On the 14th July 1683, an Ottoman army under
the command of the Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha arrived at the Gates of Vienna. Their arrival marked the beginning of a siege
characterized by subterranean warfare, delays on both sides, and an âapocalyptic stormâ
of Tatar riders ravaging the hinterland. The siege was eventually ended by the battle
of Vienna, when the Polish winged Hussars arrived under King Jan III Sobieski famously
charged into the Ottoman army. The siege and battle of Vienna are discussed
extensively by historians up to this day. It is considered the turning point in the
westward expansion of the Ottomans and it is an interesting case study for any student
of warfare. This is how contemporary historiography tells
the story of the staggering siege of Vienna: Chapter 1: A Threat from the East When the Ottoman grand vizier Ahmed KöprĂŒlĂŒ
died in 1676, there had been twelve years of peace between the Ottomans and the Austrians. After two years of conflict, the Austro-Turkish
war had ended with the peace treaty of VasvĂĄr in 1664. KöprĂŒlĂŒ had been satisfied with the benefits
of the treaty, but after his death the fanatically anti-Austrian Kara Mustafa Pasha succeeded
him as Grand Vizier. In 1682 the peace treaty should have been
extended, but the negotiations failed. Further to the west the other great rival
of the Habsburg empire at the time, France, noticed the change of mood. They hastened to encourage the Ottoman aspirations. Pressure was adding up on Austria, that since
1678 already had to deal with an open rebellion of the Protestant nobility of Hungary whom
the Catholic Habsburgs had been suppressing. The leader of the revolt, Emeric Thököly,
quickly gained control over the highlands of upper Hungary. The Ottomans certainly appreciated this development. In 1682 the Ottoman-Hungarian friendship ripened
into a full alliance. It soon became obvious that the Ottomans were
preparing another war against Austria. It was no surprise when on the 2nd of January
1683, they declared war on the Hapsburgs. Although they had been preparing this war
for a while, they were very slow to make their appearance at the border region, as the historian
and siege expert Christopher Duffy explains. It took the Ottoman army until the beginning
of summer when they had completed their march and were ready to invade Habsburg lands. This gave the defenders the time to prepare
themselves and reach out for help. After lengthy negotiations and a series of
intrigues the Polish King Jan Sobieski, who had previously considered an alliance with
the French, signed a defensive agreement with the Holy Roman Empire on the 31st of March
1683.1 When the Ottoman army reached Belgrade, Sultan
Mehmed IV named made Kara Mustafa serasker, that is commander of the army. Then the Sultan exchanged the armor of the
warrior for hunting clothes and left the army. According to the historian Klaus-Peter Matschke,
it was only when the Ottomans reached Stuhlweissenburg/Székesfehérvår on the 25th of June that Kara Mustafa announced
his further plans.2 To the great consternations of his commanders he intended to push straight
on to Vienna instead of reducing the frontier strongholds3. Not only did this take the Ottoman leaders
by surprise, but also the defenders of the empire. The commander of their field army, Duke Charles
V of Lorraine4 had only about 33â000 men at his disposal. At first, he tried to distract the Ottomans
by besieging the fortress of NeuhÀusel. This failed and cost him valuable time. He then hurried to Raab5 which had been built
up as the main means of the Austrian line of defense by the experienced chief engineer
of the Empire Georg Rimpler. Despite all preparations, however, the Tatars
swam the river Raab ten miles above the city on the 1st of July and Charles, fearing to
be outflanked, left only a small garrison in the city. He himself fell back in the direction of Vienna. Near the town of Petronell the quickly moving
Tatars encountered the rearguard of Charlesâ army. After some initial confusion in the rows of
the rearguard, the Tatars were pushed back and routed. However, for the next months they plundered
and ravaged the land around Vienna. This âapocalyptic stormâ, as historian
Ekkehard Eickhoff calls it, left villages and monasteries in burning ruins while many
of their inhabitants were raped, abducted, and killed.6 Meanwhile, according to Christopher Duffy,
Kara Mustafa was still in Raab and beset by doubts. He sent a messenger to Sultan Mehmed IV asking
for his retrospective approval to attack Vienna.7 The seven-day delay resulting from this request
was vital for the Viennese who had only fully understood their situation after the encounter
at Petronell. After seven days Kara Mustafa left 12â000
men to blockade Raab and marched towards Vienna â without having received an answer from
the Sultan. Emperor Leopold I organised the defense of
the city, appointed Count Ernst RĂŒdgier von Starhemberg commander of the garrison, and
then left the city on the 7th of July. About 80â000 citizens followed him. 1683 was not the first time an Ottoman army
stood at the gates of Vienna. One and a half-century earlier, in 1529, a
Turkish army had already tested the defenses of the city. Now, before the second Ottoman siege, it was
the task of the famous engineer Georg Rimpler to prepare the already formidable defenses
of the city for the upcoming battle.8 According to the historian Andrew Wheatcroft9, Rimpler
understood the Turkish style of siege warfare from his experience at the siege of Candia. There he was present when the Ottomans besieged
the city for a total of 21 years. He knew that the main threat would be posed
by the Turkish miners. He correctly assumed that it was almost impossible
to approach the city from the north and east because of the rivers Danube and Wien. So, Rimpler focused his resources on the south-western
and southern side of the city.10 Vienna was designed as a bastion fort which meant it
was built with thick and relatively low walls of earth and stone, intended to withstand
artillery fire for a long time. Moreover, the bastions and their corresponding
outworks were aligned in a way that they could cover all areas of attack with musket and
artillery fire. Rimpler ordered to cut embrasures in the parapets
of the existing defenses to create protected artillery positions and, wherever there was
enough space, had his soldiers â supported by the people of Vienna â build strong retrenchments
and palisades on the bastions and ravelins. On the far side of the ditch, the Viennese
also strengthened the covered way by adding additional strongpoints and palisaded traverses.11
These were additional small walls on the covered way. They were built to reduce damage by enemy
artillery fire, prevent enfilades and contain attackers in case the outer defensive line
would be breached. In the ditch itself a lower rampart, in military
jargon a faussebraye, was built and a network of covered passageways, called caponiers,
was run from the ravelins to the shoulder angles of the adjacent bastions. This covered the ditch with fire from a secured
position. Young and old worked frantically on the defenses
until the last possible minute. Food and powder were still brought into the
city during the last moments, together with masses of people from the hinterland seeking
refuge behind the walls. Rimpler made Vienna a towering stronghold
of steel, stone, and earth. Chapter 2: David vs Goliath On the 14th of July, finally, Kara Mustafa
and his men arrived at the gates of Vienna. The size of his army is still subject to debate. Ekkehard Eickhoff reckons he brought about
150â000 men, but numbers given by modern scholars range from 110â000 to 200â000.12
About 20â000 of them were Janissaries, the elite infantry of the Ottoman army. Kara Mustafa and his vast force faced a garrison
that was relatively small for a city of the size of Vienna. The commander of the defense, Ernst RĂŒdiger
von Starhemberg had only about 10â000 regular soldiers and an unexperienced urban militia
at his disposal. All in all, this was about a tenth of the
Ottoman force. On the day the Ottomans arrived, a messenger
informed the Polish King Jan Sobieski about the dire situation of the town. Immediately, Sobieski began to muster the
Polish army. He planned to march before the end of July
and to reach the gates of Vienna with 50â000 men on the 20th of August. The Ottomans made camp west of Vienna. On the 15th of July the Grand Vizier sent
an envoy to the city demanding from the Viennese to capitulate, to convert to Islam and to
pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire.13 Starhemberg refused â and the Ottoman guns opened fire.14
The Ottomans had significantly less artillery at hand than the defenders of the city, which
was highly unusual for a siege. Moreover, according to Christopher Duffy,
their guns were mostly of medium caliber and they didn't have any heavy pieces at all. This meant that breaching walls as thick as
those of Vienna from afar was even more difficult than with heavy guns. Like in any other European siege, the Ottomans
had to dig extensive networks of ditches and trenches to slowly approach the walls and
install artillery positions close enough to breach the wall. Much to the Ottomanâs delight, they could
open their trenches very close to the walls, covered safely by the ruins of the Viennese
suburbs outside the walls. These had been burnt by the defenders, but
they were not fully destroyed.15 By the 16th of July, Vienna was completely surrounded.16 To answer the encirclement the isolated Viennese
garrison had to come up with some way of communicating with the field army, their allies, and the
emperor. The solution was a group of brave messengers
who either swam the Danube at night or somehow sneaked through the enemy lines. These messengers maintained a trickling flow
of communication. However, not all of these stealth missions
were successful. Some of the messengers were caught by the
Ottomans and interrogated. This was the case with one envoy heading for
the camp of the field army on the 18th of July. He was tortured until he told Kara Mustafa
the numbers of the defenders. Starting in the Suburbs, the Ottomans drove
forward three groups of trenches against the Löwel-Bastion, the Burg-Ravelin and the Burg-Bastion.17
The Ottoman trenches wormed forward quickly and in the night of the 22nd to the 23rd of
July the first battery was established and opened fire. In parallel to the earthwork on the surface,
tunnels were dug by Ottoman miners and on the 24th the first two mines exploded on the
far side of the ditch opposite the Löwel- and Burgbastion. Subsequently, the Viennese positioned a man
in every basement to listen for digging and tapping noises to detect future mine attacks
early. They now also began to dig mine-tunnels themselves,
but they had fewer and less experienced miners. On the 25th of July Ottoman mines damaged
the palisades opposite the Löwel- and Burg-Bastion and during a successful counterattack against
one of the breaches, Rimpler's left arm was shattered.18 He was taken back to the city,
where he died on the 3rd of August. Vienna had lost its best engineer. Chapter 3 The Battle for the Covered Way The Viennese continued to undermine the Ottoman
trenches. Their first mine under the field fortifications
of the Ottomans exploded on the 26th of July but didnât cause much damage. On the following days, the Ottoman miners
were much more successful. They repeatedly collapsed parts of the palisades
and the covered way.19 On the 30th July, one explosion near the Burg-Bastion was followed
by an assault of the janissaries. This, the Viennese couldnât stop. They were forced to abandon their trenches
and pull back to the covered way.20 The Ottomans now reached the palisades in front of the
ravelin and installed a battery of thirty guns before the Löwel-Bastion. In almost no time, the Ottomans destroyed
the elevated artillery platform of the bastion, the cavalier. The Viennese couldnât do anything about
it and had to confine themselves to recover their artillery from the chaos and to cut
embrasures into the remnants of this defensive structure. In the meantime, the emperor had arrived in
Passau from where he relentlessly organized support for the relief of the city. This was an expensive undertaking. Most of the finances were supplied by Pope
Innocent XI21 who wanted to prevent any further Muslim expansion in Europe by all means necessary. An additional budget was granted by the imperial
diet. First reinforcements from Bavaria appeared
on the 23rd of July. Further reinforcements were on the march and
Leopold I was informed that Sobieski was gathering his men. The field army under Charles of Lorraine had
taken position in Jedlesee, north of Vienna and was constantly skirmishing with the Tatars
and trying to secure strategically important locations. However, he couldnât hinder the Ottomans
to take several cities and strongholds in the surrounding area of Vienna. In the Ottoman camp Kara Mustafa came under
pressure when he finally received an answer from Sultan Mehmed. The Sultan was bewildered that the Grand Vizier
attacked Vienna instead of supporting the Hungarian uprising and conquering strongholds
along the border. Meanwhile, tension within the city rose as
well. On the 27th of July the Viennese mobilized
all able-bodied men not already serving and began to fix prices for fundamental goods
such as food and medication. Additionally, the bodies heaping up within
the city were becoming a problem. Orders on how to dispose of them were issued. On the other side of the walls supplies ran
low as well. Nobody had expected the siege to last that
long and at the end of the month all provisions in the Ottoman camp had been eaten up. Additional supplies had to be brought from
the remote Ofen, today Budapest, because the Tatar raids had destroyed much of the surroundings
during their raids. Although it became increasingly more difficult
for messengers to get through the Ottoman lines, from time to time a brave soul made
it. The risk repelled most from even trying and
those who did demanded an extraordinary reward of up to 200 ducats, which equals approximately
100â000 to 150â000 dollars. Probably the most famous among these messengers
was the Polish nobleman Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, who sneaked out of the city disguised as Turk
and came back on the 17th of August to inform the battered Viennese that a relief army of
nearly 70â000 men was gathering near the city. Legend has it that he used his reward to open
the first café in Vienna, using coffee beans left behind by the Ottomans. However, nowadays most scholars regard this
as a myth. In the meantime, the Ottoman pressure on the
covered way increased from day to day until on the 3rd of August they conquered a long
stretch of it. The defenders had no choice but to abandon
the palisades before the ravelin. Continuing their advance, the Ottomans built
descents into the ditch.22 This heralded the second stage of the siege, the battle for
the ditch. Chapter 4: The Battle For The Ditch The Ottomans entered the ditch through two
tunnels opposite the bastions and began to work their way towards the ravelin. While the Ottomans advanced their saps and
mines, the defenders could now utilize Rimplerâs low lying caponiers. From the safety of these defenses they maintained
a deadly fire and by using lose earth from an exploded mine, they built a number of small
redoubts.23 Even though the Viennese destroyed the tunnel closest to the Burg-Bastion and
buried 30 Ottomans alive, the besiegers came closer. In a storm assault on the 8th of August the
first janissarIES reached the city wall. On the next few days, Ottomans mines exploded
under the Bastions and the ravelin, causing a breach in the latter which the Viennese
barred only in the last possible moment. Then, they launched a number of sorties to
destroy the tunnels of the attackers. They all failed and many valuable men were
lost. The Ottoman pressure on the city lasted. While the fight in the trenches was raging
on, the bloody flux broke out in the city. This is an infectious disease that results
in diarrhea with blood. It decimated the town's population across
all social groups. Count of Starhemberg too fell sick on the
11th of August. He survived, but it took almost ten days until
he recovered enough to take up command again. By then, he had to conscript all men who had
not yet been working on the defenses or fighting, even those who werenât able bodied. Those who refused were threatened to face
the death penalty. The Ottomans, meanwhile, made further progress. Despite three of their own mines being destroyed
by Viennese counter mines and artillery, they had advanced to the center of the ditch by
the 15th of August. The Viennese immediately launched a sortie
to counter the Ottoman progress. This time round, they succeeded and dealt
the attackers a severe blow. Storming forward from their positions, they
killed most Ottomans in the ditch, then destroyed their earthwork, burnt support beams and finally
destroyed all the mines they found. For the Ottomans this was a severe setback. It took them 12 days to regain full control
over the lost positions. For the next two weeks, no side made any notable
progress, although they had a number of bloody fights. More Ottoman mines exploded 24 and their soldiers
charged the positions of the defenders repeatedly. These, in turn, tried to throw the attackers
back further by launching sorties. Both parties won little but suffered heavy
losses. Overall, the Viennese who were fewer in number
suffered more from this than the large Ottoman army. Later, in the last week of August, when heavy
rainfall turned the siege into a mud fight, Starhemberg mobilized all resources. He ordered his men to construct a second line
of defense behind the city walls spanning from Burg-Bastion to Löwel-Bastion.25 The
commander feared for the city walls. While the defenders of Vienna were struggling
to hold up against the ongoing assaults, the emperor had no choice but to wait for more
reinforcements as they were arriving slowly, little by little.26 Charles V of Lorraine
and his army left Jedlesee on the 24th of August and marched towards the agreed venue
at Tulln. However, the most important reinforcements
were late. King Jan III Sobieski left KrakĂłw only on
the 14th of August â two weeks later than he had promised.27 Chapter 5: âWe Remember in SeptemberâŠâ On the 1st of September a messenger made it
to the city and brought news that the relief army would soon arrive. He was immediately sent back to the emperor
with a desperate appeal for help: The defenders couldnât take it any longer. The toll of the ongoing bombardment of the
city was high. In early September food ran out. While the Ottomans could at least forage small
amounts of food, hunger became a real problem within the city. Only short lived relief came when two successful
sorties from the Schottentor brought back 22 oxen and two horses. This was no long-time solution for the large
Viennese population but it alleviated the problem for the moment. To signal the dire situation to the approaching
relief army, every night the Viennese launched rockets from the tower of the St. Stephens
Cathedral (Stephansdom). While the situation was becoming more and
more dire, Starhemberg pushed everyone hard to finish the line of defense in the streets
behind the threatened section of the wall. They dug redoubts and walkways, built palisades
and parapets feverishly and desperately. On the other side of the wall, the Ottomans
continued their approach. The defenders again made multiple sorties
to destroy more Ottoman mining tunnels, but they mostly failed.28 Eventually, Starhemberg
ordered his men to abandon the rests of the ravelin, the counterscarp and the caponiers. By the night of 2nd to 3rd September the ottoman
trenches virtually embraced the ravelin. Their mine tunnels reached two to three meters
under the city walls. Now everything came down to the defense of
the curtain wall, that is the piece of wall between the two bastions. While the Ottomans reinforced their saps by
covering them with a roofing of planks, tree trunks and sandbags, the Austrians relentlessly
pelted them with earthenware hand grenades. Enemy miners now frequently encountered each
other in their tunnels. The tunnels had grown so dense that they virtually
formed a subterranean network. When miners of the two sides encountered each
other â either by coincidence or intentionally because they wanted to destroy the others
mines or tunnels â bloody and brutal struggles ensued. With melee weapons, crammed together in the
muddy dark tunnels where they could often barely stand upright, the men blindly fought
for their lives. The commanders of the relief army, Charles
of Lorraine and Jan III Sobieski met at Oberhollabrunn far ahead of their armies on the 31st of August
to hold a council of war. According to Ekkehard Eickhoff, it was somewhat
surprising how well the two got along, considering that they had both competed for the throne
of Poland twice in the past. Charles V left the overall command to the
Polish king without quarrels. Five days later their two armies and troops
of Bavaria, Saxony and various other German states joined near Tulln. According to Christopher Duffy this force
numbered about 68â000 men in total (21â000 imperial, 20â000 poles, 18â000 Bayern
und Sachsen, weitere kleine kontingente). In early September the first mine detonated
under the curtain wall. Although it was very effective, lose parts
of the wall fell towards the ditch and slowed down the Ottoman assault following the blast. This gave the townspeople enough time to bar
the gap with strong palisades. Shortly after, another explosion tore down
a large segment of the Burg-Bastion. Janissaries were sighted on top of the bastion. However, the ascent was too steep for a full-scale
assault. After two hours, the janissaries had no choice
but to give in to the steady fire of the defenders and to pull back. The breach was fixed with sandbags and chevaux
de frises, that is, portable barriers of spikes, and fully closed under the cover of night. At that time, the strain of continuous battle
was heavily wearing down both belligerents. The Ottoman troops were disaffected with Kara
Mustafa because he doled out their pay. The Tatar leaders were offended by the way
he treated them, too. According to Christopher Duffy the janissaries
were especially discontented because the siege had been going on for longer than the customary
forty days and because they feared the Grand Vizier could negotiate terms with the city
which would deprive them of their right to plunder. Although the mood in the Ottoman camp was
now running low, they again tried on the next day. After detonating two more mines at the outer
end of the Löwel-Bastion, they launched another assault and were repelled again. Within the city, no more than 4â000 able-bodied
men were left to defend Vienna. On top of that, the artillerymen refused to
take their position unless they got a massive pay rise and the citizens would only set to
work when threatened with death. As time was passing, the relief army came
ever closer. Pressure rose on Kara Mustafa who wanted to
take the city before it arrived. When a Viennese envoy who betrayed his city
informed Mustafa that the relief army was very close, he fully realized how pressing
his situation was. The grand vizier prepared for a clash. On the 7th of September he had no choice but
to muster his troops and redeploy his troops to face the relief attack. He held a council of war on the upcoming battle
and scouted the possible approaches for Sobieski and Charles of Lorraine. In the meantime, the Ottomans conquered the
faussebraye on the next day and prepared five huge mines under the city walls. The charges were placed and the fuses ready
to light when the relief army came into sight on the height of the Kahlenberg. Chapter 6: And then the Winged Hussars arrived The relief army crossed the Danube over a
pontoon bridge not too far from Vienna. At the recommendation of Charles V, who had
convinced the Polish King of his battle plan, the relief army left its baggage train and
marched through the Vienna Woods. The way through this almost impassable terrain
was arduous and slow. Only very few artillery pieces could be brought
along. No supplies could reach the men so that they
had to march without provisions for two days. However, there were no other difficulties
because there were no Ottoman fortifications on the Kahlenberg. On the 11th of September, the Viennese allies
arrived on the top of the mountain and went to sleep, already arranged in battle order. In this tense moment Charles of Lorraine received
a short note, written by Stahemberg. It said âThere is no time to lose, my lord,
no time to lose at all.â29 Kara Mustafa left 10â000-15â000 men in the trenches
and ordered the rest to deploy for battle at the foot of the hill. When the sun rose above Vienna the allied
troops marched down the hill, still holding battle order. The left flank consisted of the imperial field
army under the command of Charles of Lorraine, the center of troops from Saxony, Bavaria,
Franconia, Swabia and other German states. The Polish under the command of their King
formed the right flank. They faced roughly 80â000 Ottoman soldiers
who were drawn up in similar matter: Kara Mustafa and the Ottomans in the center, the
Moldovian and Walachian vassals on the right and the Tatars on the left flank. When slowly advancing down the hill in full
battle order, the left wing of the relief army made contact first. In a fierce struggle they drove back a detachment
of Janissaries at Nussdorf. In a steady advance the relief army pushed
forward, forcing the Ottomans back. After six hours of constant advance during
which most of the fighting happened on the left flank, Charles V and his men stood before
the Ottoman camp. Then, they halted to let the Polish catch
up on the right flank where they had to cover the longest distance. Now, Sobieski who had been waiting on the
Kahlenberg to observe the events, joined his troops. For a moment, the army paused in suspense. Suddenly, the men of the left flank stormed
forward, before Charles V had a chance to order the attack. The center of the army almost immediately
joined the assault. On the right flank, Jan III Sobieski and his
winged Hussars set their horses in motion. On the slightly declining ground they built
up their momentum, charged down the hill and swept through the weakened and disordered
Ottoman army. Seeing this, the defenders of Vienna gathered
their last strength and launched a final sortie to the Ottoman trenches. Before sunset the fight was decided. The Ottoman army turned to flight. Kara Mustafa himself fled as well after his
eye had gotten injured. Vienna was saved. After the battle the Polish turned to looting
the camp of the defeated where they found enormous treasures. Meanwhile, the rest of the army had to stay
in battle order because Charles of Lorraine didnât yet fully believe in the victory. Nobody thought of pursuing the Ottomans. As the defenders reviewed the damage at the
walls, they found the five mines ready to explode and realized they had been at the
verge of losing their wall. On the next day, the emperor hurried to the
city, participated in the victory mass in the St. Stephens Cathedral. Only on the 18th September Polish and imperial
troops set out to pursue the fleeing Ottomans. Meanwhile, Kara Mustafa searched for a scapegoat
and executed the governor of Ofen (Buda), claiming that he was the first to flee. However, Sultan Mehmed was well aware of the
truth. On the 25th of December, when the Grand Vizier
arrived in Belgrade, emissaries of the Sultan delivered to him a death warrant and then
strangled him with a silk string.
Kara Mustafas Zelt war angeblich am heutigen Augustinplatz in 1070 aufgestellt.
Fun fact // Story ; der (angebliche) SchÀdl Kara Mustafas wurde aus dem Grab in Edirne Geraubt und an die Stadt wien geschickt - die in ihre Sammlungen aufgenommen hat - wurde bis Anfang 2000er im wien Museum ausgestellt