Battle of Zenta
Map of the Battle of Zenta
| date | September 11, 1697 |
|---|---|
| place | Hungary , Zenta on the Tisza |
| output | The Ottomans are crushed. Peace of Karlowitz ( 1699 ) |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Sultan Mustafa II |
Prince Eugene of Savoy |
| Troop strength | |
| 75,000-100,000 men | 50,000-55,000 men |
| losses | |
|
25,000 dead |
429 dead |
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In the Battle of Zenta , imperial troops under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy near Zenta an der Tisza on September 11, 1697, won a major victory over the Ottomans . This victory eventually led to the Peace of Karlowitz , which ended the Great Turkish War (1683–1699).
Starting position
After the defeat of the Ottomans in the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna, Emperor Leopold I went on the offensive. His troops conquered Ofen (today's Budapest) in 1684/1686, defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Mohács (1687) and conquered Belgrade in 1688, which fell back to the Ottoman Empire in 1690 as a result of the War of the Palatinate Succession .
prehistory
Prinz Eugen (since 1693 field marshal) returned to the Ottoman theater of war in 1697 when the war of the Palatinate Succession was over. The previous commander in chief, Elector Friedrich August von Sachsen , resigned from his command because after the death of Johann III. Sobieski had been elected King of the Poles. Rüdiger Graf Starhemberg , the famous defender of Vienna during the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna and President of the Court War Council at that time, recommended in an expert opinion of March 15, 1697:
“I don't know anyone who has more understanding, experience, application and zeal for your Imperial Majesty's service, a generous and uninterested mind, also the love and respect of the militia, than the Prince of Savoy […] he commanded the Armata in Italy [...] at any time in great unity, respect and obedience, which, on the other hand, disintegrated with the Armata in Hungary, which is why it is probably necessary to present someone who knows how to reintroduce it, liked by all officers and for this purpose that everyone, and especially the gentlemen, are as inclined to the Prince of Savoy as they are to the other [Elector of Saxony] [...] "
Preparation for battle
Following this recommendation, Prince Eugene was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army in Hungary on July 5, 1697. According to Starhemberg, the army was in poor condition: of the target strength of 70,000 men, only 35,000 were fit for action, the war chest was empty and the food was miserable. Eugen had to borrow money in order to at least have enough food and pay for his army.
Eugen's first tactical measure was the rapid consolidation of the troops operating in Upper Hungary and Transylvania in order to be able to muster the largest possible force against the Turks. The news came from Peterwardein that the Sultan with his army and the entire Danube flotilla was already in Belgrade. Five days after taking command (July 17), he began a forced march towards Peterwardein. After the union with the troops from Upper Hungary and Transylvania in this place, the imperial army comprised between 50,000 and 55,000 men.
When you arrived in front of the fortress, the Turkish armed forces were there. Throughout August only tactical maneuvers took place between the armed forces in the greater Peterwardein area . The Ottomans tried neither to storm the castle nor an open field battle, as Eugene only ever offered the battle within range of the fortress guns. At the beginning of September the Ottomans broke off the tactical skirmishes and moved north along the Tisza in order to seize the Szegedin fortress . The imperial field marshal followed the Ottoman forces, almost at the same height.
Then the imperial cavalry , which kept constant contact with the enemy, succeeded in capturing a Turkish officer. According to his statement, the plan to storm Szeged was given up because of the persecuting Christian army and the sultan intended to cross the Tisza at Zenta and retreat to Temesvár to winter camp . When Eugen heard of this news, he decided to open the battle immediately.
On the Ottoman side, the experienced warrior Ca'fer Pascha had voted in vain against the crossing of the Tisza and, according to the chronicle of his keeper Alî from Timisoara , was unhappy about this decision:
- "When he reported to our Lord Pasha, the latter tore his beard in despair and said: 'Oh dear, oh dear, now the time has come that the honor of the sublime kingdom must be demolished!' He invited the Pashas and Ağas to his place and when he informed them that the transfer to the other bank was taking place, they were all dejected and grieved because they considered this measure to be completely wrong; they were amazed at whose instigation it had come about and were very upset. "
Ca'fer Pascha fell defending the beachhead during the battle to cover the retreat.
Course of the battle
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On the afternoon of September 11, 1697, the Tisza near Zenta presented the following picture: On this side, western bank, there was a Turkish bridgehead made of entrenchments and earthen walls, which secured the river crossing. On the pontoon bridge that led over the Tisza, the artillery and the train were being transported to the other side, on which the sultan and the Ottoman cavalry were already. The Turks felt in a false sense of security and did not think that the imperial army would be there that quickly. A quote from a Turkish report:
“Nobody had doubted that the enemy would come, but it could not have been assumed that he would be there after only a day; but the Giaurenreiter [imperial cavalry] had taken the infantrymen on horseback behind them, and so they had advanced very quickly. "
Eugen's troops opened the attack directly from the movement and proceeded in a crescent shape against the defensive position of the Ottomans. When sandbanks became visible in the river to the north of the pontoon bridge, Eugen immediately took advantage of this opportunity and had them occupied in order to fire at the Turkish defensive position in her back as well. After intense artillery fire, the assault followed, in which the infantry , the dismounted cavalrymen and at the head of a dragoon regiment Prinz Eugen himself participated. The entrenchments were finally overcome, the Turks were driven into the river and the bridge was put under fire:
"The soldier was so angry that he hardly gave any quarters (pardon, mercy), although pashas and officers found each other who had promised a lot of money, and therefore there are very few prisoners in our hand [sic!]."
prey
After the victory at Zenta, Prince Eugene personally presented the emperor with the pieces that were captured in the battle of Zenta. They were: 6000 cars and tons of provisions (3,000 cars sank in the Tisza), 80 large and 58 small guns , 423 flags , 7 Ross tails of a regiment , camels , oxen , horses , tents , the war chest (reportedly three million guilders and another 40,000 from the Sultan's possession), the archive , a large number of Turkish timpani , a ceremonial saber and the Sultan's carriage with eight horses and ten “ Kebs women ”.
The most important loot was probably the seal of Sultan Mustafa II - a brass signet with a pointed oval seal surface (19 × 26 mm) with the wording "Mustafa, son of Mehmed Han, always victorious" , including the year of the accession to the throne "1106 of the Hejra " (according to the Christian calendar, the year 1695). The Sultan's seal is now kept in the Army History Museum in Vienna; it can be seen together with a second seal of a certain Ismail and a red silk, gold embroidered sack. In the campaign of 1697 ( Great Turkish War ) - as is customary in the Turkish army - the seal was given to the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Vizier Elmas Mehmed Pasa, who had to carry it with him at all times. The Grand Vizier was killed in the battle, the seal of Prince Eugene was captured, who handed it over to the Emperor as a trophy , and subsequently it was given to the Army Museum by the Imperial and Royal Treasury . Prince Eugene wrote about the seal in his report to the emperor: “I also received [...] the Grand Sultan's seal, which is the very rarest thing and has never been received from any Victorian during this entire war [...] and I will also give me the honor, if I am fortunate enough to appear before your Imperial Majesty Throne, to hand it over personally in all subservience. "
Result
The victory was complete and comprehensive, the name of Prince Eugene subsequently became a household name throughout Europe. The sultan, who fled to Temesvár, lost around 25,000 men, his entire artillery and the entire supply of provisions, whereas the losses of the emperor's troops amounted to 28 officers and 401 men dead. The victory at Zenta was not fully used militarily, because the Turks were not pursued because of the late season and supply problems. The battle of Zenta was nevertheless the basis for the Peace of Karlowitz (1699), with which the balance of power in south-east Europe changed to the detriment of the Ottoman Empire.
reception
In 1867, the Zentagasse in Vienna- Margareten (5th district) was named in memory of the battle.
literature
- Joachim Bahlcke : The battle of Zenta and the conquest of Sarajevo in 1697. In: East German memorial days. Personalities and historical events. Vol. 33 (1997), pp. 287-293.
- Hans-Joachim Böttcher : The Turkish Wars in the Mirror of Saxon Biographies , Gabriele Schäfer Verlag Herne 2019, ISBN 978-3-944487-63-2 , pp. 185–202.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ KK Kriegsarchiv (Ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1876, Volume 2, p. 156.
- ↑ Walter Hummelberger: The Turkish Wars and Prince Eugene. In: Herbert St. Fürlinger (Ed.): Our Army. 300 years of Austrian soldiers in war and peace. Vienna 1963, p. 86 f.
- ↑ Ernst Trost: Prince Eugene of Savoy. Vienna ² 1985, p. 10.
- ^ Stefan Schreiner (editor): The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 , p. 337.
- ↑ History of the Madonna von Pötsch
- ↑ Consolation: Prince Eugene of Savoy. 1985, p. 11
- ↑ Consolation: Prince Eugene of Savoy. 1985, p. 12
- ^ Manfried Rauchsteiner , Manfred Litscher (ed.): The Army History Museum in Vienna. Graz, Vienna 2000 p. 17.
- ↑ Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck : The Army History Museum Vienna. Hall I - From the beginnings of the standing army to the end of the 17th century , Salzburg 1982 p. 64.
- ↑ quoted in Agnes Husslein -Arco, Marie-Louise von Plessen (ed.): Prinz Eugen. General, philosopher and art lover. Vienna 2010, p. 61.
- ↑ Hummelberger: The Turkish Wars and Prince Eugene. 1963, p. 88.
Coordinates: 45 ° 56 ′ 0 ″ N , 20 ° 5 ′ 0 ″ E