Why Couldn't the Ottomans Take Vienna?
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The story in brief
Why couldn't the Ottomans take Vienna? They failed twice, for different reasons. This Short runs through both sieges in under a minute.
In 1529, rain and mud forced Süleyman to leave his heavy siege guns behind. About 17,000 defenders held out against mines and assaults, and by mid-October, cold, sickness and hunger sent his army home. Vienna then built modern bastions.
In 1683, Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa dug trenches and mines toward them, and by early September, mines had torn into two bastions. But he left the Vienna Woods heights unguarded. On 12 September, a relief army swept down the Kahlenberg, with Sobieski's Poles on the right, and that December Kara Mustafa was executed, which leaves the Short's closing question: which saved Vienna, the weather or the relief army?
Sources
- Wien Geschichte Wiki (City of Vienna), "Erste Türkenbelagerung (1529)": https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Erste_T%C3%BCrkenbelagerung_%281529%29
- Wien Geschichte Wiki (City of Vienna), "Zweite Türkenbelagerung (1683)": https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Zweite_T%C3%BCrkenbelagerung_%281683%29
- Britannica, "Siege of Vienna (1529)": https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Vienna-1529
- Britannica, "Siege of Vienna (1683)": https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Vienna-1683
- EBSCO Research Starters, "Siege of Vienna": https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/siege-vienna
- EBSCO Research Starters, "Defeat of the Ottomans at Vienna": https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/defeat-ottomans-vienna
- Britannica Scholars, "Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa": https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Merzifonlu-Kara-Mustafa-Pa%C5%9Fa/44667
Maps
- Wien Museum (object 125187), via Wikimedia Commons
- Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Atlas Van der Hagen KW1049B10_050), via Wikimedia Commons
Full image and music credits are in the video description on YouTube.
Narration is AI-generated. Scripts are AI-assisted and fact-checked against the sources listed.
Card artwork: Ink Before Dust (own work).
