Battle of Mohács (1687)

Battle of Mohács (1687)
Part of Great Turkish War
Ludwig Wilhelm and Charles of Lorraine at the Battle of Mohács. Painting by Wilhelm Camphausen, 19th century
Date 12 August 1687 Location Nagyharsány, Baranya, Hungary Result Decisive Imperial victory Austrian conquest of southern Hungary and Transylvania Unification of Hungary under Habsburg rule
Belligerents
Holy Roman Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Charles V of Lorraine Maximilian II Emanuel Ludwig Wilhelm Eugene of Savoy Enea Silvio Piccolomini Jean-Louis de Bussy-Rabutin	Sarı Süleyman Paşa Mustafa Pasha of Rodosto Eseid Mustafa Pasha Jafer Pasha
Strength
40,000 Habsburg troops 20,000 Bavarian troops Total: 60,000 men	60,000 men
Casualties and losses
600 killed	10,000 killed

The Second Battle of Mohács, also known as the Battle of Harsány Mountain, was fought between the forces of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV, commanded by the Grand-Vizier Sari Süleyman Paşa, and the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, commanded by Charles of Lorraine. The result was a crushing defeat for the Ottomans.

The Great Turkish War began in July 1683 with an attack on Vienna by the Ottoman army. The siege was broken by the Battle of Vienna on 12 September 1683, won by the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nations and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, under the overall command of the King of Poland, John III Sobieski, who led the Polish forces. From September 1683 the initiative passed to the imperial troops. In the following years the Imperial Habsburg armies under Charles of Lorraine drove the Osmans back, conquering many fortresses (such as Esztergom, Vác, Pest). After the Battle of Buda they laid siege to and took over the former Hungarian capital of Buda. At the end of 1686 the Ottomans made peace overtures; however, the Imperial Habsburgs now saw a chance to conquer the whole of Hungary and the overtures were rejected.

In April 1687 it was decided in Vienna that further military action should be taken. The main army (of about 40,000 troops) under the command of Duke Charles of Lorraine proceeded along the River Danube to Osijek on the River Drava while another army, of about 20,000 men, under the command of Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria, moved along the River Tisza to Szolnok and towards Petrovaradin. In the middle of July the two imperial armies met on the Danube and either marched overland or along the Drava to Osijek.

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