The Ideology of Mohammed

During his lifetime, the prophet Mohammed accomplished the unification of the many nomadic and polytheistic Arab tribes comprising the population of that region. Mohammed was a warrior and religious leader who established his reputation as much by his teachings as by his feats in battle. As a warrior, he inspired the admiration of his people and as a high priest, he brought them to "submission to the will of god", i.e. Islam (Bush). After his death in 623, his followers carried on his mission as far as persuasion and/or holy warfare would allow them. The Roman Catholic Church, founded by the Emperor Constantine on Christ’s teachings, to which Europe professed allegiance, was perceived by the Mohammedans as the strongest rival to their religion, and hence Europe became the primary target for their aggression for nearly ten centuries.

First Siege of Vienna

By 1500 the Crusades ended; the last and most powerful champion of the "will of god" was the Ottoman Empire. It had annexed Serbia, Rumania and Hungary. Their first attempt to bring Austria, and the rest of Europe, down on its knees to Islam was made in the failed siege of Vienna, this was desired for its strategic position along the Danube. Their defeat in the siege of 1529 was caused by unfamiliarity with the environment, the climate of Austria and the lack of military planning. For instance, the Turks were never able to breach Vienna’s walls, their men were dying of disease and exhaustion after traveling under the consistently rainy skies of October and they were running short of supplies. Many consider that defeat as a serious blow to the military determination and morale of the Turks, moreover, the defeat has been seen to mark the waning of Islamic aggression on Europe. Another valid opinion is that it may have been a mock battle of sorts (at a great expense of lives for credibility) staged in order to give the Turks a good assessment of the conditions of the environment and the strength of the people for another, more serious attack. In any case, after that disaster, the Ottomans began preparing for another attempt to take Vienna, but this time with an improved knowledge about the enemy and with more foresight. Intensive planning for bridge and road repairs and strategic placement of outposts were done.

Troubles in Hungary

Meanwhile, the Holy Roman Emperor faced the difficulties of governing a Hungary which was split into three: Royal Hungary in the west, Ottoman Hungary in the centre and Transylvania in the east. The west was an ally of the Holy Roman Empire and Transylvania was aligned with whomever the Hungarian nationalists were allied to. In 1657 Prince Gyorgy Racoszi II of Transylvania, enticed by the prospect of becoming sovereign of Poland, invaded Ottoman Hungary. His army was routed and the Ottomans sent a retaliatory force upon Transylvania, conquered it and put in place a puppet ruler. In return, Emperor Leopold I invaded and defeated the Turks at the battle of Saint Gotthard in western Hungary, but the subsequent treaty failed to gain back Ottoman Hungary. The dissatisfaction of the Hungarians with the leniency with which the Turks were treated by the provisions of this treaty, led to a conspiracy against the Holy Roman Empire: the Wesselenyi conspiracy. However, the plotters were discovered and either executed or condemned to slavery. In 1673, the emperor suspended the constitution and placed Hungary under the direct control of his own director. In reaction to this, Imre Thokory, a Hungarian nobleman, led a revolt against the emperor in 1681 which succeeded in reinstating the constitution and removing the more severe restrictions on Hungary imposed by the emperor.

Second Siege of Vienna in 1683.

The Ottoman sultan, encouraged by the success of the revolutionaries and the promises of victory from Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa, decided it was time to attack Vienna once more and ordered another siege of Vienna to be launched. On the 31^st March 1683, after a year of logistical and strategical preparations, the Ottomans officially announced the start of aggression and began their march on the city. On July 14th 1683 they reached the city walls and laid siege to it for two months. During that time, the European countries were frenziedly setting up alliances among themselves to repel the enemy. After two months of siege the capitulation of Vienna seemed inevitable. The European alliance was organised not a moment too soon. The battle of Vienna took place on September 12th 1683. 150000 Turkish tatars under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa struggled against the outnumbered Polish, German and Austrian forces under the leadership of Jan Sobieski, to gain control of Vienna. But the Turks were outmaneuvered, their weapons outdone by the innovations in European military equipment. The defeat was sealed when Polish heavy cavalry, the hussars, led by Jan Sobieski, rode straight for the Grand Vizier’s tent, and captured it while the Turks fled in panic (Koeller.)

After this defeat, the Ottoman Empire fought on for another sixteen years, steadily losing their hold on Hungary until at last they abandoned their foothold in Europe, for sometime at least, with the Treaty of Karlowitz (Battle of Vienna). Their Mohammedan myth of supremacy having been devastated, their nomadic mentality prevailed. Just as their ancestors had followed Mohammed because of his proficiency in battle, the Ottomans were all too willing to learn from their conquerors. The succeeding century saw a considerable switch of their attitude towards learning the ideas and technology of their conquerors within the limits allowed by religious censorship. "Ottoman military reform efforts begin with Selim III(1789–1807) who made the first major attempts to modernize the army along European lines. These efforts, however, were hampered by reactionary movements, partly from the religious leadership" (Ottoman Empire). In the 1st World War, roughly 200 years in the future, they would participate as allies of their old enemies: Austrians, Hapsburgs and Germans against the free world.

Works Cited

Bush, George Rev. "The Life of Mohammed." Harper’s Stereotype Edition. Chapter I.

1637. Web. 11 November, 2009.

http://www.muhammadanism.org/Bush/bush_mohammed.pdf

Koeller, David W. "Jan III Sobieski: 1674-1696 and the Siege of Vienna of1683."

Webchron The Web Chronology Project. 13 October, 1998. Web. 11 November,

2009. http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/EastEurope/ViennaSiege.html

"Battle of Vienna." Wikipedia.org. 4 November, 2009. Web. 11 November, 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna

"Ottoman Empire." Wikipedia.org. 5 November, 2009. Web. 11 November, 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

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