Siege of Belgrade (1688) | |||||||||
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Part of the Great Turkish War, the Ottoman–Habsburg wars, and the Polish–Ottoman War | |||||||||
Siege of Belgrade in 1688 |
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Holy Roman Empire Bavaria |
Ottoman Empire | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Maximilian II | Yeğen Osman Pasha | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
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25—30,000 | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
4,000 dead | 5,000 dead |
The Siege of Belgrade in 1688 was the fourth siege of that city, taking place during the Great Turkish War.
The Ottoman Empire suffered several major defeats at war with the Holy League which significantly contributed to development of the crisis which resulted with the deposition of sultan Mehmed IV to advance into Ottoman territory. The Holy League decided to use this crisis to attack the Ottoman Empire. One of the main goals was the capture of Belgrade, the strongest Ottoman strongholds in Europe at that time.
The forces of Holy League advanced toward Belgrade from two directions. The forces that advanced along river Sava were under the command of the emperor Leopold I while forces that advanced along river Danube were under the command of the elector of Bavaria, Maximilian II Emanuel. According to the initial Ottoman plan, Yeğen Osman's forces moved from Belgrade to Šabac and further to Gradiška with the task not to allow the Leopold's army to cross to the right bank of Sava, while Hasan Pasha, Ottoman serasker of Hungary, stayed in Belgrade waiting for money and military reinforcements from Asia before advancing toward the enemy. After receiving the news that Leopold's army had already crossed Sava and captured Kostajnica, Gradiška and the region around the river Una, Yeğen Osman returned to Belgrade.
The forces of the Holy League were led by Maximilian II Emanuel with Prince Eugene of Savoy as one of his commanders. In this battle they had 98 companies of infantry, 77 and a half escadrons of cavalry, and artillery forces of 98 canons. The Austrians were also accompanied by Serbian volunteers and members of Serbian Militia under the command of Jovan Monasterlija.