Portal:Military history of the Ottoman Empire/Selected event
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
The Battle of Vaslui (also referred to as the Battle of Podul Înalt or the Battle of Racova) (January 10, 1475) was fought between Stephen III of Moldavia and the Ottoman Beylerbeyi of Rumelia, Hadân Suleiman Pasha. The battle took place at Podul Înalt (the High Bridge), near the town of Vaslui, in Moldavia (now part of eastern Romania) between Barnaba and Racovica. The Ottoman troops numbered between 60,000 and 120,000, facing about 40,000 Moldavian troops, plus smaller numbers of allied and mercenary troops on both sides.
Stephen inflicted on the Ottomans a decisive defeat that has been described as "the greatest ever secured by the Cross against Islam," with casualties, according to Venetian and Polish records, reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side. Maraym Khanum (Mara Brankovic), who had formerly been the younger wife of Murad II, told a Venetian envoy that the invasion had been worst ever defeat for the Ottomans. Stephen was later awarded the title "Athleta Christi" (Champion of Christ) by Pope Sixtus IV, who referred to him as "Verus christiane fidei aletha" (The true Christian of the true faith). The Polish chronicler, Jan Długosz, hailed Stephen for his victory in the battle:
| “ | Praiseworthy hero, in no respect inferior to other hero soldiers we admire. He was the first contemporary among the rulers of the world to score a decisive victory against the Turks. To my mind, he is the worthiest to lead a coalition of the Christian Europe against the Turks. | ” |
According to Długosz, Stephen did not celebrate his victory; instead, he fasted for forty days on bread and water and forbade anyone to attribute the victory to him, insisting that credit be given only to "The Lord."
The Russian-Circassian War is the name given to the period of hostilities between the Russian Empire and the inhabitants of Circassia during the Russian invasion and occupation of the Circassian region. Circassia, (also known as Cherkessia in Russian) was a region in Caucasia which comprised the coastline and most of the interior of the current territory of Krasnodar Krai.[1] The historical region was named after the traditional inhabitants, the Circassians, Adyghe or Adiga, along with a number of smaller ethnic groups and tribes. The Russian–Circassian conflict took place from the initial arrival of Russian forces in 1763 to the signing of several Russian loyalty oaths by, among others, Circassian leaders on June 2, 1864, (May 21, O.S.), an event which signalled the end of the larger Caucasian War of which the Russian–Circassian conflict had become a part.
These loyalty oaths illustrated what had become a total occupation of the region by Russian forces, the result of over 100 years of conflict, which also involved the forced expulsion of millions of indigenous Circassians to areas of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Kosovo,[2] with some historians citing that up to 4,000,000 civilians perished as a result of the exodus.
References
The Ottoman-Egyptian Invasion of Mani was a campaign during the Greek War of Independence with three battles. The Maniots fought against a combined Egyptian and Ottoman army under the command of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt.
On March 17, 1821, the Maniots (residents of the center peninsula on the southern part of Peloponnese) declared war on the Ottoman Empire, preceding the rest of Greece in joining the revolution, by about a week. The various Greek forces won a quick string of victories, however, disputes broke out amongst the leaders and anarchy ensued. The Ottomans seized this chance and called for reinforcements from Egypt. The reinforcements came under the command of Ibrahim Pasha, the son of the leader of Egypt, Muhammad Ali. With the Greeks in disarray, Ibrahim ravaged the Peloponnese and after a brief siege he captured the city of Messolonghi. He then tried to capture Nauplio but he was driven back. He then turned his attention to the only place in the Peloponnese that was free: Mani.
Ibrahim tried to enter Mani from the north-east near Almiro on the June 21, 1826, but he was forced to stop at the fortifications at Vergas. His army of 7,000 men was held off by an army of 2,000 Maniots and 500 refugees from other parts of Greece. Due to Egyptian and Ottoman artillery, the disadvantaged Maniots managed to hold off the Ottomans. Ibrahim sent 1,500 men to try to land near Areopolis and go north to threaten the Maniot rear. This force was initially successful, however the women and old men of the area fought back and repelled them with heavy losses. When the Egyptians at Vergas heard that Theodoros Kolokotronis was coming from their rear they retreated.
The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday, May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar). The event marked the end of the political independence of the millennium-old Byzantine Empire, which was by then already fragmented into several Greek monarchies. Most importantly, the fall of Constantinople accelerated the scholarly exodus of Byzantine Greeks which caused the influx of Classical Greek Studies into the European Renaissance. In addition, it played a crucial role in Ottoman political stability and its subsequent expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. The date of the event is one of the frequently proposed events marking the end of the Middle Ages as a historical period. (Read more...)
The Siege of Vienna in 1529, as distinct from the Battle of Vienna in 1683, was the first attempt of the Muslim Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Suleiman I (the magnificent), to capture the city of Vienna, Austria. The siege signaled the Ottoman Empire's highwater mark and the end of Ottoman expansion in central Europe, though 150 years of tension and incursions followed, culminating in the Battle of Vienna in 1683.
Some historians believe that Suleiman's main objective in 1529 was to re-establish Ottoman control over Hungary, and that the decision to attack Vienna so late in the season was opportunistic. (Read more...)
