Download VII. The late 17th and 18th centuries in Ottoman diplomatic and

Austro-Ottoman Wars in the 17th and
18th centuries
The Ottoman and Austrian empires had been in a series of
conflicts during the second half of the 17th century and
in the 18th century. These wars marked the end of the
Ottoman power in Central Europe and later weakened
also the mastery of the Sublime Porte in the Balkans.
The Ottoman-Polish conflict over Ukraine was a prelude
to the struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the
Christian Powers in Central Europe.
The Ottoman Empire-Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
War 1667-1683
After Bogdan Khmelnytsky's Cossack rebellion, when
Russia acquired parts of Eastern Ukraine from the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, some Cossacks stayed
in the south east of the Commonwealth. Their leader,
Doroshenko wanted to ally Ukraine with the Ottoman
Empire, starting a rebellion against the Polish governor of
Ukraine, the future king of Poland, Jan Sobieski.
Mehmed IV “The Hunter”, thought that the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth was weak due to internal
conflicts, and attacked Podolia in Western Ukraine.
A Polish army was defeated by the Ottoman forces in
1672. The Poles agreed to surrender Podolia and the
adjacent region and to pay tribute to the Ottoman Sultan
by the Treaty of Buczacz (Bucaş in Turkish) in the same
year.
When a message about the defeat and treaty terms
reached Warsaw, the capital of the Commonwealth, the
Sejm (the Polish Parliament) refused to ratify the treaty
and to pay the tribute. Accordingly the Sejm assembled a
large army under Jan Sobieski having some military
successes over the Ottoman forces in 1673. Yet, Ottomans
kept Podolia.
However, after King Michael’s death in 1674, Jan
Sobieski was elected king of Poland.
The Wars of the Holy League 1683–1699
After a few years of peace, the Ottoman Empire
consolidating some of its political and military power
under the able grand viziers of Köprülü family waged
war on its Habsburg foe.
The advance of the Ottoman armies into Central Europe
reached Vienna, but the Polish king Jan III Sobieski led a
Christian alliance which defeated the Ottoman forces led
Kara Mustafa Pasha at the Battle of Kahlenberg and
ended the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683. The Battle of
Vienna deteriorated the Ottoman Empire's mastery in
Eastern Europe.
A new Holy League (La Sainte-Alliance) was initiated by
Pope Innocent XI and composed of the Holy Roman
Empire (headed by the Austrian Habsburgs), the Venetian
Republic and Poland in 1684, joined by the Russian
Empire in 1686.
The Holy League battled the Ottoman Empire in the
second Battle of Mohács (1687) which ended with an
Ottoman defeat this time.
The Russian involvement marked the beginning of the
Russo-Ottoman Wars.
The Ottomans continued to suffer defeats against the
Austrians in the late 1680s, such as the loss of Belgrade
to Maximilian II of Bavaria in 1688 and Bosnia
in 1689.
However, two years later Belgrade was recaptured by the
Ottoman forces.
The next year, a new Austro-German army under Louis
William of Baden marched down the Danube to face the
Ottoman army commanded by Grand Vizier Köprülü
Mustafa Pasha.
After a hard battle in Slankamen in 1691, the AustroGerman forces were victorious over the Ottoman army.
The Ottoman Grand-vizier was killed while trying to
encourage his soldiers on the battle line and the Ottoman
army was routed.
The Battle of Slankamen (in the north-west of Belgrade)
was the last battle in the Austro-Ottoman war of 16831699 that could have turned the war in favour of the
Ottoman Empire.
Austrian–led alliance’s victory was now inevitable. The
Ottoman defeat at Slankamen eventually led to the
signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699.
The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699)
The Treaty of Karlowitz (Karlofça in Turkish) was signed
in 1699 in Sremski Karlovci (situated in today’s ethnic
Hungarian Voyvodina region) in Serbia concluding the
Austro-Ottoman War of 1683–1697 in which the
Ottoman side was defeated.
Following a two-month congress between the Ottoman
Empire on one side and the Holy League, a coalition of
various European powers including the Habsburg
Monarchy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Republic
of Venice and the Russian Empire on the other side, a
treaty was signed on January 26, 1699.
The Ottomans ceded most of Hungary, Transylvania
and Slavonia to Austria while Podolia returned to
Poland.
Most of Dalmatia was ceded to Venice, along with the
Morea (Peloponnesian peninsula).
The Treaty of Karlowitz marked the beginning of the
Ottoman decline in Eastern Europe and made the
Habsburg Monarchy the dominant power in
southeastern Europe.
The Treay of Karlowitz was followed a year later by the
Treaty of Istanbul signed on 14 July 1700 between the
Ottoman and Russian empires acknowledging the transfer
of the strategically important city and fortress of Azov on
the Northern Black Sea to the Russian Empire.
The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1923
The Treaties of Karlowitz and Istanbul were not
considered as an acceptable long-standing settlement by
the Ottoman Empire. After Karlowitz, the Sublime Porte
started to consider to recover the lost territories of 16831699.
First, an Ottoman army led by the Grand Vizier Baltacı
Mehmet Pasha defeated the Russian Army of Peter the
Great at the swampland of Prut in 1711. After that, the
new grand vizier Damat Ali Pasha re-conquered the
Peloponnesian peninsula from Venice in 1715. The
guarantor of the Treaty of Karlowitz, Austria,
threatened the Ottoman Empire by declaring war.
Consequently, the Ottoman Empire declared war against
Austria.
Treaty of Passarowitz (1718)
The Treaty of Passarowitz (Pasarofça in Turkish) was the
peace treaty signed in Pozarevac, Serbia on July 21, 1718
between the Ottoman Empire on one side and the
Habsburg Empire of Austria and the naval Republic of
Venice on the other.
During the years 1714–1718, the Ottoman armies had
been successful against Venice in Greece and Crete, but
had been defeated at Battle of Petervaradin (1716) by the
Austrian troops of Prince Eugene of Savoy.
The treaty reflected the military situation. The Ottoman
Empire lost the Banat of Temesvár, northern Serbia
(including Belgrade), northern Bosnia and Lesser
Walachia to Austria.
Venice lost its possessions on the Peloponnesian peninsula
and on Crete, gained by the Treaty of Karlowitz,
retaining only the Ionian Islands and Dalmatia. Belgrade
and Lesser Walachia were regained by the Ottoman
Empire in 1739 by the Treaty of Belgrade.
The Treaty of Belgrade (1739)
The Treaty of Belgrade was the peace treaty signed on
September 18, 1739 in Belgrade by the Ottoman Empire
on one side and Austria on the other. This ended the
hostilities of the two-years Austrian-Ottoman war, in
which Austria joined Russia in its fight against the
Ottoman Empire.
With the Treaty of Belgrade, Austria ceded Northern
Serbia with Belgrade and Lesser Wallachia, gained by the
Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718 to the Ottoman Empire
and set the border line to the rivers Sava and Danube.
The Austrian withdrawal forced Russia also to accept
peace with the Ottoman Empire, by which Russia gave
up Crimea and Moldavia, but was still allowed to build a
port at Azov, again gaining a foothold on the Black Sea.
The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774)
The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed on July 21,
1774, between Russia and the Ottoman Empire after the
Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Russo-Ottoman
War of 1768-1774.
The Ottomans ceded the part of the Yedisan region
between the Dnieper and Southern Bug Rivers to Russia.
This territory gave the Russian Empire its first direct
access to the Black Sea. The treaty also gave Russia the
Crimean ports of Kerch and Yenikale and the Kabardino
region in the Caucasus.
The Ottomans also lost the Crimean Khanate, to which
they were forced to grant independence. The Khanate,
while nominally independent, was dependent on Russia
and was formally annexed into the Russian Empire in
1783.
The treaty also granted Russia several gains.
It eliminated restrictions over Russian access to the Azov
Sea (the 1739 Treaty of Belgrade had given Russia
territory adjacent to the Azov Sea but the latter had been
prohibited it from fortifying the area or using the sea for
shipping.)
The treaty also granted Russia some economic and
political rights in the Ottoman Empire, such as allowing
Ottoman Christians to sail under the Russian flag.
Attention
Russia also interpreted the treaty as giving them the right
to protect Orthodox Christians in the Empire.