Balkan campaign of 1529

Balkan campaign of Suleiman
Part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars
Date1529
LocationHungary
Result Ottoman victory; Ottomans re-occupy Raab, Komárom, Esztergom and Buda
Belligerents
Habsburg Austria
 Holy Roman Empire
 Spain
Bohemia Kingdom of Bohemia
Papal States
 Kingdom of Croatia
Ferdinand's Hungarian kingdom		 Ottoman Empire
 Moldavia
John Szapolyai's Hungarian kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Ferdinand I Suleiman the Magnificent
John Szapolyai
Moldavia Peter IV Rareș
Strength
Unknown Over 120,000 soldiers[1]
Casualties and losses
Heavy Unknown

The Balkan campaign of 1529 was launched by Suleiman the Magnificent to take the Austrian capital Vienna and thereby strike a decisive blow, allowing him to consolidate his hold on Hungary. This was in response to Ferdinand I's daring assault on Ottoman Hungary.

March

Suleiman's march to Vienna was also an attempt to assist his vassal, John Szapolyai who claimed the throne of Hungary. Suleiman sent his army of 120,000 strong north on the 10 May 1529 . His campaign was marked by speedy success- on September 8 Buda surrendered to the Ottomans and John Szapolyai was installed as King of Hungary. Suleiman then went further taking Gran, Tata, Komárom and Raab[1] so that much of Ferdinand I's gains the previous two years were lost. On 27 September, Suleiman reached Vienna.

"The Great Gun", an 1518 allegorical representation by Albrecht Dürer of the Turkish menace for the German lands.

Aftermath

The arrival of the Sultan's massive host in Central Europe caused much panic across Europe - Martin Luther, who had believed that the Turks were God's punishment against the sins of Christians[2] modified his views and wrote the book the War with the Turks in 1529 urging that "the scourge of God" should be fought with great vigour. However, when Suleiman began besieging Vienna it would prove to be his first and most decisive blunder.

Bibliography

Notes

  1. 1 2 Turnbull, Stephen. The Ottoman Empire 1326 - 1699. New York: Osprey, 2003. pg 50
  2. ↑ Madden, Thomas F. Crusades the Illustrated History. 1st ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan P, 2005 pg
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