Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)

Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Austria (with Venice) vs.
Ottoman Empire

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Hungary and the Balkans

DECLARATION: Austria declared war on the Ottomans,
in 1716.

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Possession of Hungary
and the Balkans

OUTCOME: The Ottomans were decisively defeated,
relinquishing to Austria Hungary and most of the Balkans.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:
Austria, 123,000 men; Ottoman Empire, approximately
310,000 men

CASUALTIES: Austria, 40,000 killed and wounded; Ottoman
Empire, more than 80,000 killed and wounded

TREATIES: Treaty of Passarowitz, July 21, 1718

At the opening of 1716, Austria’s emperor Charles VI
(1685–1740) joined in an alliance with Venice against the
Ottoman Empire. While the Venetians fought the Ottomans
chiefly at sea (see VENETIAN-TURKISH WAR [1714–
1718]), Austria bore the brunt of the land war. When
110,000 Ottoman troops advanced northward from Belgrade,
Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736) intercepted
with 63,000 soldiers at Peterwardein. Despite Ottoman
superiority of numbers, the Austrians prevailed, killing
6,000 Ottoman troops and wounding as many as 14,000
while suffering losses of 3,000 killed and 2,000 wounded.
From Peterwardein, Eugene laid siege to the Ottoman
stronghold at Temesvár. After five weeks, on October 14,
1716, Temesvár fell. It was the last Ottoman fortress in
Hungary.
During the summer of 1717, Eugene besieged Belgrade,
most formidable of the Ottoman’s European fortress
cities. Eugene had 60,000 men against the Ottoman garrison
of 30,000, but an Ottoman relief force of 180,000 men
advanced against Eugene. Taking the initiative, Eugene
led 40,000 against this vast force, winning a remarkable
victory on August 16, 1717. Ottoman losses at this battle
were 20,000 dead or wounded. The Austrians suffered
5,400 killed or wounded. The relief force having withdrawn
from the field, Belgrade surrendered to Eugene on
August 21, 1717.
The fall of Belgrade laid open Serbia, Wallachia, and
the Banat to the Austrian army, and the Ottoman losses
continued to mount. The Ottomans sued for peace, and
on July 21, 1718, the Treaty of Passarowitz was concluded,
giving Austria Temesvár and Belgrade as well as
part of Wallachia, while Venice garnered Dalmatia and a
portion of Albania. In all, Austria had suffered 40,000
casualties, killed or wounded, but had inflicted almost
precisely twice this number of casualties on the Ottoman
forces.

See also AUSTRO-TURKISHWAR (1566); AUSTRO-TURKISH
WAR (1551–1553); AUSTRO-TURKISH WAR (1591–1606);
AUSTRO-TURKISH WAR (1663–1664); AUSTRO-TURKISH
WAR (1683–1699).

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);
Karl A. Roider, Austria’s Eastern Question, 1700–1790
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982).