Long War (Ottoman wars)

For other conflicts called the Long War, see Long War. For other conflicts called Thirteen Years' War, see Thirteen Years' War. For other conflicts called Fifteen Years' War, see Fifteen Years War.

Long War Fifteen Years' War of Hungary
Part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars
Date c.1591 – c.1606 Location Hungary, Wallachia, Balkan Peninsula Result Peace of Zsitvatorok
Belligerents
Habsburg Monarchy Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Bohemia Principality of Transylvania Wallachia Moldavia Zaporozhian Host Spain Serbian rebels Papal States Venice Saxony Tuscany Persia Knights of St. Stephen Bulgarian rebels Duchy of Ferrara Duchy of Mantua Republic of Ragusa Duchy of Savoy	Ottoman Empire Crimean Khanate Nogai Khanate
Commanders and leaders
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor István Bocskai György Thurzó Hermann Christof Rusworm Giorgio Basta Michael the Brave	Murad III Mehmed III Ahmed I Sinan Pasha Damat Ibrahim Pasha Lala Mehmed Pasha
Strength
95,000	160-180,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown, heavy	Unknown, heavy

The Long War (also named the Thirteen or Fifteen Years' War) took place from 1591 or 1593 to 1604 or 1606 and was one of the numerous military conflicts between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire that developed after the Battle of Mohács.

History

The major participants of this war were the Habsburg Monarchy (Austria, Royal Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia), Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia opposing the Ottoman Empire. Ferrara, Tuscany, Mantua and the Papal State were also involved in the war to a lesser extent.

Skirmishes along the border were intensifying from 1591. In 1592, the fort of Bihać in what was central Croatia at the time fell to the Ottomans. In the spring of 1593, Ottoman forces from the Eyalet of Bosnia laid siege to the border city of Sisak in Croatia, starting the Battle of Sisak which eventually ended in a victory for the Christian forces on June 22, 1593.

The Long War started on July 29, 1593 when the Ottoman army under Sinan Pasha launched a campaign against the Habsburg Monarchy and captured Győr (Turkish: Yanıkkale) and Komarom (Turkish: Komaron).

In 1595, an alliance of Christian European powers was organized by Pope Clement VIII to oppose the Ottoman Empire; a treaty of alliance was signed in Prague by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II and Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania. Aron Vodă of Moldavia and Michael the Brave of Wallachia joined the alliance later that year.

The Ottoman's objective of the war was to seize Vienna,^{[citation needed]} while the Habsburg Monarchy wanted to recapture the central territories of the Kingdom of Hungary controlled by the Ottoman Empire.

The Balkans during the XVII century

The control over the Danube-line and the 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 (Rumelia - present day Bulgaria and Serbia, and Wallachia (in present-day southern Romania).

In 1595, the Christians captured Győr, Esztergom and Visegrád, strategic fortresses on the Danube, but they did not engage in the siege of the key fortress Buda. Ottomans launched a siege of Eger (Turkish: Eğri), conquering it in 1596.

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 and other parts of Moldova. Michael continued his attacks deep within the Ottoman Empire, taking the forts of Nicopolis, Ribnic, and Chilia and even reaching as far as Adrianople. At one point his forces were only 24 kilometres (15 mi) from the Ottoman capital, Constantinople.

The conflict continued with the Battle of Călugăreni, considered one of the most important battles between Ottomans and Wallachians (Romanians).^{[citation needed]} Although the Wallachians emerged victorious from the battle, Michael was forced to retreat with his troops and wait for aid from his allies, Prince Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania and Emperor Rudolf of Austria. The war between Wallachia and the Ottomans continued until in late 1599, when Michael was unable to continue the war due to the poor support from his allies.

The turning point of war was the Battle of Mezőkeresztes, which took place on 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 the Ottoman weapons.^{[citation needed]} This battle was the first significant military encounter in Central-Europe between a large Christian army and the Ottoman Turkish Army after the Battle of Mohács. As a result of the Battle of Mezőkeresztes, the Christians became unable to achieve their strategic objective and the war was reduced to smaller battles and sieges of fortresses, which often changed hands several times.^{[citation needed]}

Battle of Goroszló

In August 1601, at the Battle of Guruslău, 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 in 1603 at the Battle of Braşov by the Habsburg Empire, and Wallachian troops led by Radu Şerban.

The last phase of the war (from 1604 to 1606) corresponds to the uprising of prince of Transylvania Stephen Bocskay against the Habsburg ruler. The uprising was supported by the Hungarian nobility of Transylvania and by the Ottoman Empire as well. The goal of the uprising, beside receiving guarantees from the Habsburg emperor for the respect of freedom of religion and liberties of the Hungarian Estates, was to force the Habsburg ruler to make peace with the Ottoman Empire. The war devastated both Hungary and Transylvania without any further hope for a positive strategic outcome for the Catholic Christians.^{[citation needed]}

Aftermath

The Long War ended with the Peace of Zsitvatorok on November 11, 1606. The Peace of Zsitvatorok confirmed the Ottomans' inability to penetrate further into Habsburg territories, which was their first geopolitical defeat. The Treaty also stabilized conditions on the Habsburg-Ottoman frontier and the Habsburg conquest of Hungary was delayed for the next 80 years. In 1686. Austrian took Buda and Pest during the Great Turkish War.

The Christian allies learned that without winning major battles against the Ottomans, no long-term military success was possible.^{[citation needed]} After the similar events of the 1550s, it was further demonstrated that Transylvania was out of the effective radius of action of the Habsburg army and thus could not be held against the Ottoman Empire.

External links

• A timeline (approx. in the middle of the page)