Ottoman Withdrawal from the Seize of Vienna 1683

On this day, 13 September, 1683 AD, the Battle of Vienna was fought at Kahlenberg Mountain nearby Vienna after the imperial capital had been under siege by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The Holy Roman Empire engaged in combat with the Ottoman Empire and its satellite and subject kingdoms.

Previously in the month of July 1683, large and well-equipped Ottoman forces besieged Vienna. Vienna's capture was imminent, but an army came to its rescue just in time. On September 13, the Ottoman army was defeated before Vienna, preventing looting and destruction.

Polish King Jan Sobieski liberated Vienna. Without him, the Emperor and Imperial princes wouldn't have risked an open war. All three were needed to win. The war between the Habsburg dynasty and the Ottoman empire, an on-off conflict that started in the early 16th century and lasted about 300 years, was one of the major conflicts in European history.

Large portions of Southeast Europe, including several Habsburg dominions, were subjugated during that time by the Ottomans, a Muslim empire based in modern-day Turkey. For instance, in 1529, Suleiman the Magnificent's military campaigns brought the Ottoman empire right up to the city limits of Vienna, allowing it to enlarge to cover much of modern-day Hungary (the first Siege of Vienna).