
Kanizsa
Mirăslău
Guruslău
Székesfehérvár (2)
Braşov
Buda

Buda (2)
Buda

Buda (3)
Bocskai Uprising
v
t
e
Ottoman–Habsburg wars
Hungary and the Balkans
Mohács (1526)
Hungarian Campaign (1527–28)
Croatia (1527-93)
Balkans (1529)
Vienna (1529)
Little War in Hungary (1530–52)
Klis (1536–37)
Temesvár (1552)
Eger (1552)
Szigetvár (1566)
Long War (1593–1606)
Bocskai insurrection (1604–1606)
Austro-Turkish War (1663–64)
Great Turkish War (1683–1699)
Austro-Turkish War (1716–18)
Austro-Russian–Turkish War (1735–39)
Austro-Turkish War (1787–91)
Mediterranean
Cephalonia (1500)
Balearics (1501)
Pantelleria (1515)
Algiers (1516)
Tlemcen (1517)
Algiers (1529)
Formentera (1529)
Coron (1532-34)
Tunis (1535)
Mahón (1535)
Preveza (1538)
Castelnuovo (1539)
Girolata (1540)
Alborán (1540)
Algiers (1541)
Nice (1543)
Mahdiye (1550)
Gozo (1551)
Tripoli (1551)
Ponza (1552)
Corsica (1553-59)
Bougie (1555)
Oran (1556)
Balearics (1558)
Mostaganem (1558)
Djerba (1560)
Orán and Mers-el-Kébir (1563)
Vélez de la Gomera (1564)
Malta (1565)
Lepanto (1571)
Tunis (1574)
Fez (1576)
Cape Corvo (1613)
Żejtun (1614)
Cape Celidonia (1616)
The
Long Turkish War

Long Turkish War or Thirteen Years' War was an indecisive land war
between the
Habsburg Monarchy

Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, primarily over
the Principalities of Wallachia,
Transylvania

Transylvania and Moldavia.[4] It was
waged from 1593 to 1606 but in Europe is sometimes called the Fifteen
Years War, reckoning from the 1591–92 Turkish campaign that captured
Bihać.
In the series of
Ottoman wars in Europe

Ottoman wars in Europe it was the major test of force
between the
Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–73)

Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–73) and the Cretan War
(1645–69). The next of the major
Ottoman-Habsburg wars

Ottoman-Habsburg wars was the Great
Turkish War of 1683-99. Overall, the conflict consisted in a great
number of costly battles and sieges, but with very little result for
either side.
Contents
1 Overview
2 Prelude
3 History
3.1 1593
3.2 1594
3.3 1595–96
3.4 1601–06
4 Aftermath
5 Battles
6 References
7 Sources
Overview[edit]
The major participants of the war were the Habsburg Monarchy, the
Principality of Transylvania,
Wallachia

Wallachia and
Moldavia

Moldavia opposing the
Ottoman Empire. Ferrara, Tuscany, Mantua and the
Papal State
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_Papal_States_(1825-1870).svg.png)
Papal State were also
involved to a lesser extent.
Prelude[edit]
Skirmishes along the Habsburg–Ottoman border intensified from 1591.
In 1592, the fort of
Bihać
.jpg/500px-Bihać_(collage_image).jpg)
Bihać fell to the Ottomans.
History[edit]
1593[edit]
In the spring of 1593, Ottoman forces from the Eyalet of Bosnia laid
siege to the city of
Sisak

Sisak in Croatia, starting the Battle of Sisak
that eventually ended in a victory for the
Christian

Christian forces on June
22, 1593. That victory marked the end of the Hundred Years'
Croatian–Ottoman War (1493-1593).
The war started on July 29, 1593, when the Ottoman army under Sinan
Pasha launched a campaign against the
Habsburg Monarchy

Habsburg Monarchy and captured
Győr
_5.jpg/502px-Püspökvár_(4258._számú_műemlék)_5.jpg)
Győr (Turkish: Yanıkkale) and
Komarom

Komarom (Turkish: Komaron) in 1594.
1594[edit]
In early 1594, the Serbs in Banat rose up against the Ottomans.[5] The
rebels had, in the character of a holy war, carried war flags with the
icon of Saint Sava.[6] The war banners were consecrated by Patriarch
Jovan Kantul, and the uprising was aided by Serbian Orthodox
metropolitans
Rufim Njeguš of Cetinje and Visarion of Trebinje.[7] In
response, Ottoman
Grand Vizier

Grand Vizier
Koca Sinan Pasha

Koca Sinan Pasha demanded that the
green flag of the Prophet Muhammed be brought from
Damascus

Damascus to counter
the Serb flag and ordered that the sarcophagus containing the relics
of
Saint Sava

Saint Sava be removed from the
Mileševa monastery

Mileševa monastery and transferred
to
Belgrade

Belgrade via military convoy.[6] Along the way, the Ottoman convoy
killed all the people in its path as a warning to the rebels.[6] The
Ottomans publicly incinerated the relics of
Saint Sava

Saint Sava on a pyre atop
the
Vračar plateau

Vračar plateau on April 27 and had the ashes scattered.[6]
1595–96[edit]
In 1595, an alliance of
Christian

Christian European powers was organized by
Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII to oppose the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire (the Holy League of
Pope Clement VIII); a treaty of alliance was signed in
Prague

Prague by the
Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II and
Sigismund Báthory

Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania.
Aron Vodă

Aron Vodă of
Moldavia

Moldavia and
Michael the Brave

Michael the Brave of
Wallachia

Wallachia joined the
alliance later that year. The Spanish Habsburgs sent an army of 6,000
experienced infantry and 2,000 cavalry from the Netherlands under Karl
von Mansfeld, commander in chief of the Spanish Army of Flanders, who
took the command of the operations in Hungary.[8]
The Ottomans' objective of the war was to seize Vienna,[citation
needed] while the
Habsburg Monarchy

Habsburg Monarchy wanted to recapture the central
territories of the
Kingdom of Hungary
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Hungary_(1867-1918).svg.png)
Kingdom of Hungary controlled by the Ottoman
Empire. Control over the
Danube

Danube line and possession of the fortresses
located there was crucial. The war was mainly fought in Royal Hungary
(mostly present day western Hungary and southern Slovakia),
Transdanubia, Royal Croatia and Slavonia, the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire (Rumelia
– present day
Bulgaria

Bulgaria and Serbia), and
Wallachia

Wallachia (in present-day
southern Romania).
The Habsburg troops broke into the
Hatvan

Hatvan castle in 1596
In 1595, the Christians, led by Mansfeld, captured
Esztergom

Esztergom and
Visegrád, strategic fortresses on the Danube, but they did not engage
in the siege of the key fortress of Buda. The Ottomans launched a
siege of
Eger

Eger (Turkish: Eğri), conquering it in 1596.
On the Balkans, in 1595 a Spanish fleet of galleys from Naples and
Sicily under Pedro de Toledo, marquis of Villafranca, sacked Patras,
on the
Rumelia

Rumelia Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire, in retaliation for
Turkish raids against the Italian coasts.[9] The raid was so
spectacular that
Sultan

Sultan
Murad III

Murad III discussed the extermination of the
Christians of
Constantinople

Constantinople in revenge, but he finally decided to
order the expulsion of all the unmarried Greeks from the city.[10] In
the following years, Spanish fleets continued to raid the Levant
waters, but there was not a reprisal of the large-scale naval warfare
between Christians and Ottomans.[11] Instead, they were privateers
such as
Alonso de Contreras who took the role of harassing the Ottoman
sailing.[9][11]
On the eastern front of the war, Michael the Brave, prince of
Wallachia, started a campaign against the Ottomans in the autumn of
1594, conquering several castles near the Lower Danube, including
Giurgiu, Brăila, Hârşova, and Silistra, while his Moldavian allies
defeated the Ottoman armies in
Iaşi
.jpg/500px-Collage_Iași_(Jassy).jpg)
Iaşi and other parts of Moldova.[12]
Michael continued his attacks deep within the Ottoman Empire, taking
the forts of Nicopolis, Ribnic, and Chilia [13] and even reaching as
far as Adrianople.[14] At one point his forces were only 24 kilometres
(15 mi) from the Ottoman capital, Constantinople.
The execution of the mutinous Walloon mercenaries in 1600
He was however forced to fall back across the Danube, and the Ottomans
in turn led a massive counter-offensive (100,000 strong) which aimed
to not only take back their recently captured possessions but also
conquer
Wallachia

Wallachia once and for all. The push was initially successful,
managing to capture not only
Giurgiu

Giurgiu but also Bucharest and
Târgovişte, in spite of meeting fierce opposition at Călugăreni
(23 August 1595). At this point the Ottoman command grew complacent
and stopped pursuing the retreating Wallachian army, focusing instead
on fortifying Târgovişte and Bucharest and considering their task
all but done. Michael had to wait almost two months for aid from his
allies to arrive, but when it did his counter-offensive took the
Ottomans by surprise, managing to sweep through the Ottoman defences
on three successive battlefields, at Târgovişte (18 October),
Bucharest (22 October), and
Giurgiu

Giurgiu (26 October). The Battle of
Giurgiu

Giurgiu in particular was devastating for the Ottoman forces, which
had to retreat across the
Danube

Danube in disarray.[15]
The war between
Wallachia

Wallachia and the Ottomans continued until late 1599,
when Michael was unable to continue the war due to poor support from
his allies.
The turning point of the war was the Battle of Mezőkeresztes, which
took place in the territory of Hungary on October 24–26, 1596. The
combined Habsburg-Transylvanian force of 45–50,000 troops was
defeated by the Ottoman army. The battle turned when Christian
soldiers, thinking they had won the battle, stopped fighting in order
to plunder the Ottoman camp.[citation needed] Despite this victory,
the Ottomans realized for the first time the superiority of Western
military equipment over Ottoman weapons.[citation needed] This battle
was the first significant military encounter in Central-Europe between
a large
Christian

Christian army and the Ottoman Turkish Army after the Battle
of Mohács. Nevertheless, Austrians recaptured
Győr
_5.jpg/502px-Püspökvár_(4258._számú_műemlék)_5.jpg)
Győr and
Komarom

Komarom in
1598.
1601–06[edit]
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section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material
may be challenged and removed. (October 2016) (Learn how and when to
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The siege of
Buda

Buda in 1602
In August 1601, at the Battle of Guruslău,
Giorgio Basta

Giorgio Basta and Michael
the Brave defeated the Hungarian nobility led by Sigismund Báthory,
who accepted Ottoman protection. After the assassination of Michael
the Brave by mercenary soldiers under Basta's orders,[citation needed]
the Transylvanian nobility, led by Mózes Székely, was again defeated
at the
Battle of Braşov
.jpg/700px-Hans_von_Aachen_-_Allegory_of_the_Turkish_war-_Battle_of_Kronstadt_(Braşov).jpg)
Battle of Braşov in 1603 by the Habsburg Empire and Wallachian
troops led by Radu Şerban. Hence, the Austrians seemed to be able to
win a decisive victory.[clarification needed]
The last phase of the war (from 1604 to 1606) corresponds to the
uprising of the Prince of
Transylvania

Transylvania Stephen Bocskay. When Rudolf
– mostly based on false charges[citation needed] – started
prosecutions against a number of noble men in order to fill up the
court's exhausted treasury, Bocskay, an educated strategist, resisted.
He collected desperate Hungarians together with disappointed members
of the nobility to start an uprising against the Habsburgs ruler. The
troops marched westwards, supported by the
Hajduk

Hajduk of Hungary, won some
victories and regained the territories that had been lost to the
Habsburg army until Bocskay was first declared the Prince of
Transylvania

Transylvania (Târgu Mureș, February 21, 1605) and later also to
Hungary (Szerencs, April 17, 1605[clarification needed]). The Ottoman
Empire supported Bocskay with a crown that he refused (being
Christian). As Prince of Hungary he accepted negotiations with Rudolf
II and concluded the Treaty of
Vienna
.jpg/532px-Schloss_Schönbrunn_Wien_2014_(Zuschnitt_1).jpg)
Vienna (1606).
Aftermath[edit]
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section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material
may be challenged and removed. (October 2016) (Learn how and when to
remove this template message)
The peace negotiations in Zsitvatorok in 1606
The Long War ended with the
Peace of Zsitvatorok

Peace of Zsitvatorok on November 11, 1606,
with meagre territorial gains for the two main empires—the Ottomans
won the fortresses of Eger,
Esztergom

Esztergom and Kanisza, but gave the region
of
Vác

Vác (which they had occupied since 1541) to Austria. The treaty
confirmed the Ottomans' inability to penetrate further into Habsburg
territories. It also demonstrated that
Transylvania

Transylvania was beyond
Habsburg power. Though Emperor Rudolf had failed in his war
objectives, he nonetheless won some prestige thanks to this resistance
to the Turks and by presenting the war as a victory. For the first
time, he was also recognized as an Emperor by the Ottomans. The treaty
stabilized conditions on the Habsburg–Ottoman frontier. Also, while
Bocksay managed to retain his independence, he also agreed to give up
the title of "king of Hungary".
Battles[edit]
The siege of Buda
The siege of
Esztergom

Esztergom in 1595
The recapture of
Pápa

Pápa in 1597
Sisak
Veszprém
Tata (1)
Székesfehérvár (1)
Romhány
Banat
Győr
_5.jpg/502px-Püspökvár_(4258._számú_műemlék)_5.jpg)
Győr (1)
Călugăreni
Giurgiu
Esztergom
Brest
Eger
Keresztes
Herzegovina
Tata (2)
Győr
_5.jpg/502px-Püspökvár_(4258._számú_műemlék)_5.jpg)
Győr (2)
Buda

Buda (1)
Şelimbăr
Kanizsa
Mirăslău
Guruslău
Székesfehérvár (2)
Braşov
Buda

Buda (2)
References[edit]
^ a b Csorba, Csaba; Estók, János; Salamon, Konrád (1998).
Magyarország Képes Története. Budapest: Hungarian Book-Club.
ISBN 963-548-961-7. 62.-64. p.
^ a b Ervin Liptai: Magyarország hadtörténete I. 1984.
ISBN 963-326-337-9
^ a b Zsigmond Pach: Magyarország története 1526–1686, 1985.
ISBN 963-05-0929-6
^ Cathal J. Nolan (2006). The age of wars of religion, 1000–1650: an
encyclopedia of global warfare and civilization. Greenwood Publishing
Group. p. 846. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
^ Rajko L. Veselinović (1966). (1219-1766). Udžbenik za IV razred
srpskih pravoslavnih bogoslovija. (Yu 68-1914). Sv. Arh. Sinod Srpske
pravoslavne crkve. pp. 70–71.
^ a b c d Nikolaj Velimirović (January 1989). The Life of St. Sava.
St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 159.
ISBN 978-0-88141-065-5.
^ Editions speciales. Naučno delo. 1971.
^ Mugnai, Bruno; Flaherty, Christopher (2014). Der Lange Türkenkrieg
(1593-1606): The long Turkish War, Vol. 1 (Ebook). Soldiershop
Publishing. ISBN 9788896519912, p. 67
^ a b Braudel, Fernand (1995). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean
World in the Age of Philip II, Volume 2. Berkeley: University of
California Press. ISBN 0520203305, p. 1229
^ Hutton, William Holden (1900): Constantinople: the story of the old
capital of the empire. London: J.M. Dent & Co, p. 172.
^ a b Teneti, Alberto (1967). Piracy and the Decline of Venice,
1580-1615. Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 47
^ Constantin C. Giurescu, Istoria Românilor. Bucharest: Editura All,
2007 (Romanian), p. 183.
^ Coln, Emporungen so sich in Konigereich Ungarn, auch in Siebenburgen
Moldau, in der der bergischen Walachay und anderen Oerten zugetragen
haben, 1596
^ Marco Venier, correspondence with the Doge of Venice, 16 July 1595
^ Florin Constantiniu, "O istorie sinceră a poporului român",
ISBN 973-8240-67-0. Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 2002
(Romanian), p. 128-129.
Sources[edit]
Finkel, Caroline (1988). The Administration of Warfare: The Ottoman
Military Campaigns in Hungary, 1593-1606. Vienna: VWGÖ.
ISBN 3-85369-708-9.
Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell
Publishing.
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