Battle of Turin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Turin
date September 7, 1706
location Turin , Italy
exit French retreat
Parties to the conflict

France Kingdom 1792France France

Sardinia-Piedmont Sardinia-Piedmont Holy Roman Empire (Emperor) Prussia
Holy Roman Empire 1500Holy Roman Empire 
Prussia KingdomKingdom of Prussia 

Commander

France Kingdom 1792France Louis de la Feuillade

Sardinia-Piedmont Viktor Amadeus II. Eugene of Savoy Leopold I (Anhalt-Dessau)
Holy Roman Empire 1500Holy Roman Empire
Prussia KingdomKingdom of Prussia

Troop strength
44,000 30,000
losses

approx. 6,000, a further 7,700 in the following days

approx. 3,000

On September 7, 1706, the united Piedmontese and Austrians under Duke Viktor Amadeus II of Savoy and his cousin, the Imperial Field Marshal Prince Eugene of Savoy , defeated the French troops of Duke La Feuillade near Turin . The city had been besieged since May 14, 1706. It was the greatest battle of the War of the Spanish Succession on Italian soil.

background

In 1700 Charles II of Habsburg , King of Spain , died childless. The Spaniards elected Philip of Anjou , a French, as his successor , which led to a renewed flare-up of the Franco-Habsburg power struggle in Europe. Since Emperor Charles V , Spain (including its American possessions) and the Holy Roman Empire were united in the hands of the Habsburgs , thus encircling France. With the new King Philip V , France broke this grip. However, France immediately used this to strengthen its own position of power in Europe and America , which led to the formation of new alliances in Europe and ultimately to a European war.

Since Italy had become the plaything of the great European powers since the Renaissance , it inevitably became a theater of war in every major European war. Battles that were fought south of the Alps had a direct impact on the balance of power north of the Alps and vice versa, so that the strategic weighting of these arenas was sometimes of considerable importance. The Turin-based dukes of Savoy were aware that their territory in Piedmont and Savoy would become a theater of war. In addition, they had long wanted to gain royal dignity and expand their Italian territory. For these reasons, they made the risky decision to enter the war against appropriate compensation on the part of the Habsburgs and their other allies. If they were defeated, they would have forfeited their rule and their possessions. The French and Spaniards, on the other hand, urged the Piedmontese to go to war against Austria. As a result, in addition to another ally, they would also have a secure connection to the Duchy of Milan , which at the time belonged to Spain. But the House of Savoy had long been tired of French patronage and could not have expected anything in the event of a victory for France and Spain, especially a French retreat from some Piedmontese fortresses. The French and Spanish responded to the Piedmontese decision in favor of the Habsburgs in 1703 with an attack that was brought forward by both France and the Spanish Duchy of Milan and forced Piedmont to a two-front war. Little by little, the French and Spanish troops under Vendôme, Tessè and La Feuillade conquered the cities of Susa, Vercelli, Ivrea, Bard, Aosta, Nice and others. In 1704 the fortress of Verrua prevented the French from advancing further for six months. In 1706, Duke Viktor Amadeus II had to retreat to the Turin fortress built 140 years earlier by Emanuel Philibert of Savoy.

Course of the battle

As early as August 1705, the Spanish and French wanted to attack Turin. But Duke La Feuillade thought his strength was still too weak and gave up. This gave Turin the time to expand its fortifications. The siege of the city began on May 14, 1706. The Spanish and French deployed 68 infantry battalions , 80 cavalry squadrons , 128 large-caliber cannons and 50 mortars . They had a total of around 44,000 soldiers.

The then first-class fortress of Turin had food and supplies for several months. In the fortress there were 17 Piedmontese and six Austrian infantry battalions with 10,500 soldiers, 1,500 cavalry soldiers , as well as 30 cannons and 24 mortars. In addition, the city's 40,000 residents also took part in the military operations.

The two sides fired artillery at each other throughout the summer . Attempts to take the bastions of the fortress were repulsed day and night. Contrary to the advice of the French fortress builder Vauban , La Feuillade had numerous trenches built in which the besiegers suffered heavy losses from underground Piedmontese mines. A 29-year-old miner, Pietro Micca , who is still the most famous hero of the city of Turin , sacrificed himself in a French attempt to penetrate one of these underground passages in order to take the fortress in this way . He blew up the corridor, consciously accepting his death.

Duke Viktor Amadeus II left Turin on August 17, 1706 to accompany his cousin Prince Eugene of Savoy with his Austrian reinforcements to the site of the siege. He successfully fended off all French attempts at persecution. On September 2, they planned the battle for the liberation of Turin from the nearby Superga hill . Despite the great risk, on September 6th they dared to encircle the city to the north-west and then positioned their troops between the rivers Dora Riparia and Stura. The following day the Austrian and Piedmontese units attacked the French and Spanish who had remained in their trenches. In addition, ten battalions stormed out of the fortress and took part in the bloody fighting. All counterattack attempts by the French and Spaniards failed. They retired to Pinerolo and France in the early afternoon .

Further course

In the peace treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastatt (1714), Piedmont received back from France all of the territories occupied during the war (including Savoy and Nice ), and it also received the fortresses of Exilles and Fenestrelle , as well as the entire Piedmont region east of the Alps. Spain lost its supremacy in Italy. His possessions passed to Austria. It ceded Sicily to Piedmont , which it later exchanged for Sardinia . With this, the House of Savoy had attained the royal dignity that had long been sought. The new state was now called the Kingdom of Sardinia , but its center was in the Piedmontese city ​​of Turin . More or less independently only Sardinia-Piedmont, who remained in Italy Venetian Republic and the Papal States . All other areas, i.e. the Duchy of Milan , the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , came under Austrian rule or under the direct control of Vienna. Austria's main concern in Italy was and remained to maintain its own power. The Italian unification ( Risorgimento ) had to be enforced in the 19th century under the leadership of Sardinia-Piedmont against this Austrian supremacy.

Image gallery

Web links / sources

Commons : Siege of Turin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 45 ° 4 ′  N , 7 ° 42 ′  E