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Indlæser... The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans, and the Battle for Europeaf Andrew Wheatcroft
Indlæser...
Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. The Enemy at the Gates is the retelling of the dramatic confrontation of the Ottoman Turks and the Habsburg Empire at Vienna in 1683. The author tells us that he wants to be objective, but if anything, he appears to be more enamored of the Turks than of the Christian powers that ultimately assembled to turn them back. Nevertheless, despite his efforts to portray the Turks as more organized and perhaps more civilized, one cannot read about the events described without realizing the Ottomans were clearly the aggressors. The Turks first laid siege to Vienna in 1529 when they were led by Sultan Suleiman I (“the Magnificent”), but they were defeated as much by the weather as by the Austrians. Nevertheless, they managed to conquer Hungary and most of the Balkan peninsula in that campaign. For the next 154 years, they persistently attempted to extend the boundaries of their empire into central Europe, only to be opposed with middling success by the Habsburg Empire. The constant pressure from the continual raiding instilled in the Christian inhabitants of the boundary lands a persistent fear of being killed or enslaved. It was standard operating procedure for the Ottomans to conduct military operations against Christian Europe nearly every year as soon as the weather permitted. By 1683, the Turks had extended their territory into the Balkans as far as Belgrade, and the extremely ambitious and aggressive Kara Mustafa had become Grand Vizier. Wheatcroft vividly describes Mustafa’s raising of a large army that set off from Constantinople to the northwest in the spring of 1683. The army’s goal was known to only a very few select intimates of the Sultan, Mehmed IV. In fact, it is not clear just when the decision was made to assault Vienna rather than some easier targets. Wheatcroft characterizes the struggle as only incidentally one between Islam and Christendom, with the principal aim territory along with the right to claim the legacy of the Roman Empire. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, assumed the legacy belonged to the Habsburgs, but Mehmed IV also claimed to be the successor to the Roman Caesars by virtue of his family’s conquest of Constantinople. The Ottomans were formidable warriors who had little respect for their opponents. They were also experts a siege warfare, the principle technique of which was to dig tunnels under the fortifications of the enemy and set off large explosive charges, then rush through the breaches thus created and slaughter the defenders. Nonetheless, the Habsburgs had learned a great deal about fighting pitched battles while they opposed Protestants in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). They hadn’t learned much about forging alliances, however, and it took them several months to obtain help from other Christian states, notably Poland and Bavaria. Both sides were near exhaustion by the time the (Polish) cavalry arrived, and in one climactic charge by mounted lancers (hussars), drove the unprepared Ottomans from the field. Wheatcroft’s description of the plight of the Viennese defenders, (surrounded, near starvation, and listening for the sound of sappers digging under their fortifications), is compelling. Their fear and dread is a major theme of the book. Also arresting are his descriptions of the Tartar light cavalry and the Polish Hussars. The final chapters of the book sketch in broad strokes the Habsburgs’ reconquest of most of the Balkans. Evaluation: This is a well written book and a fine introduction to the history of late 17th century Southeast Europe. (JAB) ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
Ved tyrkernes belejring af Wien i 1683 stod det muslimske øst og det kristne vest direkte overfor hinanden: osmannerne med base i Konstantinopel og habsburgerne i Wien. Den tyrkiske storvezir havde en hær på 150.000 mand, mens den kejserlige østrigske hær og dens allierede var ca. halvt så mange.. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)943.613031History and Geography Europe Germany and central Europe Austria and Liechtenstein Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland Vienna 1526-1815, House of HabsburgLC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys European history, or wonders why some Europeans have hang-ups about Turkish immigration. ( )