The Duke of Lorraine, although cursed with a pockmarked face and a limp leg, his proven combat history against both the Turks and the French, his personal courage, humility, and charm gained everyone’s affection and admiration. Together with Imperial General Lieutenant Duke Charles of Lorraine’s 20,000 Austrians, the allied army numbered over 66,600. Prince George of Hanover (the future King George I of England) arrived with a bodyguard of 600 cavalry sent by his father Duke Ernst August of Hanover, and there were 9,000 Saxons led by the Elector of Saxony, John George III von Wettin. There was John III Sobieski, King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania, with 18,000 Poles the Elector Max Emmanuel of Bavaria with 11,000 men and Prince George Friedrich von Waldeck with 8,000 Germans from Franconia and Swabia. By September 7 a mighty army had gathered in the Tulln valley (30 km northwest of Vienna). Leopold’s cries for help did not remain unanswered. But he wasn’t going to abandon his capital to the Turks either and feverishly petitioned the German and Polish nobility to come to Vienna’s aid. A bookworm and music composer, the pious Leopold wasn’t much of a warrior. In contrast to the offensive spirit of Mustafa, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (1658-1705) cowardly fled his own capital Vienna for the safety of Passau. Nonetheless, Mustafa’s confidence in victory remained undiminished. Worse still, there were rumors of an immense Christian army approaching from the Vienna Woods. Among the Turks disease was out of control owing to inadequate sanitary facilities, casualties were horrendous, and morale was sagging. Mustafa cared only for his own career and freely used deceit and blackmail to make up for his lack of any real talent.ĭetermined to follow in the footsteps of the great Islamic conquerors of old, Mustafa had set out to overcome the barrier that once before, in 1529, blocked the westward advance of the Ottoman Turks: Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Imperial dynasty, the House of Hapsburg.Īt least Starhemberg could take heart in knowing that conditions were a little better among the enemy. His one redeeming quality was his personal bravery, but even this was tarnished by acts of extreme brutality he once flayed captured Poles alive and sent their stuffed hides to the Sultan as trophies. Outwardly handsome, dignified, and a devout Muslim, inwardly the Grand Vizier was an arrogant power monger with an unveiled hatred of Christians.

But such modest aims did not satisfy Mustafa.

By laying siege to Vienna, Mustafa disobeyed Sultan Mehmed IV (1648-1687), who intended that Mustafa do little more than capture Imperial frontier fortresses. Mustafa had another reason to press on he feared the Sultan’s punishment in the event of failure. Without that army, the Turks would pour into the city and wantonly enslave and butcher its inhabitants. The city’s only hope was the timely arrival of the anxiously awaited Christian relief army. Starhemberg knew that Vienna’s defenses were at their end. After fending off 18 major Turkish assaults, only a third of the originally 11,500-strong garrison remained fit for combat and their ammunitions were nearly exhausted. Sewage, rubble, and corpses littered the streets and disease ran rampant. Turkish mines and bombardments had opened huge gaps in the city walls. That last drop of blood had almost been reached. The Janissaries were not called out of the trenches until it was too late. Polish horsemen descend upon the Ottoman forces besieging Vienna. The Battle of Kahlenberg, 1683 by Frans Geffels.

Poland battle of vienna