Austro-Turkish War (1566)

Austro-Turkish War (1566)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Austria vs. Ottoman Empire

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Modern Croatia (at the time part
of Austria-Hungary)

DECLARATION: None recorded

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: The Turks marched
against Austria on the pretext that the Austrian
emperor had failed to pay an already established
tribute and for Austrian attacks on Transylvania;
actually, the Ottoman sultan sought to vindicate
himself for former defeats.

OUTCOME: A Pyrrhic victory for the Turks

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:
Ottomans, 100,000; Austro-Hungarians, 2,300

CASUALTIES: Ottomans, 3,000 killed or wounded; Austro-
Hungarians, 2,300 killed

TREATIES: Treaty of Adrianople, 1568

In May 1565 Süleyman I the Magnificent (1496–1566)
attacked Malta, failed, and resolved to make an assault on
the Hapsburgs at another location. When the new
emperor of Austria (and Austrian Hungary), Maximilian II
(1527–76) refused to pay the Ottomans the tribute due
them for continued possession of Austrian Hungary, Süleyman
had an amply justifiable cause for war.
In July 1566 the aged Süleyman invaded Austria with
100,000 troops and laid siege against Szigeth on August 5.
That fortress town was defended by the Croatian count
Miklós Zrinyi (1508–66) with a mere 2,300 troops. However,
the town was well fortified, and Zrinyi’s men were
able to repulse three assaults along the narrow causeways
leading into Szigeth. Nevertheless, by September 8 the
count had a mere 600 troops fit for action. Deciding to
make a last stand, he set charges to detonate his powder
magazines, and he led a suicidal sortie from the town. Virtually
all of the forces, including Count Zrinyi, were
killed. The Ottomans rushed into the town’s citadel and
were caught by the explosion of the magazines. A total of
3,000 Ottoman troops were killed or wounded. As for
Süleyman, he, too, was dead, having succumbed to dysentery
two days before the collapse of Szigeth.
The taking of Szigeth was a Pyrrhic victory. The Ottoman
forces did not remain in Hungary but withdrew to
Constantinople. During the entire march back those
around Süleyman maintained the fiction that he was still
alive. His body was carried concealed from view, in a
closed litter. His successor, Selim II (1524–74), concluded
the Treaty of Adrianople in February 1568, making peace
with Emperor Maximilian.

See also AUSTRO-TURKISH WAR (1551–1553); AUSTROTURKISH
WAR (1591–1606); AUSTRO-TURKISH WAR
(1663–1664); AUSTRO-TURKISH WAR (1683–1699);
AUSTRO-TURKISHWAR (1716–1718).

Further reading: Rhoads Murphey, Ottoman Warfare:
1500–1700 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University
Press, 1999); V. J. Parry and M. J. Kitch, Hapsburg and
Ottoman Empires (London: Sussex Publications, 1982).