Posted on 09/12/2005 5:06:39 PM PDT by bummerdude
One of the most important battles of the 17th century was the Battle of Vienna, which was fought on September 12, 1683... This victory freed Europe from the Ottoman Turks and their invasions and secured Christianity as the main religion in all of Europe.
(Excerpt) Read more at campus.northpark.edu ...
Since about March the Turks were preparing for an attack on the Hapsburg capital, Vienna, and were gathering their forces together rather rapidly. By June, they had invaded Austria, and King Leopold and his court fled to Passau. On July 14, the Turks reached Vienna. They laid siege to the great city. One of the disadvantages that the Turks had was that they did not have sufficient heavy artillery. The defenders fought bravely but their food supply and their ammunition were growing low. The Turks had made some breaches in the walls but their effort was hindered by the barricades erected by the people of Vienna.
Earlier that year on March 31, 1683, King John III had signed the Treaty of Warsaw with the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold. In this treaty, it was agreed to come to one's aid if the Turks attacked either Krakow or Vienna. Following his agreement in the treaty and the appeal of the pope, Sobieski marched to Vienna with an army of about 30,000 men. Sobieski said that his purpose for going to Vienna was "to proceed to the Holy War, and with God's help to give back the old freedom to besieged Vienna, and thereby help wavering Christendom."
Upon reaching Vienna, he joined up with the Austrians and Germans. Sobieski planned to attack on the 13th of September, but he had noticed that the Turkish resistance was weak. When he ordered full attack, he completely surprised Kara Mustafa. Sobieski and his husaria, which is Polish heavy cavalry, alongside with the cooperation of all army, played an important role in the victory. Sobieski with his husaria charged toward Kara Mustafa's headquarters and seeing this, Mustafa's army fled in panic. Even so, the Turkish army suffered heavy losses. This victory freed Europe from the Ottoman Turks and their invasions and secured Christianity as the main religion in all of Europe.
After the Battle Jan Sobieski entered Vienna in glory. The King and his Polish army had won lots of fame after their victory. Jan III Sobieski was not only looked upon as the savior of Vienna, but as a savior of the whole Europe from the Ottoman Turks.
Islam is the incorrect answer to a question no one asked.
I heard it was won on September 11. I thot that's why the muzzies attacked us on that date. (according to Hilaire Belloc).
This before Ivan the Terrible time because I think Ivan the Terrible who b***hslap the Muslum tartars back wherever they came from
At least the Turks were nice enough to leave behind their coffee as they scurried away from Wien, running for their lives. And the soldiers of the West were alert enough to notice the grounds as they patroled, um, the grounds. As a gesture of revenge, they decaffinated any Turk they could get their hands on.
Where is a Jan Sobieski when you need one?
And Poland honors their treaties.
If only the Allies had done the same for Poland in WWII...
"Vienna,as we saw, was almost taken and only saved by the Christian army under the command of the King of Poland on a date that ought to be among the most famous in history -- September 11, 1683." (From Belloc's The Great Heresies/ the Heresy of Mohammed, 1938).
Is that chilling???
Interesting.
A date that far back could be disputed by +/- 1 day.
The question is: Which date did the terrorists believe it was?
I was there just about one month ago, actually. Lovely place, the mountains there remind me of the Appalacians.
Two things I know about this:
1) The Turkish general was almost captured, but upon escaping was strangled to death by order of the Caliph.
2) Europeans, rushing into the Turks camps discovered a new drink still cooking on the fires: Coffee! Hence Vienna was (and is) the center of some of the world's best coffee.
Shalom!
I've heard that too.
Others I've heard follow, but they are probably just legends.
1) The croissant was invented in Vienna in 1683 to celebrate the defeat of the Turkish siege of the city, as a reference to the crescents on the Turkish flags. (This might have taken place earlier in the Siege of Vienna of 1529.)
2) A baker from Vienna made the first bagel as a gift to King Jan Sobieski to commemorate the King's victory over the Turks that year. The baked good was fashioned in the form of a stirrup to commemorate the victorious charge by the Polish cavalry.
The King of Poland saved Vienna. The Austrians later took part in two of the three partitions of Poland (1772 and 1795).
A good description of this battle was in James Michener's, Poland. Great novel, that was full of real history.
(Translated Pan Michael?, 1888, relating to a tale of the wars with the Moslem Ottomans) aka Fire in the Steppe.
Though I'm not sure if this actually covers the Battle of Vienna.
Many of the Tatars conscripted by the Ottomans were very young, barely teenagers much of them, and were easily routed by the superior, mature army of the Europeans under Sobieski.
Tatar tots, as they were....
It should indeed be a date remembered and celebrated, but even if history were better taught, PC multiculturalism would demand that this event be downplayed. The same is true of Charles Martel's victory at the Battle of Tours (or Poitiers), and of the naval battle of Lepanto.
Its sad to say, but the greatest enabling factor in Islam's rapid spread throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa, and parts of Europe was the lack of unity among the Europeans in the wake of the Western Roman Empire's collapse.. It makes one wonder what would have happened had Mohammad come along during an earlier period of Roman power.
But anyway, such proud days in Western history will become even more unfashionable as the cult of diversity grows ever stronger. Didn't the European Union decide not to officially commemorate the conversion of Clovis of the Franks because of its importance in making Europe a Christian continent.
Michener tells the story of Sobieski marching two days out of his way to make a pilgrimage to Czestehowa before saving Vienna. The Polish forces then rode behind the banner of the black madonna, the saviour of Poland.
"The King of Poland saved Vienna. The Austrians later took part in two of the three partitions of Poland (1772 and 1795)."
And Hitler was an Austrian.
Thanks for the history post. Bad English, but wonderful, warm heart.
The Muslims were just angry about support for Jews in Judea and the occupation of Babylon.
I didn't write it, but it was the best article I could find that wasn't from Wikipedia
Thank you, Jan Sobieski.
History will call him George W. Bush.
Let's not forget the Cossacks who wrecked havoc on the
turks- one of which was given the first coffee concession in Vienna - which still stands in the same shop today.
www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1933/013307.shtml
When Jan III got to the Vizer's tent, the Vizer had left behind, in addition to the coffee many have mentioned, a bunch of rugs and tapestries, etc. At the castle in Krakow today there is a room wherin is displayed much of this loot. I teased a Polish friend of mine about this, asking "When will Poland return this stuff to the Turks?" He said "Let them come take it!"
OH I See Tribune okay
I thought go way back in da day around the time of Ivan the Terrible
All existentialist ponderings aside, I'm glad the Muslims didn't get Austria because I have some Austrian blood. :)
It doesn't. The book ends with siege of Kamieniec in 1672, 11 years before Sobieski saved Vienna from the Ottomans. And by the way, Fire in The Steppe (literal translation of the title from Polish is "By Fire and Sword") is about Polish-Cossack wars in the Ukraine. The third - sequentially middle - novel of this trilogy, "The Deluge" is about Swedish invasion of Poland.
Thank Roosevelt for that. The same Roosevelt for whom most all the Polish immigrants in America voted in that era.
If I remember the battle from the Michener novel, the Turks were using sappers from a European country to get under Vienna's walls. Anyone guess who the Muslims ally in that war? The first two guesses don't count.
They also had about 15,000 Tartars as an ally. source
Amen, Bubba!
>> They also had about 15,000 Tartars as an ally. source <<
I'm sorry, but I missed that? What was your Tartar source?
(couldn't help it.)
Hitler would be born anyway but in Muslim version :)
p.s. Just as a guess, I'd say the French might have been allied with the turks.
Make that Tatars, not Tartars.
Great story!!!
I didn't know that, about the black madonna banner. Thanks for adding that. VERY cool. We just have to keep telling the wonderful history of Western Civ; the know-nothings abound.
I REALLY like your tagline, Thane.
And this one goes to my homepage gallery :)
Ding, Ding, Ding, we have a winner. The french were often allied with the Turks, against the rest of Christian Europe.
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